Windows Update CPU deadlock, no way to fix ?

Question

Since several weeks now, my MS Surface Pro 7 has the following processes eating 25 to 50% of the CPU for up to 1 hour after every cold boot:

• Windows Update
• Software Protection service
• AppX deployment service
• and occasionally SysMain (SuperFetch)

Nothing unusual occurred before the problem started, there's only genuine software, careful maintenance, etc etc.
So far, I tried the following, without any improvement:

• Windows Update Troubleshooter
• stop/restart wuausvc (but that does NOT work, the service refuses to be stopped, without any error msg)
• Check the system SSD
• Complete system scan with Windows Defender A/V
• run SFC /SCANNOW
• Reset Microsoft Store data
• Delete the Windows/SoftwareDistribution content

Nothing seems to help: what's my next option ? Reinstall ????

The remarkable thing is that only CPU has significant activity during that long time, there is no visible disk or network activity (Taks Manager), so it really looks like the wuausvc is spinning on its own in some sort of deadlock, and can't be manually stopped via the Services panel.

I want to fix this as it has adverse effect on the performance of the system and it drains the battery unnecessarily.

It also reminds me one of my old, unanswered posts where I suggested Microsoft to allow user scheduling of the whole resource-hungry Windows Update process, not just the reboot after silent updates.

NB1: A/V is the built-in Windows Defender, Windows 10 Pro, 21H1, 19043.1466

NB2: upgrading to Win11 is not an option for me at this time

“***Post moved by the moderator to the appropriate forum category.***”

Answer 1

Hi benoitvm,

Thank you for reaching Microsoft Community and I'm sorry to hear about the issue you are having the device performance.

May I know how did you try stopping the Windows Update service? Was it through the Services app?

Please open Device Manager, expand Firmware and double-click Surface System Aggregator. Go to its Driver tab and share us with the Driver version installed.

Please try running these steps also on your Surface Pro 7 for now:

1: Run Surface Diagnostic Toolkit

See: Fix common Surface problems using the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit (microsoft.com)

2: Update drivers and firmware

Check what is the current OS Build of your Windows version by going to Settings > System > About. 

Go to Download driver and firmware for Surface, choose Surface Pro

Then click the link next to Surface Pro 7 then click Download on the next page.

Choose the .msi file that matches your current OS Build and click Next.

After downloading, run and install the .msi then Restart. 

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Hi benoitvm,

We have noticed that you haven’t replied to our first response yet. We would like to know if you still need some assistance on the concern raised. If yes, please reply back for us to further assist you.

If the previous response answered your question, we highly encourage you to inform our Community by clicking on Yes or marking my post as an answer. This will help other members who may have the same concern as you.

Hope to hear from you.

Answer 3

I'll try the above suggested steps ASAP & come back here. Tx

Answer 4

Hi benoitvm,

Thank you for the response and we hope to hear back from you soon.

Kind regards,

Marrion

Answer 5

Hi benoitvm,

Thank you for reaching Microsoft Community and I'm sorry to hear about the issue you are having the device performance.

May I know how did you try stopping the Windows Update service? Was it through the Services app?

Yes

Note: I can disable the wuausvc service, but at some point, it always comes back (another system process must be checking its state and reset it anyway)

Please open Device Manager, expand Firmware and double-click Surface System Aggregator. Go to its Driver tab and share us with the Driver version installed.

14.418.139.0

Please try running these steps also on your Surface Pro 7 for now:

1: Run Surface Diagnostic Toolkit

See: Fix common Surface problems using the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit (microsoft.com)

No problem found

2: Update drivers and firmware

Check what is the current OS Build of your Windows version by going to Settings > System > About. 

Go to Download driver and firmware for Surface, choose Surface Pro

Then click the link next to Surface Pro 7 then click Download on the next page.

Choose the .msi file that matches your current OS Build and click Next.

There is no matching version available (19043.1466) (but the Surface Diagnostic Tool says all drivers are up to date anyway)

Should I install SurfacePro7_Win10_18362_21.092.23703.0.msi or SurfacePro7_Win10_17763_20.020.2886.0.msi then ?

After downloading, run and install the .msi then Restart. 

Hope this helps.

Answers here above. Problem still present.