Document Cache Sync / CSISYNCCLIENT.EXE - Arrrg, help!!!

Question

So, I have a new laptop running Windows 8.1 on which both me and my wife have separate login accounts. I purchases Office 2013 via office.microsoft.com under my microsoft account and installed it on the laptop whilst logged in as me. It works just fine for me, including the 'Office Upload Centre' which runs in the background and has a taskbar tray icon. The problem I need help with is that my wife gets VERY high CPU usage by CSISYNCCLIENT.EXE (called the 'Microsoft Office Document Cache Sync Client Interface' in Task Manager) when she's logged in using Office applications. Word/Excel etc work fine for her, however the laptop grinds to a virtual halt pretty fast because she ends up with 20-30+ instances of CSISYNCCLIENT.EXE running which eat up 50%-100% of the CPU. This appears to be related to the 'Office Upload Centre' (application = ‘MSOUC.EXE’) which completely refuses to open for her whether it’s via the Start app or the application via Explorer. Its kind of like Windows is trying to open the Centre it but can’t for some reason and instead ends up with a gazillion instances of CSISYNCCLIENT destroying the laptop.

I tried uninstalling Office and reinstalling as well as repairing the install but it didn't help. I found several forum posts from people having the same issue that recommended working round the problem by unchecking the "Use Office to sync files faster and work on files..." in Skydrive; however this option doesn’t appear anywhere in our Skydrive app options (accessed via PC Settings à Skydrive) and can't find anything similar!

Not sure what to do, other than have her use my account for Office work which isn’t ideal. Is it something to do with the Office install being under my MS account??? Any ideas what to try? 

Any help appreciated!

Answer 1

Hi again,

I tried a few of your suggestions but couldn't resolve it. In the end I just bodged a solution by renaming 'CSISYNCCLIENT.EXE' to 'CSISYNCCLIENTa.EXE'. This has prevented the process from running so the CPU usage is normal now, and there don't appear to have been any adverse effects (neither me nor my wife need the Upload Centre to run, and OneDrive and Office still work like they did before).

Thanks again for your help though.

Answer 2

I will strike that thought of a test account

a third MS Account on one PC might just confuse things

if you are able to extricate your wife's MS credentials and be able to issue her a new user profile – assuming that would not be a major disruption – that might help

what I am getting at is the problem may be related to some corruption in her user profile

btw do you see an entry for Microsoft SkyDrive/OneDrive in

Control Panel>Programs and Features?

ACTUALLY the easiest FIRST STEP would be to

switch her account to a local account

then the OneDrive sync app will not start up, and the OUC might get its bearings

(you can always switch back to MS Account later)

test a doc or two

reboot and see

FTR you have Windows 8.1 Home - NOT PRO?

ADD:

WHEN did this malfunction start?

did any thing happen around that time?

have you had any problems with SkyDrive/OneDrive itself?

are all updates applied?

**in File Explorer**in HER user profile

SkyDrive folder

are there any signs of problem files?

red - yellow?  – messages?

in Modern app - top right corner>click

any file info?

and the SkyDrive folder is in its original location at

C:\Users\username\SkyDrive?

does everything look in OK at www.onedrive.com?

and there is only ONE installation of Microsoft Office in

Control Panel>Programs and Features?

are there any other strange things going on with the PC in either user profile?

and there are no other sync clients/software installed on the PC?

and there are only TWO MS Accounts in the picture – yours, which is also linked to Office 2013 itself AND your SkyDrive AND your OUC

and hers which is linked to her SkyDrive and her OUC

VG OneDrive video

Win 8.1 - ignore 'selective sync' and 'fetch'

Answer 3

Hi there, thanks a lot for your reply. I'll give your 'test' scenario a go to see if I can replicate what my wife is experiencing.

To confirm, we both use separate Microsoft Accounts for logging into the laptop and both have separate Onedrive libraries which are associated with those log-in accounts.

Our Office is only home and student 2013, not 365.

Thanks again.

Answer 4

... the Office install being under my MS account

to confirm

you are each using a different 'Microsoft Account'

and each accessing their OWN – different – OneDrive.com document library?

and you are using Office 365 Home Premium?

Answer 5

in Windows 8.1 – unlike Win 7 & 8.0 – OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive) is built-in to the operating system

it is no longer an installable/uninstallable 'app'

OneDrive works together WITH the Office Upload Center (OUC) to carry out data interaction with the OneDrive.com cloud server

with the OUC in control of all Office file types

you could begin by checking Control Panel>Programs and Features

as described here for 8.1

if you create a TEST user account on the PC, does the OUC act up?

you could test by

clear browser cache

sign-in at www.onedrive.com

switch to list view

then right-click a test doc>Open in Word/Excel

opens the doc on local PC

perform lite edit

File Save as>OneDrive/SkyDrive

and see how it goes

let me know