Question Games lagging if task manager isnt open?

[homies1469]

So I know the title sounds very weird but hear me out. After upgrading from Windows 10 to 11, I noticed severe performance drops in practically all games, no matter how demanding it is. Somehow, I managed to find out that having the task manager open while playing completely fixes this issue, no matter the game. If I close the task manager, the game goes back to terrible fps. Does anyone know what the reason for this is and how to fix it so I don't have to have task manager open every time I play a game?

 

[cruck nova]

is it a laptop or a pc??

 

[Ralston18]

Interesting....

First watch Task Manager for awhile without any games being played. Then watch while playing a game. Look for differences in Task Manager.

You can also do the same using Resource Monitor and Process Explorer (Microsoft, free). Normally using just one tool at a time.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

Objective being to discover some difference or differences with respect to what resources are being used, to what extent (%), and what is using any given resource.

Also watch what the system/game is doing via Resource Monitor with Task Manager running. Then close Task Manager.

What changes?

Try other combinations to look for potential culprits.

Take your time, be methodical.

Mor information needed.

 

[johnbl]

this tool might be helpful in finding the cause.
Process Explorer - Sysinternals | Microsoft Learn
you would be looking for some 32 bit process taking too much cpu time or using too much resources.
I would also turn off the system virtual memory, reboot and turn it back on to remove the old pagefile.sys
just to remove potential malware causes (32 bit bitcoin miners running from the pagefile.sys)

I would also go into control panel and disable all sound hardware that does not have speakers attached.
maybe disable special audio software.

 

[Math Geek]

believe it or not i have actually seen this before. i have an old netbook that does the same thing. not with gaming, but simply surfing the web.

if task manager is not open, a single tab pushes cpu and hdd to max.

sadly i have not found a solution yet myself, though i admit i have not spent much time on it. process explorer was no help, nor can i find anything else running flat out as everything says it is simply the browser that has maxed the resources. fresh browser with no add-ons was no good nor anything else i tried.

i just deal with it and leave task manager running in the background and it runs fine........

 

[johnbl]

I was thinking that someone should try process explorer and see if it can catch the system running slow. just in case there is malware that stops processing when task manager is started.