Windows 8 CPU revs up when on foxnews

[Druker]

Suddenly & without any warning at all, my cpu goes up to 24 to 30% when on Foxnews. Here's the site because I doubt anyone has ever been there before.

Link Removed

I've disabled Flash to no avail. Is this something that would be the fault on the Fox site because no other site is giving me this thrill.

 

[HenkB]

I don't see it here on Edge / Chrome

Have you checked for malware?

Henk

 

[Druker]

No malware or viruses. The CPU only spins up on the Foxnews site.

 

[HenkB]

I see only an increase for a short period of time.

Which browser are you using?
Are you at the home page and doing nothing else?
Which process is using that much CPU time?
Is there also an increase in network load?

Edge has a build-in flash player, disabling flash won't help.

Henk

 

[Druker]

Chrome
Doing nothing else
Foxnews is using the CPU and only the Foxnews website
No increase in network load

 

[HenkB]

Please use Ctrl-Alt-Del, goto taskmanager, select More details in the lower left corner and look in the tab Processes and see if Only Chrome is using CPU time or that there are more processes.

 

[Druker]

Only one tab in Google Chrome that is as of now on Foxnews, showing 18:4 and 24% cpu usage. This calms down as soon as I hurdle out of Foxnews. Have you ever seen seen this before and do you think it to be something on their end that is doing that?

 

[HenkB]

The only cases I have seen it, was when malware was involved.
I don't think it is their end - but can't prove it - because I don't see it.

When malware is involved you see some other process in the taskmanager using CPU time.

Have you tried opening Foxnews in a different browser? How is it in Edge? Or in the old MS IE?

 

[Druker]

I've just tried Foxnews in Microsoft Edge (which I refuse to use by the way because of Microsoft's refusal to put extensions in it) and no increase in cpu usage.
When I use it in Chrome, the usage goes up. I've just done another complete scan with Malwarebytes and the infamous SuperAntiSpyware then with the best, Norton Security. Conclusion? No malware, no viruses, no flu bug nor colds. Other than that, maybe I'll keep a Fire Extinguisher close at hand.

 

[HenkB]

This morning I could reproduce your CPU load in Edge but only for a short period, say a minute or so. After that it went back to normal rates. That is normal behaviour I think. Depending on your computer it may go faster or slower.

Have you tried removing Chrome and flash completely and reinstalling them?

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

I also saw lots of spiking on all 3-W10 browsers (Edge, Chrome, IE11) on the fox news site. I then checked cnn.com which is traditionally the highest activity video and photo media site page; it too spikes on all 3 browsers up to 99% CPU usage; up from 8% running idle. I suspect that the fox news site which appears to have 5-8 pages of photos, mixed text links, streaming media player insets, and lots of stuff appears to be very similar to cnn's page which traditionally was the browser benchmark for heavy content loading and loading time tests. I don't think it's too unusual, and I don't think it's just your computer.

Running all 3 browsers concurrently on the fox news site, my CPU usage goes from 11% - 99%.

Running all 3 browsers concurrently on the cnn.com site, my CPU usage goes from 16%-99%. It seemed to stabilize between 20%-70% when idle; as soon as I started scrolling in any of the 3 browsers, CPU usage jumped to 98%-99% and then dropped back to nominal levels.

Don't know if this helps, but it gives you a baseline on 2 other computers besides just yours (Henk's and mine).

Just a thought, but how much RAM do you have in the computer that gives you the spiked CPU usage? Mine is 8GB DDR3.

Best,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>

 

[Druker]

Didn't uninstall Chrome no. When you mention removing Flash, are you talking about a particular extension? Also, BigBeard (and mama, don't get around any open flames with that) what you state is quite interesting.
For me, Foxnews has only began this humorous thing within the last week or so ago you know. I remember YNet news doing that a long while back and suddenly (and without warning) it just fixed itself.

 

[HenkB]

It was just a test to see whether a fresh install of Chrome and the Flash extension would resolve your problem.

We know nothing of your computer. A small computer may easily show this behaviour.
As BBJ pointed out we need to know more.
But maybe the best approach is just waiting a while and see if it fixes itself.....

 

[Druker]

I've an ASUS Republic of Gamer / 16 Gigs of RAM / 2 500 Gig hard drives. Let's give it a week or so Bochane and see if it disappears or if the whole laptop goes up in a ball of flame!
Just tried it again and immediately the cpu fans begin to churn. There's something whacky tabaccy with that site whereas no other site is giving me this grief.

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

Thanks for posting that info Druker! good job there!

Can you try this Foxnews site on one of your other computers? Or perhaps a friend's, family member's, or co-worker's? Just to see if it behaves better or worse than on your PC?

Might be worth a try. I don't know that I'd throw your computer in the junk heap just yet though. Based on my tests, I think it's just another heavily media-laden news site that is not really optimized for the average home user's computer.

Best,
BBJ

 

[Druker]

Indeed, this unit is only a bit over two years old, so it's not going anywhere yet such as the junk pile. Anyway, took your advice and did this on another laptop. Same results - when I go to Taskmanager, I noticed with several tabs opened, one was up to 25% cpu usuage. I hit the End Task and Foxnews flew the coupe and cpu usage dropped down to about 2%. So summing it all up, CNN should report there is something awol on Foxnews site that is asking for a lot of cpu usage. I think we can call this a closed case but still opened as far as Foxnews and whoever is responsible for making their site. Other sites have a lot of info rolling up but does not do this. As stated, this has only begun for me with the last week or so. Thanks for the help, info and all the other good things that go with it.

 

[BIGBEARJEDI]

You're welcome, Druker!

BBJ

 

[Druker]

Found this thread from just a few long years ago ...

CPU use on Fox News site? • mozillaZine Forums

 

[Druker]

Does any still get very high cpu usage on Foxnews? For whatever reason, the fans go nuts on that particular site to the point where the laptop is nearly turning circles on my desk. Any ideas yet?

 

[ussnorway]

chrome will be autoloading all the vids ready to watch, whereas other browser [like Firefox] don't default to autoload