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Windows Driver Foundation - User-mode Driver Framework Host Process High CPU usage

Anonymous
2020-10-15T19:25:56+00:00

In Task Manager -> Processes, "Windows Driver Foundation - User-mode Driver Framework Host Process" is using a lot of CPU time.  It's at 5 or 6% after a reboot, but the more time that goes by, and the more I go into standby and come out, the higher the utilization goes.

This is a new problem, but I was having it before this most recent windows update. 

There is a question from 2017 that has this same title, but that question is locked, and this seems to be different.

I have not installed anything recently - some things on the web say to reinstall drivers - but which drivers should I reinstall? 

Windows 10 Home

Version 2004

Help!

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Performance and system failures

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-10-30T18:32:40+00:00

    Hi DD,

    I've been investigating high CPU utilization of windows driver foundation processes for quite a while.

    Here's the two major factors that i discovered:

    First, I use 2 DisplayLink adapters (not to be confused with DisplayPort) via USB3 to add 2 extra monitors to my ThunderBolt dock for a total of 5 monitors. As you may know, most Intel CPUs on laptops have a limit of 3 active displays. DisplayLink adapters can extend that up to 8.

    However the USB DisplayLink adapters use the Windows Driver Foundation processes.  

    If using DisplayLink, you cannot disable Driver Foundation as many sites will recommend. I tried it and it took me an hour to get the services re-enabled and everything working again.

    The second factor is Zoom which utilizes "Media Foundation" for "Video Capturing Method."

    In the Zoom Advanced Video Settings, I enabled all the hardware acceleration, but changed the 3 settings below from Auto to GDI, Disable and Direct Show, respectively. 

    Since making these changes, i no longer see the high CPU utilization on the Windows Driver Foundation processes.

    Let me know if this helps.

    -rocky

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-10-18T05:41:38+00:00

    Thank you for the response.  I don't understand how we get from "Windows Driver Foundation - User-mode Driver Framework Host Process" to checking the file system.  It would help if you explained why a file system problem would case the driver framework process to over run.

    But I will say, that I've killed off the process when I've seen it get to high and don't seem to have ill effects, and after doing that a couple of times, I haven't seen the problem again.

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-10-15T19:43:03+00:00

    Hi! My name is Anderson Souza. I'm an Independent Advisor and a Microsoft user like you, I'll be glad to help you today.

    There are two tools that you can try at first, they are "sfc" and "dism". In the following link you will see how to use them. This is from the official Microsoft Support page:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-nz/help/402652...

    The System File Checker (SFC) tool built into Windows will scan your Windows system files for corruption or any other changes. If a file has been modified, it will automatically replace that file with the correct version. If the SFC command doesn’t work, you can also try the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) command to repair the underlying Windows system image.

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