 Hello everybody! In this video, I will show you what to do if the CPU in your computer is at 100% usage all the time, why it happens and how it can be fixed. If you need to recover deleted data, view or restore removed browse in history. Hetman software products will help you. Follow the link in the description, download the necessary program for free, install it and analyze the disk. The utility will show you the data you can recover, so you will be able to view it or get it back. In our channel and blog you will find solutions to any problem, from installing an operating system or configuring it to fixing possible bugs and errors or optimizing mobile gadgets. Our specialists will answer any questions you ask in your comments under the videos or articles. We all know that the CPU is a key element in any computer as it processes all the data so any program or application you start uses a certain percentage of the CPU's power. On the other hand, the less loaded the CPU, the quicker and better the overall performance. That is, files and apps open faster and so on. That is why it's very important to never have your CPU at 100% usage and to make sure it possesses some spare capacity to handle other tasks. In today's video, we will try to find out what causes the CPU to work at full load and how you can avoid it. So, let's begin with the things that may cause 100% CPU usage. In a Windows operating system, there are several possible reasons for that and each one has a solution of its own. The most widespread one is a certain service or program consuming all the resources of the CPU. Another possible cause is failures in the work of a service which makes it behave in a very unsetting way. Most users don't think much about cleaning their computers from dust or replacing the thermal paste which often results in overheating the central processor and making it work at full load. Other things behind 100% CPU usage may include virus activities, driver issues, start up list full of unneeded apps, hard disk problems, antivirus scans, troubled peripherals and, surprisingly, the CPU that has become too weak for the current work. Finding the actual root of the problem with 100% CPU usage requires a series of diagnostic tests and we are about to start right away. Let's begin with opening the Task Manager to see if there is a process putting a lot of pressure on the CPU. Lead by pressing the key shortcut Ctrl-Shift-Esc. Now switch to the tab processes that lists all processes and services running at the moment. Fuckin' winnings! You can sort them by clicking on the CPU icon. This simple step lets you visualize what service or program consumes a considerable amount of the CPU power. Too often, after you finish working in a resource-intensive program, they still leave behind some services or incorrectly closed applications, which affect the computer's performance and browsers do it more often than any other software. Also, playing high-quality videos could be a difficult task that all the computers just can't handle as their processors would be struggling and making the entire computer feel sluggish. To fix the problem, right-click on the application consuming the CPU's resources and select End Task from the list to actually close it. However, you should be careful. If you have a system service, new problems are guaranteed and you will have to restart the computer manually. If you don't see any processes in the task manager that could give your CPU a hard time but is still 100% loaded, try using third-party tools for monitoring active processes, for example, Process Explorer. This is a free utility for Windows and you can find it in the SysInternals website, which has been purchased by Microsoft back in 2006. This utility can show you absolutely every process in your PC and help you get rid of the ones you don't need. System idle process shows how much system resources are free. As you can see, my CPU is not overloaded at the moment. This is a normal situation for a computer unless there is some resource-intensive stuff running. The line interrupts shows how often the system interruptions occur. Normally, it should stay within the limits of a few percent. If this figure is several times higher, congratulations, you'll find the culprit and we'll talk about it a bit later. Another process to reduce the computer's performance is svchost.exe. In fact, this is a system process, but all kinds of viruses may use this name as disguise. In today's video, we will also show you how to deal with it. Assuming you have found the process taking away all of the CPU's resources, use the task manager and task option to put an end to that. If there is evidence to believe the problem comes from the interrupts, the probable troublemaker is drivers, or to be more exact, they are incompatibility with the operating system or with each other. First of all, check the drivers for chipset, motherboard, graphics, Wi-Fi model, sound and network adapters. Learn how to install or update drivers from a video on our YouTube channel. Find the link in the description. If the task manager and process explorer couldn't help you to find the cause for 100% CPU usage, let's move on to drivers. Manufacturers often roll out new versions of drivers to improve performance of their devices. However, new doesn't always mean better. And sometimes all the drivers are more predictable in their work. So when you download and update drivers, look for the ones having the word stable in their name. These are the versions that don't have bugs or errors. I'd recommend booting in safe mode and checking if the CPU is going to be running at 100% again. If there are no issues, there are high chances that drivers use to cause the problem, because a computer booted in safe mode doesn't use drivers. In most of the cases, the troublemakers are network adapters and generic drivers by Microsoft which are installed with Windows. So download drivers from the official website of the company that manufactured your hardware and update them. To begin with, try installing the latest version. Usually, it has all bugs fixed. And if the CPU problem reappears, try another version. In case you can't find the manufacturer's name in its own official website, you can use third-party utilities for updating drivers. For example, DriverPackSolution. As I said before, another cause behind the problem could be viruses. Their presence on a computer always affects its performance. Just as any other application, they consume a part of the CPU resources, so it ends up virtually gasping for breath. If the CPU usage problem is caused by a virus, you can track it with a task manager or the tool called Process Explorer. To make things even worse, viruses often disguise themselves into system processes so users are afraid to take a risk of removing them. The process most frequently used that way is svchehost.exe. And it is pretty difficult even for a power user to understand whether it is a virus or not. There is a good video about removing viruses in our channel, check the link below. So far, the best option would be to scan up a computer and remove any malware your antivirus can detect. If the problem can't be fixed, try disconnecting peripheral devices one by one, like scanner, printer, mouse, webcam, and so on. Also, make sure that the device manager doesn't show you any peripheral devices missing proper drivers. Open the device manager by right-clicking on the Start menu and choosing the corresponding line. Now check the list on the left for any devices with a yellow exclamation mark next to them. For any of such devices, install proper drivers. Now, let's find out when the problem may be caused by the process svchehost.exe. There are only two variants possible. It's either a virus or this system process really uses the central processor so much. If it's a virus activity, in most cases you can see it in the Process Explorer as a process started by administrator or by your account. In this case, just add this task and clean the computer from viruses. On the contrary, if svchehost is really a system process, try turning Windows automatic updates off and try disabling the antivirus, because sometimes it may come into conflict with other software installed on your machine. To turn updates off, open the Services tab, find Windows Update Service, open its properties and set its startup type as disabled, then click Stop. Save the settings and restart the computer. With Process Explorer tool, you can monitor all running processes including svchehost. Just enable the option to display process signatures. Options. Verify image signature. There will be one more line with Microsoft confirmation for the signature. If one of svchehost processes lacks this confirmation, it might be a virus. Also, you can check any process with the help of VirusTotal website. Open Options and select it from the list. One confirmation only and you will see a new column with information from VirusTotal. You will see how many antiviruses find this process suspicious. One of the key conditions for any computer to work properly is the temperature. If the CPU gets too hot, you will notice it by lags, freezes, blue screens of death, and sudden shutdowns. To find out the current temperature of the central processor, use special tools like ADA64. In fact, a computer may be overheating due to one of the following things. Too much dust, a malfunctioning cooling fan or high temperature in the room. In the first case, all you need to do is to get rid of dust. Be it a desktop PC or laptop, it needs to be cleaned every six months or at least once a year. All the dust clogging inside makes heat sinks and cooling fans less effective and turns your computer into a really hot thing, which is not cool at all. The choice is yours. You can either take it to a service shop or clean it on your own. By the way, you can visit our channel to watch a special video or tutorial about cleaning a laptop. Do it by just checking the link below. In the second case, you need to replace the malfunctioning cooling fan with a properly working one. It's quite easy to determine if the fan is to blame. Open the system unit cover, listen and look carefully. The fan should be rotating without any difficulty and without any strange sounds like squeaking or crackling. If the cooling fan is out of order, visit the service shop immediately to have it replaced or do it on your own, if you know how. If the problem is caused by the room being too hot, do something to cool it down. If no other options are possible, open the cover of the system unit and position a portable fan nearby to have it blowing in the direction of the computer. If you use a laptop, there are special cooling fans for sale. Many users tend to work with their computers for years without reinstalling the operating system or cleaning it from the programs they don't need any longer. Over time, with dozens of apps installed, the startup list of the operating system grows too long, and every time you turn the computer on, it starts booting tons of stuff you haven't used for a long time. That's one of the things able to keep the CPU usage too high, and the solution is obvious – clean the startup list. There is a popular utility, Ciclinr, capable of removing all the apps you don't need anymore, so use it to clean the startup list and leave only the antivirus and a handful of products you need every day. Otherwise, open the task manager and switch to the startup tab. Disable the apps you don't use or the ones you use, very seldom. While the task manager is open, have a closer look at the list of processes. It's possible that your computer is running too many apps at the same time, and the CPU can't handle them all. So, the processes but their impact on the CPU usage Start ending the most resource-intensive ones. If you are not sure what this or another process does, search this information on the internet. One of the causes for high CPU usage can be the hard disk. In some cases, it can have the processor loaded even to 100%. Most often, it happens when the hard disk is about to break down. To be on the same side, check it for errors as soon as possible. I recommend watching a good video about it in our channel and you can find the link below as usual. If your computer is rather old, most likely it can't keep up with the new tasks. The progress of technology is especially evident in the IT field. Updates for various programs come out every day, and standard apps are growing hungry for more and more resources every year. If you use a standard app like a browser, Microsoft's Paint or a photo viewer, and the CPU usage picks to 50% or even 100% and stays there, it looks like it's high time for an upgrade. Talking of antiviruses, it's a good thing to have. But with the weak CPU, you will hardly fancy its permanent monitoring. However, it's easy to check, just disable the antivirus or boot in safe mode. If the central processor is nowhere the 100% figure, it must be the resource-intensive antivirus you are using, so you can try switching to a product that needs less CPU power. Summing up Here is a piece of advice I'd like to give you. If you own a low-end computer or it has a slow hard disk, disable automatic updates or replace the conventional hard disk with a solid state drive. If the hard disk is too slow, it has to work at max load all the time, and it keeps the CPU busy as well. However, it can be avoided by turning automatic updates off. And that's all for now. I hope this video was useful for you. Remember to click the Like button and subscribe to our channel. Push the bell icon to receive notifications and never miss a new video. Leave comments to ask questions and share your opinion. Thank you for watching. Good luck!