System Process taking 20% CPU usage

[seearghee]

New spectre x360, had for about 10 days.  Few days ago noticed increased fan noise, and found that the System Process was constantly running, taking around 20% CPU usage.  Google searches suggest could be caused by out of date driver.  HP Assistant says drivers up to date.  Intel Driver Support Assistant says Display & WiFi  drivers need updating, but updates fail to instal, with error message saying refer to computer manufacturer.   Any ideas on what to do now???  

[WAWood]

@seearghee 

I'm not going to challenge your Google results -- but I seriously doubt this CPU usage would have anything to do with outdated drivers.

Since this is a relatively new PC, it's more likely due to Windows Update ...

With a Win10 PC, you're going to experience a variety of problems not typical of the older PCs.

First is sluggishness. You may experience a very slow PC at times because Windows Update (WU) is hogging your PC, searching for, downloading, and installing updates -- to bring your PC up to the most current version of Windows. This can also contribute significantly to high processor temperatures, as it is being heavily used.

Second is fan noise. That's directly related to fan speed, which is the result of processor heat, and WU is known to drive up the processor load -- sometimes to 100%. That can cause the fan to run loud and continuous for some time.

Third is disk usage. WU can easily force the disk usage to 100% and and keep it pinned there for some time. That's because it writes WU files to the drive, then it turns around and reads them, then it overwrites existing Windows System files. All of that takes a lot of disk usage to complete.

These processes are compounded by Win10 because new Win 10 patches coming out nearly every Tuesday. Since you can't stop Updates like you did with Win7, this means you're going to get updates, regardless of what you do.

To find out what version and build of Win10 your PC is running, do the following:
1) enter "cmd" (without the quotes) into the search area and select the Command Prompt option
2) enter "winver" into the command window (again, without the quotes)
3) The most current Win10 versions as of 4/14/20 are the following:
a) v1803: Bld 17134.1399
b) v1809: Bld 17763.1131
c) v1903: Bld 18632.778
d) v1909: Bld 18363.778.

If yours is older than that, most likely WU is hogging your PC trying to update it.

Some folks have been told that resetting your PC will fix this. but, if you reset your PC, you only make matters WORSE! Why? Because you will reset Win10 back to the original version that came preloaded on the PC and that will restart Windows Update all over again.

To disable WU temporarily, do the following:
1) Enter "services" in the search area (again, without the quotes)
2) When the window opens, scroll down until you see Windows Update
3) If it say Running under status, that indicates that WU is running
4) To change that, double-click on that task, select Stop under the Service status, and then Apply
5) That should stop WU -- and you should see an immediate improvement in performance.

If not, then WU is not the problem.

WU will restart itself automatically later on, so you basically have no choice than to bear with it until it finishes.

[seearghee]

Thanks for your input, absolutely agree Windows Update may well have caused the issue, as I received updates on Wednesday.  Maybe coincidence, I switched Game Mode back on, and the high System CPU usage disappeared almost immediately.   

Issue closed for the moment, thanks again for assistance.

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@seearghee 

Glad to hear your PC is working well again.