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

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  1. Posts : 10
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
       #1

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


    My CPU usage used to be 10% at idle (using no high-CPU apps) even after I upgraded Windows 8.1 Pro to Windows 10 Pro.

    After Windows 10 Anniversary Updates however, my CPU usage skyrocketed 4 times higher, so now it's around 40% at idle.

    I have done full anti-virus scans (Webroot) and anti-malware scans (Malwarebytes), and both report no problems.

    -How do I locate and fix this high-CPU-usage problem?

    *Below is a screen shot of my Processes tab at idle in Task Manager (sorted in its CPU column by descending usage):

    With my 40% CPU usage, there's also an odd change in the Details tab in Task Manager and I wonder if this is a clue.

    In our other (10%-CPU-usage) Windows 10 Anniversary PCs, the total of the CPU column in Details tab is about 100% (due to rounding). In my 40%-CPU-usage PC, the total is only 73%.

    *Below is a screen shot of my Details tab at idle in Task Manager (sorted in the CPU column by descending usage):

    Thanks for any help you can provide
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails How fix 4-times-higher CPU usage at idle?-task-manager-processes-cpu.png   How fix 4-times-higher CPU usage at idle?-task-manager-details-cpu.png  
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  2. Posts : 10
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       #2

    Any suggestions?


    I have tried to summarize my problem.

    Is there other information I could provide to get some ideas to help solve my problem?

    I've tried 3 of the 4 Methods here, but the post is old, and they didn't work:
    Windows 10 High CPU Usage Fixes

    Would greatly appreciate any suggestions.
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  3. Posts : 11
    Windows 10 Home, Windows 7 Ultimate
       #3

    Are you noticing any actual detrimental/negative effects on the computer? System Idle Process is basically how much "nothing" your computer is doing. The higher that number when idling, the better your computer is performing. 70-90% CPU usage is fairly standard for that process as I've seen so far. If you click on the Performance tab in Task Manager, the graph should spike a bit at the beginning, and provided you're not running anything intensive, should dip back down and level out.

    Now if the computer is experiencing lag or anything opens noticeably slower, that's when it's time to investigate. I only say this because you didn't specify if the computer was running abnormally slowly after the update.
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  4. Posts : 10
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Thanks for your response.


    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
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  5. Posts : 11
    Windows 10 Home, Windows 7 Ultimate
       #5

    FuturePerfect said:
    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.
    This is good to know. Thank you.
    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.]
    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.
    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
    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:
    How fix 4-times-higher CPU usage at idle?-20121010170812.jpg
    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:
    Uninstall the Ghost Drivers: - Several things can contribute to the addition of ghost devices in the Windows Device Manager. Some of these include adding or removing hardware. These "ghost" devices can retain Port, SCSI, Target, and logical unit number (LUN) information that conflict with the active devices being used by Windows. Under these circumstances, hardware instability can result.
    To identify and remove the ghost devices from the Windows Device Manager, do the following:


    1. Press Windows Logo + X keys together and select Device Manager from the List.
    2. Then, select View from the drop down and select to Show Hidden Devices.
    3. At this point, any ghost devices will be seen with lighter, transparent icon and can be removed.
    4. Right-clicking the ghost device and selecting "Uninstall".
    5. Restart the computer and check.
    After you have done this, proceed with the following instructions:
    Open "Settings" on the Start menu. Under settings, click on the "System" icon, then choose "Notifications & actions". Deselect the option "Get tips, tricks, and suggestions as you use Windows". After this, disable any other notification options that you don't need, as the rest are up to you. Exit "Settings" app and restart the computer.
    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.
    Last edited by Ten Seconds; 28 Sep 2016 at 18:44.
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  6. Posts : 16,325
    W10Prox64
       #6

    I would recommend getting rid of all the Dell bloatware - every last bit of it. That usually makes a substantial difference.
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  7. Posts : 11
    Windows 10 Home, Windows 7 Ultimate
       #7

    simrick said:
    I would recommend getting rid of all the Dell bloatware - every last bit of it. That usually makes a substantial difference.
    Yes, good point. IIRC, especially the "Dell Support Center". I had an old Dell laptop that had a variant of that software. After uninstalling it, boot time significantly increased afterward, as it was associated with a startup task that bogged the system down.
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  8. Posts : 10
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Sorry for the delay. Saw multiple requests for removing all Dell bloatware (very little bloatware, actually) and removed it. Then, a Windows 10 Cumulative Update (KB3194496) install request came, which I immediately allowed.

    Thank you very much for time you took to provide very clear instructions and screen shots for me to use in applying your suggestions to fix my high CPU usage at idle.

    Unfortunately, in my case these suggestions had no effect.

    -I feel like I must have made an improvement on my PC by removing the ghost devices as you suggested, even though no reduction in idle CPU usage resulted. Because in my case there were over 50 such ghosts! I uninstalled them all, being careful not to uninstall non-greyed-out devices, then restarted my PC. The CPU usage at idle is the same. But great thanks for this suggestion; I'd never seen it before.

    -I had already disabled all my Notifications prior to asking for help here, so there was no change.

    -I disabled non-essential apps from the Startup tab in Task Manager (mainly Adobe and Java updaters) and rebooted. No change. ***I'd be happy to supply a screen shot of what is still enabled in Startup in case you want it. But all remaining startup apps I use daily and have for years; never give startup problems; have worked with Windows 10 forever.

    -Removing the Dell bloatware also did not change my idle CPU usage situation after reboot. I left the Dell Touchpad and Dell Audio apps in because they're the only way to control touchpad and audio--tested drivers with Dell-branding.

    -I was actually hoping the KB3194496 Windows Update would solve this high-CPU-usage-at-idle problem, but it didn't.

    Thank you again. I really appreciate your help. I hope you can find the time to provide other suggestions, since on my own, I have not been able to find a suggestion that works.
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  9. Posts : 16,325
    W10Prox64
       #9

    You could try a clean boot, see if that increases the idle threshold, and then start enabling things a couple at a time, rebooting, to see if you can identify a culprit.

    But something you said in your first post strikes me:
    In our other (10%-CPU-usage) Windows 10 Anniversary PCs, the total of the CPU column in Details tab is about 100% (due to rounding). In my 40%-CPU-usage PC, the total is only 73%
    In the Details tab in Task Manager, (in your first post), sorted by CPU high to low, your idle is at 71%. If there seems to be no affect to the system performance, I wouldn't be too concerned.
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  10. Posts : 465
    W11X64 22H2 X3
       #10

    I suggest using the trial period of Tune Up Utilities to find your problem using "Program Deactivator"

    How fix 4-times-higher CPU usage at idle?-help1.jpg

    when you click on one of the two buttons (circled in red) you should have the following picture to show load points.

    How fix 4-times-higher CPU usage at idle?-help2.jpg

    Hope this helps
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