Windows Update run 100% CPU

I've got an Acer laptop that I just noticed runs 100% CPU when I try to update Windows. It has an AMD TF-20 processor, 1.6GHz single core, and 3GB of RAM. Not a fire-breather, but it should be adequate for normal tasks, and indeed it runs very well aside from this problem. This is a new bare-metal install of Win 7 HP x32.

I tried disabling WUDFSVC.exe. Nothing. I reset registry permissions, ran an update repair routine in Safe Mode, reset services to their default settings. Nothing.

Even now, 10 minutes after installing the one small Important update that was available, SVHOST.exe (driving WU service) is still forcing the machine up to 100%, with little else going on.

This machine must go out tomorrow, and this is a maximum pain. I am considering turning off WU, but would love to find an better solution.

Addendum: After the requisite reboot, Trusted Installer bounced around from 50-90% for a minute or two, with nothing else going on, which is pretty normal, and now the machine is back to idling at 1-2% CPU, which is how I have it tuned. It's simply the update process that is out of control.

One thing I've done is set WU to run only weekly, on Tues afternoon. That should lessen the hit somewhat.

Shouldn't there be built-in priority limits to these services in Windows? I've come across this once in a while, but even most small netbooks don't do this as a rule.

Is this KB installed?
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3102810

Hi @UNI,

Great thinking. I use WSUSOffline, and the latest editions include that update, which works marvelously. It was installed, but I noticed at the page you referenced that installing a language pack would break it. So I uninstalled and reinstalled it to be sure, but to no avail. CPU was still maxed.

Strange though, now when WU is checking, it's not SVCHOST that's taking the lion's share of CPU, it's Trusted Installer. This is after all previous updates had calmed down.

But on the plus side, now the checking is very fast, so the high CPU should be livable. I'm going to reset WU to check daily, to keep the increments small. Maybe this reinstall did something and will be enough.

Thanks much!

That's right. My goal is to make these things as bulletproof as possible. And generally it's amazing what even what is considered weaker hardware can do when it is set up well. I push it by including a graphics editor and the like, but aside from some slow opening times even they work well.