Lately I have noticed that the system process is always taking up 17-20% of my CPU. From the time I boot up I have about 5 minutes before system spins up and steals 1/5 of my CPU. I have an Asus g750jw with a i7 4700HQ, so this is no small amount. 

I am unsure when the problem started, but it was probably when I installed 8.1. I'm looking for a solution, or at least some sort of utility so that I can look deeper into the "system" process to see what is actually going on. 

The reason could be the search indexer.

Please, read the next thread and the answer by Shawn Keene.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-performance/cpu-usage-always-high-on-my-laptop-in-windows-81/3c2132f5-8574-440d-808a-22ac648602bf?page=1

• Marked as answer by bones892 Saturday, April 05, 2014 2:28 PM
• Unmarked as answer by bones892 Sunday, April 06, 2014 1:18 AM

The reason could be the search indexer.

Please, read the next thread and the answer by Shawn Keene.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-performance/cpu-usage-always-high-on-my-laptop-in-windows-81/3c2132f5-8574-440d-808a-22ac648602bf?page=1

• Marked as answer by bones892 Saturday, April 05, 2014 2:28 PM
• Unmarked as answer by bones892 Sunday, April 06, 2014 1:18 AM

Wish I would have found that thread sooner. It was driving me insane. Thank you

Well I thought that fixed it but apparently not. After being on my PC all day the problem came back. I tried re stopping the search indexer, but system is still taking a massive amount of CPU and the search indexer is stopped. 

Hi,

To diagnosis this problem simply, you can use Process Explorer to check which thread occupy ntoskrnl.exe process.

File Explorer:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

If we still couldn't find the what the problem it is, you can use Performance Record to diagnosis CPU problem.

To find what is causing your computer to use more CPU than it normally does you need to run this. 
Install the WPT (windows Performance Toolkit) http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/4847.install-the-windows-performance-toolkit-wpt.aspx  , 
Open a CMD prompt with administrative rights (right click it>run as admin) and run this command for 60 secs to capture the high cpu usage: 

xperf -on latency -stackwalk profile -buffersize 1024 -MaxFile 256 -FileMode Circular && timeout -1 && xperf -d cpuusage.etl
The trace will run and give you a warning then revert to a C:\ prompt
The log will be in C:\windows\system32.  It should be called cpuusage.etl
Please zip the file and upload it to skydrive (or another file sharing service) and put a link to it in your next post.

I have been fairly busy in the last week and on battery a lot, I have noticed that whatever the problem is doesn't occur when on battery.

Here is a link to the etl file on skydrive http://1drv.ms/1gfjf1J

I had a sudden realization that my problem is caused by my Bluetooth mic. I have tried updating all of my wireless drivers and anything relating to Bluetooth, but it hasn't helped anything. The only fix I have is to disconnect the mic. 

• Marked as answer by ZigZag3143xMVP, Moderator Friday, April 11, 2014 5:50 AM

Bones

Chrome & Mumble.  Chrome has 5 processes totaling 67 seconds and mumble 8 more.  Was this trace done one Power or battery?

This was done on power. I don't understand that result because chrome and mumble are visible I know how much they are using. The problem is the constant CPU usage by system, even when all other programs are closed. 

I had a sudden realization that my problem is caused by my Bluetooth mic. I have tried updating all of my wireless drivers and anything relating to Bluetooth, but it hasn't helped anything. The only fix I have is to disconnect the mic. 

• Marked as answer by ZigZag3143xMVP, Moderator Friday, April 11, 2014 5:50 AM

Bones

That would never have shown in WPT but why would your bluetooth driver only cause it on battery and not power?

I almost never use my mic when on battery, so it was just a coincidence that when I was on battery I wasn't using the Bluetooth. 

Bones

Glad you figured it out and thanks for letting us know

i have the same problem.

here's a link to my cpuusage file:

http://we.tl/1OR0mHAqyk

when i uploaded it my cpu usage dropped to 1%.

please check it anyway incase it comes back

EL

You AVG is using 25% of the CPU. Remove it and use the built in defender

Dear Moderators,

I'm also experiencing a similar problem. I suspect that the problem was caused by my fault to make all the services, the ones in the tab "services" under the task manager, manually start. I had done made them all "run" and "automatic", because I had previously shut down many of them, and my Dell laptop couldn't restart at once (I think due to the turned-off services). I'm now very much regretful for what I have so far done...

Please help me... I'm submitting the ETL file as the previous messagers did:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xlwghwsvm4ktrti/highCPUUsage.7z?dl=0

Thank you very much...

I had the same Problem: "System" - ntoskrnl.exe use up to 100% hdd activity always since one year!

But you can't find ntoskrnl.exe in the Task Manager Details to give it less priority.

I found this german post: https://www.gservon.de/hohe-cpu-auslastung-durch-den-prozess-system/

Go to Networks and select your WiFi, go to Properties, Internet Protocol Version 4 TCP/IPv4 and double click, then Details, then WINS,

then uncheck the LMHOSTS box!!!!!!!!!

This also made Internet Browsers slow. Now fast again :-)

here is my trace within 2 log are (21:41h --22:19h), I'm playing  rfactor at the time and HDD's led is fixed

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u97865tiz2nd60t/cpuusage.rar?dl=0

• Edited by miccalan Tuesday, August 04, 2015 9:36 PM

here is my trace within 2 log are (21:41h --22:19h), I'm playing  rfactor at the time and HDD's led is fixed

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u97865tiz2nd60t/cpuusage.rar?dl=0

• Edited by miccalan Tuesday, August 04, 2015 9:36 PM

You did not appear to be having the issue when you ran the trace.  Idle was over 98% and the only process even using 1% was rFactor.exe

Both traces were similar.  You need to run the trace when you are having the problem

Hi!!!! I have a similar problem.

My Windows 8.1 Lenovo Ideacentre A730 (i7 4700MQ. 8Gb RAM DDR3, NVidia GT 740M) is having high CPU usage. In the Task Manager "System" (ntoskrnl.exe use up 80-90% HDD Activity).

I download Windows Performance Toolkit

Can you help me???

Thank you

mic

In order to diagnose your problem we need to run Windows performance toolkit the instructions for which can be found in this wiki
If you have any questions feel free to ask
Please run the trace when you are experiencing the problem

here is my trace within 2 log are (21:41h --22:19h), I'm playing  rfactor at the time and HDD's led is fixed

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u97865tiz2nd60t/cpuusage.rar?dl=0

• Edited by miccalan 9 hours 46 minutes ago

i had this problem before u just need to uncheck the power management in wireless cards (here the bluetooth mic).

go to control panel -> hardware -> right click on bluetooth -> properties -> power management tab and uncheck the box.

hope this helps