CPU activity ? Hard drive issue?

RLAR · 02 Sep 2021

Hello,
I'm not sure this is the place to post this question, but I have a concern about my computer "engine" running more and longer these days....making that winding, high pitched sound. Annoying and concerning. May have nothing at all to do with Windows 10. I'm going to call my IT person, but thought I'd check here first.

System specs in my profile: Laptop; OS: Windows 10; CPU @ 2.7GHz 2.9GHz; Memory 16 gb; Hard Drive SSD 1T; speed today is 92.6 mbps

Thanks for any ideas.

Bree · 02 Sep 2021

RLAR said:

...I have a concern about my computer "engine" running more and longer these days....making that winding, high pitched sound....

With an SSD the only moving parts that could make that noise would be the cooling fans. If they are running faster and longer these days the most likely reason would be accumulated dust inside reducing their effectiveness. That should be relatively easy for your IT person to clean out.

But first check that you haven't accidentally covered any of the vents. If so, that's something you can fix for yourself

Gurn Blanston · 02 Sep 2021

Could also be a fan bearing that's becoming worn out. They definitely will whine and squeal.

RLAR · 02 Sep 2021

Thanks, All. I did take it to IT guy for help. Really really dusty fan, and a tiny factory sticker was stuck to it haha. Maybe the IT person from a different service mistakenly left it there 2 yrs ago when I had it in for repair

Bree · 02 Sep 2021

RLAR · 11 Sep 2021

Hmm. I'm back with more concerns about the operation of the fan. What prompts the fan to come on and stay on? In this thread you will find that I had the fan cleaned by IT. Again, I've hardly ever noticed that the fan was running. And now I do. It ran for a little bit yesterday, and now it's been humming away for over 10 minutes, distracting me while using computer. All I'm doing is using the internet. The CPU is at 40%. When quiet it hardly registers. Looks like its mostly Windows Explorer and System. Think I may need to take it back to IT and hope I don't need a new computer. I love this one.

pepanee · 11 Sep 2021

Here's my suggestion:

Make your computer completely idle, don't run any programs except for the internet browser that's showing this page. Go to Task Manager -> Details tab, and sort the items by CPU, to where the big number is always on top. See if there are any applications that are taking up a lot of memory and are constantly at a high number, unlike the apps in my photo. System Idle Process should always be at a big number as long as your computer is idle.

There may be a hidden app in the background that's constantly running, and making your CPU fan work harder. That's how it is with my computer; when there's something taking up a lot of CPU, I hear the fan going faster and noisier, aside from System Idle Process being the largest number. When System Idle Process is the highest number, the lower and slower the CPU fan runs.

I hope this info helps.

CPU activity ? Hard drive issue?-task-manager-cpu.png

RLAR · 11 Sep 2021

Ok. I only have Internet on. Task Manager under details and CPU shows System Idle Process as highest, then explorer.exe. Under Memory tab MsMpEng.exe and chrome.exe are using most. I don't know anything about a hidden app. What it could be. Where did it come from, Why etc. Would I need IT to figure that out and get rid of it? Fan is still running going on 40 minutes now. I'll run it over to IT as soon as I'm able. Going out of town for a week.

Thanks for your advice.

- - - Updated - - -

There is a Microsoft news page on my menus bar at bottom of page that showed up a month or so ago. Don't see it listed in Task Manager. Don't see how to delete it.

pepanee · 11 Sep 2021

On average, how much is the explorer.exe number under CPU?

And you don't need to worry about MsMpEng.exe and chrome.exe using the most memory. That's just how much of the RAM they are using from your RAM. They should have nothing to do with the fans making noise.

I just checked my memory in Task Manager, both MsMpEng.exe and chrome.exe are at the top too. (I use Google Chrome too). MsMpEng is the Windows Anti-virus Security app. But they only take memory, and aren't working hard at the moment using the CPU.

But like I said, if explorer.exe is running at a high CPU number (constantly at 20 or greater or so), then that's a possible reason to why your fan may be making noise.

We would have to find out what's causing explorer.exe to work so hard.

PS: I don't know much about the Microsoft News Page, I don't have it, maybe someone else can input info about it.

tomdsr · 11 Sep 2021

RLAR said:

I had the fan cleaned by IT.

Is this an actual work computer? who technically "owns" it?

If its owned by a company, we should not be doing any troubleshooting and referred back to "IT"