Solved explorer.exe high CPU usage - tried everything I can think of

[nothsa]

Hi,

My explorer.exe is constantly using 30-45% of my 4-core CPU. I have determined after MUCH testing that the cause is likely not a virus / malware / rootkit. I have also:

• tested booting into safe mode (explorer.exe is fine in safe mode)
• done a "clean boot" by using msconfig to disable all startup processes and non-microsoft services (explorer.exe still uses 30-45% CPU on clean boot).
• run "sfc /VERIFYONLY" from an administration command prompt (sfc reported that everything was fine)

I've been trying to figure this problem out for over 2 weeks now. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm willing to try almost anything at this point.

 

[nothsa]

I tracked down the issue to a shortcut on the desktop that wasn't displaying its icon (Finally! After two weeks!). This was apparently causing explorer.exe to go into a loop, consuming a lot of processing power ( terrible programming =P ).

To fix it, I right-clicked on it and selected "Properties > Change Icon" and selected an icon from another file at random.

 

[paulpicks21]

Welcome to Seven forums nothsa.

Sorry nobody managed to help you, but glad you got it sorted and thanks for letting us know


Cheers

Paul.

 

[albanyguy]

HI
Had the same issue with a icon on Desktop killing CPU.. not happy Bill!!
Thanx Notsha saved my a@# buddy...

 

[limbik]

Do you mind to tell how to change the icon? Cause when I go to properties of explorer.exe it won't show any option to change it.

 

[PCFreakBavaria]

For Links consuming CPU try this tool.

Release the explorer handbrake - Der PCFreak Blog

PCFreak mentioned at HAK5 podcast - Der PCFreak Blog

It works very well.

 

[IronAnimal]

The icon clean up solution worked for me also.

 

[Jow Bloe]

Mind telling us how you made that diagnosis?

 

[pcbiohazard]

hi I'm having same problem i did what nothsa did but its still bouncing around when i start up task manager using 22k of memory and did the change icon but its still did nothing i think im having a slightly different problem. can anybody offer a suggestion. thanks

 

[bthomas878]

hi I'm having same problem i did what nothsa did but its still bouncing around when i start up task manager using 22k of memory and did the change icon but its still did nothing i think im having a slightly different problem. can anybody offer a suggestion. thanks

One program you can try that is a free and works a lot better for diagnosis for issues such as this is called Process Hacker. It is a more in depth program than Task Manager and when installed can be set to be the default when you call up Task Manager. I will allow you to right click on the process and get a lot of information on that process, you can get general file info including the file name and location, you can get the individual threads and % of CPU each sub thread is using. You can also get info on memory usage and addresses, what environmental variables it uses and their paths, statistics on usage and many more just from the properties. You can also get info on Disk usage and more detailed memory usage info in addition to open network connections.

Hope this helps with the diagnosis.

 

[patrick81]

Thank You

I know this is old, but I made an Account just to say thank you I would never have discovered that it was a desktop icon causing my problem.

Thanks Again,
Patrick

 

[NaiWan]

I tracked down the issue to a shortcut on the desktop that wasn't displaying its icon (Finally! After two weeks!). This was apparently causing explorer.exe to go into a loop, consuming a lot of processing power ( terrible programming =P ).

To fix it, I right-clicked on it and selected "Properties > Change Icon" and selected an icon from another file at random.

Thank you very much. Finally I found the working solution after went crazy chasing another method, scanning malware, viruses bla bla bla..
Thanks again. very useful.

 

[yascat]

thank you nothsa

 

[reckless76]

Also registered just to say thank you Nothsa. This was incredibly frustrating, and I was getting no where until I found this thread. Turned out there was a couple PDFs on my desktop that were showing a black box instead of the icon. I deleted them and CPU use immediately dropped to zero. And my laptop was finally quiet again.

 

[andreaswaldher]

nothsa - thank you very much!

Had the same Problem 6 Years later with Windows 10

Andreas