Vista 100% cpu usage after bootup / windows update

[Robert]

I have 2 pc's running vista Home premium. As of the morning of 5/7/08, both
of them are having an issue after bootup where cpu usage is near 100% for
about 20-30 minutes. The computers are completely un-usable in this state.
Looking at resource monitor(which takes about 10 minutes to load), both are
showing svchost (netsvcs) PID 1456 at 100%. After this initial 20 to 30
minute lock up session, both computers seem to work fine. After investigating
the issue a bit, it has something to do with windows update. If I go to
control panel windows update, and try to update, the same thing happens.

Not sure if this means anything but both computers have update KB940510
under the windows update control panel console, dated 5/7/2008. From
researchign this update it is something to do with windows validation. Both
PC's have OEM installs of vista, so I dont 'think' the validation is the
issue.
I know this isnt a hardware issue as one of the pc's is a HP laptop, the
other is a Dell xps desktop.
Both computers have had 0 issues before the morning of the 7th, and both
have AV software and have had no signs of a virus.
I have not installed anything on either of the computers lately. Neither
share much of the same software beside antiviurs. (CA AV 2008)
My xp and windows 2000 machines are working fine.

Any help would be much appreciated. Currently, disabling windows update
seems to solve the issue but this is not a long term solution, IMO.

Thanks

 

[8n20_C#]

"Robert" ha scritto:

I have 2 pc's running vista Home premium. As of the morning of 5/7/08,
both
of them are having an issue after bootup where cpu usage is near 100% for
about 20-30 minutes. The computers are completely un-usable in this state.
Looking at resource monitor(which takes about 10 minutes to load), both
are
showing svchost (netsvcs) PID 1456 at 100%. After this initial 20 to 30
minute lock up session, both computers seem to work fine. After
investigating
the issue a bit, it has something to do with windows update. If I go to
control panel windows update, and try to update, the same thing happens.

Incredible!!! I have found a person who has the same problem i have had with
XP since two years!!!

Yes, it depends on WU, but i've never understood why.
The workaround i found is to download Process Explorer, put it on
automatic startup, and when Windows starts select the svchost instance,
right click on it, and choose "idle priority".

This way, even if it uses all your CPU resource, your PC will respond to
your commands and to the other applications.

Bye!

 

[Canuck57]

I have 2 pc's running vista Home premium. As of the morning of 5/7/08, both
of them are having an issue after bootup where cpu usage is near 100% for
about 20-30 minutes. The computers are completely un-usable in this state.
Looking at resource monitor(which takes about 10 minutes to load), both
are
showing svchost (netsvcs) PID 1456 at 100%. After this initial 20 to 30
minute lock up session, both computers seem to work fine. After
investigating
the issue a bit, it has something to do with windows update. If I go to
control panel windows update, and try to update, the same thing happens.

Not sure if this means anything but both computers have update KB940510
under the windows update control panel console, dated 5/7/2008. From
researchign this update it is something to do with windows validation.
Both
PC's have OEM installs of vista, so I dont 'think' the validation is the
issue.
I know this isnt a hardware issue as one of the pc's is a HP laptop, the
other is a Dell xps desktop.
Both computers have had 0 issues before the morning of the 7th, and both
have AV software and have had no signs of a virus.
I have not installed anything on either of the computers lately. Neither
share much of the same software beside antiviurs. (CA AV 2008)
My xp and windows 2000 machines are working fine.

Any help would be much appreciated. Currently, disabling windows update
seems to solve the issue but this is not a long term solution, IMO.

Thanks

Could be an update?

Me, I turn off automatic update and let everyone else test it first.

Which you could do. Disable auto update, then remove any recent patches
applied and see if they return to normal. And when patches are applied or
removed, I always reboot even if it isn't needed.

 

[Robert]

Could be an update?

Me, I turn off automatic update and let everyone else test it first.

Which you could do. Disable auto update, then remove any recent patches
applied and see if they return to normal. And when patches are applied or
removed, I always reboot even if it isn't needed.

As I mentioned in the OP, I disabled Windows Update and I am not having the
issue. I would like a fix for the problem though as not using windows update
is not a long term solution.

 

[Rich Bunevitch]

I have 2 pc's running vista Home premium. As of the morning of 5/7/08, both
of them are having an issue after bootup where cpu usage is near 100% for
about 20-30 minutes. The computers are completely un-usable in this state.
Looking at resource monitor(which takes about 10 minutes to load), both are
showing svchost (netsvcs) PID 1456 at 100%. After this initial 20 to 30
minute lock up session, both computers seem to work fine. After investigating
the issue a bit, it has something to do with windows update. If I go to
control panel windows update, and try to update, the same thing happens.

Not sure if this means anything but both computers have update KB940510
under the windows update control panel console, dated 5/7/2008. From
researchign this update it is something to do with windows validation. Both
PC's have OEM installs of vista, so I dont 'think' the validation is the
issue.
I know this isnt a hardware issue as one of the pc's is a HP laptop, the
other is a Dell xps desktop.
Both computers have had 0 issues before the morning of the 7th, and both
have AV software and have had no signs of a virus.
I have not installed anything on either of the computers lately. Neither
share much of the same software beside antiviurs. (CA AV 2008)
My xp and windows 2000 machines are working fine.

Any help would be much appreciated. Currently, disabling windows update
seems to solve the issue but this is not a long term solution, IMO.

Thanks

I'm having a similar problem with by Toshiba laptop with an OEM
install of Windows Vista Home Premium. I turned off Automatic Updates
and this solved the problem. Today, I changed the settings for
Automatic Updates to just notify me of the updates - no download or
install and the problem returned immediately. Fortunately, I was able
to restart the computer in Safe Mode and do a System Restore - since I
could find no way of changing the Automatic Updates setting in Safe
Mode.

I too did a virus scan with CA AntiVirus 2007 and no problems were
detected. I do not have Vista SP1 installed yet.

 

[Ben Law]

I am having the same problem with two PC's since around the 7th of May also.
Finally I narrowed it down to program conflicts between the latest MS Windows
updates and the CA (TimeWarner subscriber's free internet security suite). As
soon as I disable the CA security suite both PCs, one with XP Pro and the
other with Vista Home Premium all run normally with CPU usage reported as
consistantly below 10% whith higher % only momentarily when I launch a
program or two. CA at this time does not have a patch. Neither MS has any
solution. I only wish the two company are willing to collaborate a bit more
for the good of their customer.

 

[Gordon Bell]

I've been experiencing 100% CPU usage on Vista for the past week, making my
system almost unusable. I installed SP1 a few weeks ago.

It's the "System & NT Kernel" process.

I dont' have CA, but I uninstalled Kasperksy Internet Suite 7.0 which made
the problem go away temporarily. Now, I'm experiencing it again with no
Anti-Virus installed. Any ideas?

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

hi! nice to see someone else has had this same issue and recently. we
noticed it on our Vista Home Premium pc this past weekend. it's a Dell
that we've had for i guess just over a year. very slow after boot and
the CPU is pegged at 100% as well. when i bring up Task Manager i don't
really see any process that sticks out. of course they fluctuate during
this pegged time. but i think i've seen some of the same things you
guys are reporting. in addition to that, and probably due to the high
CPU, we can't get on the internet (IE or Firefox). that's actually how
we noticed it. i can boot to Safe Mode with Networking and it's fine.
we can get to the internet. i went into msconfig and looked at the
Services and Processes that were "stopped" and tried to determine if
there was some 3rd party app that was causing the slow down in normal
boot but it doesn't seem like it. i'm using McAfee Virus Scan (because
that's what came with the pc) but i need to renew my trial subscription.
at first i thought maybe that had something to do with it but i
disabled McAfee and it still pegs in normal boot. i'll try the
suggestion for disabling WU but i do believe i have that set to not
install and notify me so i can determine if i want to apply them. i'll
keep checking back here in the meantime. please keep posting anything
new you find.

Your computer is probably full of infections and corrupted files.

You may want to take the time to back up all of your important files before
it gets to the point where the computer will not even boot.

When the McAfee trial expired, so did any updates from McAfee, and you have
been running with limited anti-virus protection..

There is some very good info on how to remove spyware etc on this web site..

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/

If some of it is beyond your capability, get local help from a a decent
computer technician (not the big stores) or back up your important stuff and
use the manufacturers 'return to factory state' option.

After doing this, download and run the free version of Avast anti-virus..


--
Mike Hall - MVP
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