Windows 10 update leaves some processors hot under cooler • The Register

A fix from 1903 turns Redmond's virtual assistant into an energy-hungry robot.

How about all my CPU cycles?

Update Some Windows 10 users are experiencing alarming processor spikes after last week's optional cumulative update.

The hotfix, KB4512941, was released last week as an update for Windows 10 1903 (aka the May 2019 release).

Although optional and not a security update, 1903 was still a major fix and contained a series of fixes, including a problem that was stopping some applications created with VB6 running, as well as VBA macros and VBA macros. applications using VBScript.

We can imagine that the Windows team is stripping off and committing to a well-deserved Labor Day weekend (at least in the US). At the time of writing this article, the support page of the patch aptly states that "Microsoft is not aware of any issues with this update."

Oh dear.

Over the weekend, it became apparent that the patch had resulted in an impressive CPU utilization for some of the users who pressed the "Check for Updates" button and installed the component.

The problem, according to frustrated users on Twitter, Reddit and Microsoft's own comment forums, seems to concern Cortana, which stores about 40% or more of its processor capacity on affected systems. We assume this is a way to get users to notice it.

Some players reported a sharp drop in frame rates after the update. Those who were able to uninstall the clogged code saw the performance restored.

The problem does not seem to be too prevalent at the moment and Microsoft does not consider it to be important enough to update the support page. We have contacted the Windows giant for more information and we will update it if there is an explanation.

It's a little embarrassing. Recent discussions on Windows Latest revealed that the problem had also been reported in the Microsoft Feedback Hub for the Windows Insider preview ring, but no action had been taken before the update was made. broadcast in the world.

No doubt nobody was able to determine which version of Windows 10 was tested by these insiders. ®

Updated to add

Redmond did not answer our questions but seems to at least recognize that there is a problem with the update.

We are currently investigating a problem where users reported high CPU usage related to SeachUI.EXE after installing the optional update on August 30 (KB4512941). We will provide an update in a future release.

– Windows Update (@WindowsUpdate) September 3, 2019

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