Windows 7 CPU at 98% from NT Kernel & System (smss.exe) and SearchFilterHost.exe

draperc

New Member
I did a clean install of windows 7 yesterday, and before I had even started installing programs I noticed my system was sluggish. After loading up on my programs and getting my documents in place, it has been basically unusable without tweaking in ways I'd rather not stick to. I've run a symantec scan, lavasoft adaware scan, and spybot search and destroy scans, all showed, as predicted, that my system is clean.

I've been able to use my computer a little if I go into 'services' and set 'windows search' to 'manual' and 'stop,' but ideally I would like my system to be indexed at some point. As of now though, if I leave this on, it uses about 45-60% of my cpu.

As for the "NT kernel & system" problem - it shows up as "image name - system" "user - system" "description - NT Kernel & System" in task manager. Using Process Explorer, I was able to pinpoint that the problem was with 'smss.exe,' or 'session management subsystem,' which it appears from a few google searches can't be turned off. This process is constantly using 40-60% of my CPU, and has since I first installed windows 7, and I have not found a way to change this.

Anyone have any advice for me? I have 3g of ram, and can't think what else about my hardware would be relevant. I've run drivermax to make sure that all my drivers are correct, and have tried endless fiddling with startup, but nothing seems to help the NT problem, and the only thing that has helped the indexing problem is turning it off completely. I never thought I'd say this, but I already miss Vista...please save me!

Thanks!
 
I've run a symantec scan, lavasoft adaware scan, and spybot search and destroy scans, all showed, as predicted, that my system is clean.

I've been able to use my computer a little if I go into 'services' and set 'windows search' to 'manual' and 'stop,' but ideally I would like my system to be indexed at some point. As of now though, if I leave this on, it uses about 45-60% of my cpu.
.

Anyone have any advice for me? I have 3g of ram, and can't think what else about my hardware would be relevant.

Thanks!

YES.. shut off ALL those programs you mentioned. Removing Norton is known to be one of the best ways to speed up windows.

Turn off indexing... grinds your hard drive all the time ...while you WAIT... there is a third party program called Superfinder XP that searches your hard drive as fast WITHOUT indexing as windows does WITH indexing.
You have to go to computer/ select your hard drive and click on properties to uncheck this. Turn it off on
ALL your hard drives.

Disable these services, Click "Start" and type "fe" and select "Turn Windows
Features on or off" These are the most unnecessary: Remote Differential
Compression Offline Files (unless you’re using Offline File Sync) Tablet PC
Input Service (unless you have a tablet PC) Terminal Services Fax (unless you’re
using a fax modem)

You can turn them all off EXCEPT "Windows Search" because that one will remove
the search box that you type into when you click "Start" You may want to leave
on the "Internet Explorer" and "Media Features" since they add extra features to
those programs.

Put the Axe to Scheduled Task
Windows 7 has over 100 tasks scheduled. I turned ALL mine off because I will run
them when I want them to run (like defrag, backup) and I'm not interested in
sending Microsoft about 20 different reports on a daily/hourly basis. You can
look them over and decide for yourself. There is a brief description when you
select them.

Click "Start" and type "ta" and select "Task Scheduler Manager" go to
Microsoft/Windows and right click and start disabling. There are tweaking
utilities that make it easier by giving you boxes to uncheck... but the ones I
have used don't show all the tasks that are listed by this method.

Check this FREQUENTLY because this has become a very popular method for third
party programs to secretly get loaded and run all the time. Install Ad-Aware and
go to the Task Scheduler and see it checks for updates weekly. This service will
be abused more and more as companies realize their products are being removed
from the start menus.

Turn off Hibernation
Unless you are worried about your laptop battery going out while you are working
on an important document and losing the data, Hibernation is a waste of disk
space. It builds large files that slow down backup and cloning. To disable
hibernation: Click "Start" and type "powercfg -h off" (without quotes) and when
you press enter a screen with come up and disappear.

Windows Defender - Too much defence - it wants too run often.

Click "Start" and type and enter "def" and select "Windows Defender" click
"Tools" "Options" and uncheck the box "Automatically Scan" It's easy to create a
desktop shortcut and run it when you want it to run. Create a desktop shortcut
to "\program files\windows defender\MSASCui.exe" and run it from time to time.
It searches for malware and spyware, much like AdAware

Turn off automatic Defragmenter

Defragging every week or two is often enough, so run it manually when you are
going to take a break. Click "Start" type "di" and select "Disk Defragmenter"and
"Configure scheduler" and uncheck the "Run on schedule" box.

Run Msconfig and go to start menu and uncheck everything... you can go back and
check something you want to run all the time.. but it will often help your system run much
better.

Press CTRL + Shift + Esc and keep an eye on processes to see what's usng your cpu... then
knock it out... or just run it on demand.


Reclaim your computer
 
Holy detailed message batman! Thank you tblount!

Any additional info on wtf this NT kernel & system (smss.exe) actually is or how to minimize/eliminate its voracious appetite for my cpu?

Thank you!
 
Holy detailed message batman! Thank you tblount!

Any additional info on wtf this NT kernel & system (smss.exe) actually is or how to minimize/eliminate its voracious appetite for my cpu?

Thank you!

Welcome .. let us know what you found out. When we try to fix problems we don't have we need input about what worked. Luckily I don't have ALL these problems people post.
 
Hi - I wonder if you could help - I have virtually the same problem.

Recently (and I am wondering if this is not since I increased my RAM, although I don't see how it would affect it), I have noticed that the 'System (NT Kernel) was using a lot of CPU time whenever I was listening to my music on the PC.
I have been using Resource Monitor, it is very clear that when I press the Play Button on any MP3 player (Winamp, WM11 or Mediamonkey, the NT Kernel kicks in and starts to use about 20% of my CPU time. If you add to this the CPU taken by the MP3 player, it can add up to 50% of the CPU time used, which sounds far too much to my liking.

Is this normal ? I am currently running an Evaluation copy of Windows 7 Build 7100, with an Intel 4 3.2 Ghz, 2Gig RAM.

I have tried to tweak Windows 7 as per the instructions in the post - whilst it has helped, the problem remains the same.

Any thought ?

Many thanks for your help !

Olivier
 
Hi - I wonder if you could help - I have virtually the same problem.

Recently (and I am wondering if this is not since I increased my RAM, although I don't see how it would affect it), I have noticed that the 'System (NT Kernel) was using a lot of CPU time whenever I was listening to my music on the PC.
I have been using Resource Monitor, it is very clear that when I press the Play Button on any MP3 player (Winamp, WM11 or Mediamonkey, the NT Kernel kicks in and starts to use about 20% of my CPU time. If you add to this the CPU taken by the MP3 player, it can add up to 50% of the CPU time used, which sounds far too much to my liking.

Is this normal ? I am currently running an Evaluation copy of Windows 7 Build 7100, with an Intel 4 3.2 Ghz, 2Gig RAM.

I have tried to tweak Windows 7 as per the instructions in the post - whilst it has helped, the problem remains the same.

Any thought ?

Many thanks for your help !

Olivier


I would think you have driver problems/confilicts. Did you run the diagnostics and look at the reports from the message on my tagline?
 
Hi,
Thanks for your answer - I did the Event Viewer and it gave me quite a lot of recent errors, although they all seem to point to the browser - where a Service is not enabled. I could not see anything about driver errors.
The Performance report however is highlighting an issue with RAID - although I must say I am quite ignorant about this, so I am not sure if this is relevant.

It looks however that the tweaks you suggest for Windows 7 have worked - as I restarted, I am now playing Serge Gainsbourg's Melody Nelson with Media Monkey with little more than 15% CPU used. I have no idea why.

One more question for you (if you don't mind) - does it make sense for me to have Windows 7 with an old-ish Pentium 4 ?

Thanks for your help in advance,
 
Hi,
Thanks for your answer - I did the Event Viewer and it gave me quite a lot of recent errors, although they all seem to point to the browser - where a Service is not enabled. I could not see anything about driver errors.
The Performance report however is highlighting an issue with RAID - although I must say I am quite ignorant about this, so I am not sure if this is relevant.

It looks however that the tweaks you suggest for Windows 7 have worked - as I restarted, I am now playing Serge Gainsbourg's Melody Nelson with Media Monkey with little more than 15% CPU used. I have no idea why.

One more question for you (if you don't mind) - does it make sense for me to have Windows 7 with an old-ish Pentium 4 ?

Thanks for your help in advance,

I would say YES.. if the computer runs it, I would run Win 7 and enjoy the new features. Also, if it's an extra system, it's easier if all your systems have the same OS.... you won't be caught thinking "How do I do this" when you want to make a modification.

Thanks for the feedback on the speed tips... I suppose those were the tips you were talking about?
 
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