Running the Task Manager often improves CPU speed.
Running the Task Manager often improves CPU speed.
I've noticed an odd issue with my computer over the past couple days - the CPU seems to run faster with Task Manager open. Application performance will seem sluggish or keyboard inputs will be delayed, but when I open Task Manager to check, suddenly the issue is gone? Sometimes when I open Task Manager, the CPU usage will show up as 20-30% and then immediately drop. I have 72 threads, so 30% extra CPU usage is absolutely not normal. What I'm beginning to suspect is that I have some sort of virus, a crypto miner or something, using my CPU, and when it detects Task Manager it stops activity to hide itself from user detection. I can't begin to imagine why else on earth i'd lose up to HALF my CPU performance....? I have not downloaded anything suspicious or run any weird EXEs, but I have used a public network, and I also have a Windows 7-based NAS (which SHOULD have robust firewalls to eliminate any internet access, but it's still a hole.) Oddly though I haven't noticed any extra heat or power consumption from the system. I'm very close to a full boot drive wipe and Windows reinstall, but is there anything else I need to do? I have a ton of other drives in the system totaling a couple terabytes. I can't lose data on them, but if I back up their contents, what if the virus (if that's what it is) gets onto my backup drive and finds its way onto my new install? Back at ground zero. So I'm not so sure what to do there. Or am I just overthinking this entirely.... Running Windows 10 24h2, all security updates/patches installed, Windows Defender and Malwarebytes both don't find anything. I can't think of anything else to explain this phenomenon though....? Input would be much appreciated because this has been baffling me In case it matters, I have an HP z840 workstation, 2x Xeon E5-2697v4, 8x8gb DDR4-2133 Intel RST SATA+sSATA, LSI MegaRAID SAS, and a few NVMe drive controllers (booting from NVMe) Newest BIOS EVGA RTX 2070 Super, last updated driver 3 weeks ago
Check it out—there are several options to track CPU usage without relying on Task Manager.
I've observed that across various platforms and OS versions, it consistently runs as a Windows service such as Start, News, or Runtime Broker.
The virus is confirmed, Windows 10 isn't receiving a 24h2 release—the newest is 22h2. Only Windows 11 got the 24h2 update. If that's incorrect, just laugh! Have a great day!