WUAUCLT.exe and svchost.exe utilizing 100% CPU

[M.Scarlet]

Hi everyone. I hope I am posting this issue in the right section. I have to install WSUS 2.0 SP1 on number of my clients system. I had did that on few and others are still pending. Now when everything was fine, I receive complaints that the system is working very slow after WSUS installation. When I checked I found that the cpu usage was 100% and the associated program was svchost.exe. After verifying the service properly I found that wuauclt.exe is causing the issue that is associated with svchost. I had checked in Process Explorer also but still not able to find help on the same. Is this a common. I do not think WSUS needs the full system resource to get fresh updates.

[Chapal]

The issue is common and it can be related to WSUS only. I found that this is some kind of bug. But if the cpu usage goes back down after few time, then it is ok. As the service is downloading updates and that make the resources high. I am too trying to find the exact cause behind the same. I had seen this type of issue appear on new systems also which have fresh installation recently. The only way to fix the issue is running update manually. Microsoft offers a hotfix for this. You can download and run it which might avoid it.

[Wooody]

Found a related KB article which defines something about memory leak. The 100% CPU usage is a bug and it is caused due WSUS only. I have around 4 to 5 workstation in my network and all of them have 512MB of RAM. I had seen the usage is so high that existing application does not respond properly. After analysing the WSUS I found that each time it is trying to fetch new updates even when nothing is released. Manual update will remove the process of finding and downloading new updates everytime. I had removed WSUS from some old workstation and following the manual process of setup.

FIX: When you run Windows Update to scan for updates that use Windows Installer, including Office updates, you may experience a memory leak, or you may receive an error message for the Svchost process

[Myra]

Try using ntfilemon tool. It will generate a log file that will help you to locate the issue with the service. I had never notice this bug in WSUS. But it suddenly started happen after minor upgrade. After going through the kb article links, it shows that the issue is due to memory leak problem. Does there is stable fix available for the issue.

[tmparks]

Ok, my frustration level is high. I downloaded the hotfix 927891 to see if it would fix my SVCHOST 100% cpu usuage when trying to install windows updates. When I tried to install the hotfix, the cpu usuage went to 100% because of SVCHOST and the hotfix would just hang. I let it run for hours.

SO, when one has the SVCHOST problem, and can not install the hotfix, what is the next step?


Thanks!


Tom

[Amosz]

I had found the following things after going with number of logs . I hope that if you disable the automatic update service then it might not create issue. You can do that through services.mmc. But before that you will need to locate the hotfix. Disable the AU and then run the hotfix and enable the same. I am not able to find the right link for it, but I am sure you can locate that on Microsoft site.

[tmparks]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I already have the AU turned off and still can not get the manual updates to install.

[Stuartl]

The only way which resolved in my system is by disabling WSUS. As no hotfix nor any new update worked. It looks there is no correct resolution available.

[alexpearce]

Did this get solved at all, I am having the same problems with a lot of my customers sites. I haven't tried the hotfix yet as a lot of people are saying that it is not solving the problem.

[alexpearce]

Sorry for disturbing you!

I don't like installing random Hotfixes that aren't proving successful to other people as the next thing you know, it causes other problems. I will try it on one of the workstations and see how it goes.

[KaSaRa]

I am facing a problem with high cpu usage by svchost.exe. It occurs after half hour of system boot. The issue created by is wuacuclt.ext. I had find this thing in Process Explorer through locating the spid. I had configuration settings in gpo to force some updates. But that was assigned for few days only. WSUS server is configured for all cient systems on the network. The updates are automatically pushed on all systems. When the system start two services wuauserv or wuauclt.exe looks to be working actively. I cannot figure out which of them is causing high cpu usage. I use Task Manager to check the same. Only svchost.exe is listed with high cpu usage. There is another svchost file which is responsible to load theme, automatic updates, etc in the startup. The PC performance is affected to great extent and there is nothing I can do here. I contacted the Microsoft support, but they are also not concerned about the issue. The system freezes a lot. The service does not start on boot, it looks some software or application is triggering the launch.

[Myra]

I am too getting the same issue on some systems. I had kept a test machine which is a laptop to troubleshoot the same issue. The problem looks to be linked with svchost performance. Try to restart the service. This might reduce some resources and make your system to perform properly.

[Amosz]

There are some things that you can do. Run cmd and ensure that you are logged in admin account. Run - net stop wuauserv. This will stop the service and then go on Software Distribution folder in C:\Windows. Here delete all the files inside the folder. Now back in cmd type - net start wuauserv and hit enter. Now go to the official Microsoft site and download the updates manually. The one that I had installed in my system is WindowsXP-KB927891-v2-x86-ENU.exe . Run the same and then run - wuauclt /resetauthorization /detectnow in cmd. This might fix the issues.

[Stuartl]

That is because SVCHOST is trying to run fresh updates or either it is scanning your system for the same. So this looks to be the issue of recent update. This might be turned off automatically. The cpu resource must be reduced on its own. I am using WSUS SP1 and the same is no configured on other works stations. When you run wuauclt /detectnow it will fine more new updates and then check back. Also there are some patches which will fix the dll errors if exist. The cpu usage goes high as the service is engaging finding new updates.

[Jason A]

I hope this is not a virus issue. Because in my system also wuauclt when starts consume 99% of cpu. The system cannot perform any other action. I have to forcefully restart to make it work properly. I had gone through a article on Microsoft forums which says that it is not possible simply that this service can eat up so much system resource. So that can be some kind of security risk.