Windows 10 spikes CPU once every minute.

[Mr Safety Too]

I recently upgraded to Windows 10 from 7 on my Dell laptop. Since then, every 60 seconds my screen blinks, cpu usage spikes to 100% and then drops off, if WiFi is on, a spike in that happens too and then drops off. My cursor blinks too, once each spike and the screen repaints. If I am entering text I must move my cursor back to the insert point to continue.

Has anyone ever heard of this? If so what is the fix? I've turned off some of the automatic notifications suggested such as "Windows error reporting services" (and) "Problem reports and solutions control panel".

Mr Safety Too

 

[Laptop_Nerd]

Hi,

Here are some troubleshooting steps that may help but these issues that you're experiencing is actually a known issue with Windows 10 unfortunately.
- Start by running Windows Update and install all the updates available.
- Next is to run a virus/malware scan. Please use the link below for the complete guide and tools.
- http://www.tomsguide.com/faq/id-1691891/removing-malware-proven-completely-remove-bitcoin-mining-malware.html
- Once done, make sure all of your drivers are up to date with Windows 10, you can check Dell's website to check for the latest drivers there is.
- Here's the link: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Products/?app=drivers
- Next is to do a clean install of the graphics card driver. Please use the link below again for the complete guide.
- http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2767677/clean-graphics-driver-install-windows.html
- If all these will not work unfortunately you'll need to do a clean install of Windows 10.

 

[Mr Safety Too]

A follow up,

I ran multiple virus scans from several different suppliers and found nothing. Dell does not support this laptop for Windows 10. (At first it was incompatible because of BIOS limits and Windows 10 would not install, then a few days ago W10 was available to install so I did).

Some of the tools you recommend do not work with Windows 10 and are not helpful. The graphics card driver is up to date as far as I can determine. I am not sure how to obtain a copy of Windows 10 to do a clean install as you suggest, perhaps you could tell me. Failing that, I might just have to revert to Windows 7. That at least was stable and does not hiccup every minute for no apparent reason and is still supported by Dell drivers.

Any further suggestions you might have are appreciated as I would like to keep Windows 10 but I want it to work at least as good as Windows 7!

Hi,

Here are some troubleshooting steps that may help but these issues that you're experiencing is actually a known issue with Windows 10 unfortunately.
- Start by running Windows Update and install all the updates available.
- Next is to run a virus/malware scan. Please use the link below for the complete guide and tools.
- http://www.tomsguide.com/faq/id-1691891/removing-malware-proven-completely-remove-bitcoin-mining-malware.html
- Once done, make sure all of your drivers are up to date with Windows 10, you can check Dell's website to check for the latest drivers there is.
- Here's the link: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Products/?app=drivers
- Next is to do a clean install of the graphics card driver. Please use the link below again for the complete guide.
- http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2767677/clean-graphics-driver-install-windows.html
- If all these will not work unfortunately you'll need to do a clean install of Windows 10.

 

[craigm999]

Hi,

I have the same issue whilst testing our Windows 10 image on Dell Laptop hardware.
I've isolated the process to the MBAM Agent (bitlocker client service)

The logs found in Event Viewer (Apps and Services > Microsoft > Windows > MBAM) confirm that the timings match with the flashing.

if i stop this service the issue stops, however understandably i would like to keep this running.
I can't see any options for configuring the frequency of the Bitlocker policy refreshes etc, as if i could do it once per hour, rather than once per minute it might not be so distracting!

Cheers

Craig

 

[Mr Safety Too]

Hi,

I have the same issue whilst testing our Windows 10 image on Dell Laptop hardware.
I've isolated the process to the MBAM Agent (bitlocker client service)

The logs found in Event Viewer (Apps and Services > Microsoft > Windows > MBAM) confirm that the timings match with the flashing.

if i stop this service the issue stops, however understandably i would like to keep this running.
I can't see any options for configuring the frequency of the Bitlocker policy refreshes etc, as if i could do it once per hour, rather than once per minute it might not be so distracting!

Cheers

Craig

 

[Mr Safety Too]

I gave up and reverted to Windows 7. You're correct, there is no practical fix for this issue. Ironically, I am getting notifications to upgrade my PC to Windows 10!
Not now; not ever.

 

[Xuebao61]

That's a shame that was happening. I've never experienced that myself, I actually quite enjoy Windows 10 but I can see why you'd want to avoid that issue. To stop the upgrade banner from coming up, uninstall update KB3035583 and then hide it in Windows update. I've had it pop back up once or twice on another machine I use, so just repeat the procedure if that happens. And turn off automatic updates to help avoid that from happening.

 

[craigm999]

For info:

i have found the solution to the issue (in my environment at least)

As mentioned i had narrowed the process down to Bitlocker/MBAM

there are two registry keys that set the frequency of the policy updates;

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\FVE\MDOPBitLockerManagement\

ClientWakeupFrequency

and

StatusReportingFrequency

These should be set to '90' and '720' respectively (e.g. minutes)
however i'm guessing that during testing it is recommended to set both to '1' - and sometimes this may be forgotten about to change it back later!

Anyway, i'm presuming that the OP might not be in a corporate environment with Bitlocker / MBAM installed, so their issue might have been different, but hopefully this might help someone else!

Cheers,