Fix system process constant high cpu usage >20% after windows 11 upgrade?

Question

system process has constant high cpu usage >20% after windows 11 upgrade. Steps taken so far:

• Update MSI PRO Z690-A DDR4 BIOS E7D25IMS.1M0
• Disable Realtek Audio driver
• Set Power Mode = Best Performance
• Update TP-Link Archer TX401 PCIe 10GbE Network Adapter aqnic650
• Switching to built-in network interface did not fix
• Clean install NVIDIA RTX 3060 580.97 driver
• Switching to integrated GPU did not fix

OK in Safe Mode with NVIDIA GPU and TX401 NIC enabled.

Not OK after clean boot with all startup and non-MS services disabled.

sfc /scannow does not find any integrity violations.

Dism /Online /Cleanup-image /RestoreHealth did not make changes.

Clean install of Windows 11 is not an acceptable solution.

Answer 1

Windows Performance Recorder/Analyzer showed high CPU% by aksdf.sys, a component of Sentinel LDK License Manager. ChatGPT found these related drivers:

• aksdf.sys → Data filter driver
• akshhl.sys → Hardlock device driver.
• aksfridge.sys → Freezing protection driver (rare, older).
• hardlock.sys → Old parallel/USB dongle driver.
• aksusb.sys → USB filter driver for HASP dongles.
• akshasp.sys → Core HASP driver.

Some of these were still being loaded. These commands identified which ones:

sc query akshhl
sc query aksfridge
sc query hardlock
sc query aksusb
sc query akshasp
sc query hasplms

The following commands deleted the active drivers:

sc delete aksdf
sc delete aksfridge
sc delete hardlock
sc delete hasplms

Also deleted aksdf.sys, aksfridge.sys, and hardlock.sys from C:\Windows\System32\drivers. These files were dated 2014. System process CPU usage now low.

Answer 2

Please check if the load decreased after Internet disconnection.

Answer 3

Unfortunately, deeper analysis may be done with debugger.

Let's try a bypass. Check if the problem exists during clean boot.

https://support.microsoft.com/topic/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-2f8a-a97a1807f3dd

Answer 4

Hi,

My name is Igor, it's a pleasure for me to help others and I'll try to help you. I am merely a fellow user trying to provide insight and information that may be helpful to others.

System process may do some work on behalf of running programs. Please analyze CPU load using Process Explorer. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

You may save its data to a file and share it to OneDrive for analysis.

Answer 5

Hello! keg415. I'm glad to assist you with this.

Thanks for the detailed breakdown of what you’ve tried.

Since the System process (PID 4) is chewing >20% CPU constantly after your Windows 11 upgrade, but runs fine in Safe Mode, we can narrow this down to a kernel-mode driver or low-level service that still loads even in a clean boot.

Confirm the offending thread in System

Use Process Explorer (from Microsoft Sysinternals):

Run as admin, hover over the System process.

Press Ctrl+D (to show DLLs/drivers) or Ctrl+H (to show handles).

Then go to View → System Information → CPU and double-click the System process.

In the Threads tab, sort by CPU.

Look at the Start Address and Module name. This usually reveals which driver (e.g., ndis.sys, storport.sys, dxgkrnl.sys, acpi.sys, etc.) is eating cycles.

That’ll tell you whether it’s network, storage, graphics, ACPI, or something else.

Best regards,

Kimberly