Windows 10: Windows 10 System CPU usage after 4 minutes of idle

1. What is System doing?
2. Why does this not show up in Task Manager?
   1. Why does Task Manager consistently fail to display accurate per-process CPU usage?

:)

 

How fix 4-times-higher CPU usage at idle?


Yes, I have noticed negative effects on my PC's performance:

-Browsing is slower when I open multiple tabs rapidly. I do this a lot (I research multiple links in online articles).

-My PC gets much hotter, and stays hot--so much hotter that I have to turn it off.

After the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, the 39% CPU usage screen shot of my Process Manager was when I was doing nothing--no browsing, word processing, etc. Before I took the screen shots, I closed all application programs. My machine was leveled out, as you better describe it (the screen shots were taken 5 minutes after my PC first leveled out). My PC is 39% CPU usage when leveled out; never lower.

Before the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, my PC was 10% CPU usage when it leveled out. And it stayed there.

1 other PC we have with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (same model as my PC) *HAS* the 39%-CPU-usage-at-idle problem.

2 other PCs we have with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (different brands) DO *NOT* HAVE the 39%-CPU-usage-at-idle problem. They have only 10% CPU usage at idle.

[NOTE I've no software to my PC after the Anniversary Update. My programs, etc. the are same as before.]

Any ideas on what to do to fix my high CPU usage?:
-use Process Explorer? (how do I use it in this case?)
-reinstall hardware drivers? (which ones?)
-suspend certain services? (which ones?)

I've seen comments suggesting each of the above ideas. I need step-by-step instructions (ideally screen shots) for Process Explorer. For drivers & services, which do I try?

Any ideas on the above possible fixes OR better fixes for my high-CPU-at-idle problem? I'd really appreciate them

 

How fix 4-times-higher CPU usage at idle?

This is good to know. Thank you.

OK, now I know that the problem is affecting the two Dell XPS 12s you have, whereas the other two computers you listed are not having them, this will help me in diagnosing the problem by narrowing it down.

After querying the search engines with your particular device specifications and the problem, the first thing I want you to try is deleting any ghost devices in Device Manager. "Ghost devices" can hog system resources and will be greyed out in Device Manager while doing absolutely nothing, and there is no harm in deleting any of them as long as they are greyed out, like this:



Though this window is for an older Windows installation, yours will be no different, except for the devices listed. Any ghost devices will be grey. In order to see ghost devices in the first place, follow this snippet from Microsoft tech support that I found on Microsoft's help forums:

After you have done this, proceed with the following instructions:

After performing these instructions, let me know what your Task Manager is reporting. Or if it didn't work, let me know and I'll dig a little deeper into the problem.

EDIT:
Make sure when uninstalling ghost devices that you check each dependency tree, like Monitors, Network adapters, Portable Devices, Printers, System Devices, etc. Just make sure you check every tree for greyed out devices. Also, the reason I chose this method of potential fix is because it's not uncommon for ghost devices to cause high CPU, especially since in your Task Manager, the highest CPU using Process is "System" when at idle. Seeing as how none of your other programs are requesting high amounts of CPU usage, this also tells me it's not anything you installed, rather the system itself is busily working on something in the background.

Also, after completing everything listed above, in Task Manager scroll through the Startup tab, right click and disable anything that isn't vital or needed. like software updaters. Keep only bare necessities like sound processes or antivirus handlers. Then finally, restart one more time.

 

System Idle Process CPU Allocation?

Hi,

I am Sumit, an Independent advisor and a Microsoft MVP here to help.

System Idle Process, as the name suggests is a process that indicates CPU is idle and is not being used, aka is at rest. This is done to totalize CPU usage to 100 between the processes.

So you do not have to worry about anything.