Hi im having issues with cmd/windows taking up a lot of ram/CPU when booting up

Question

Answer 1

Click the link below to download a small free utility that does not require installation.

https://download.sysinternals.com/files/Autoruns.zip

When the file downloads, unzip it.

Run Autoruns64 as Administrator

1

Select the 'Logon' tab at the top of Autoruns.

Please provide a screenshot of all entries on that tab.

2

Select the 'Scheduled Tasks' tab at the top of Autoruns.

Please provide a screenshot of all entries on that tab.

Answer 2

The screenshot shows high CPU and RAM usage from Windows Command Processor (cmd.exe) and other processes right after startup. To reduce this load, focus on identifying and disabling unnecessary startup items and processes that are reading heavily from disk or consuming memory.

1. Check which processes are causing disk and CPU load at startup
   1. Install and run Windows Performance Toolkit (WPT) and use Windows Performance Recorder/Analyzer to capture a boot trace.
   2. In Windows Performance Analyzer, use the disk I/O views to see which non‑Windows processes are doing the most reads during post‑boot. The guidance is to identify the top third‑party processes that are contributing to disk reads and remove them from startup or from the system image if they are not required.
   3. If a process is introducing disk contention at boot, disable it from starting automatically or uninstall it.
   This approach is described in the performance optimization exercise, where the Path Tree view is used to see which binaries a process reads and to decide whether its launch path or component size can be optimized.
2. Reduce startup programs and services
   1. Open Task Manager → Startup tab.
   2. Disable non‑essential third‑party entries, especially anything that launches scripts, command prompts, or heavy background tools.
   3. Restart and check whether Windows Command Processor still uses large amounts of RAM/CPU.
3. Look for system‑wide performance issues
   1. If the system feels generally slow or unresponsive over time, check whether the system file cache or other components are consuming most of the physical RAM.
   2. Use the Sysinternals RamMap tool and select Use Counts, then sort by the Active column. If “Metafile” is the top consumer and a large part of memory is used, the machine is affected by the system file cache issue described in the documentation. In that case, follow the related guidance to mitigate the cache growth.
4. Scan for malware or unwanted tools
   1. High cmd.exe usage at boot can be caused by scripts or unwanted software.
   2. Run a full scan with Windows Security and a reputable antimalware tool, and remove anything suspicious.
5. General performance cleanup
   1. Uninstall extra antivirus or antispyware products; running more than one real‑time security product can significantly reduce performance.
   2. Use a startup inspection tool such as Autoruns (for advanced users) to see everything that runs at logon and disable unneeded entries.

After making these changes, reboot and monitor Task Manager again. If Windows Command Processor is no longer at the top of CPU/RAM usage and overall disk activity at startup is reduced, the issue is mitigated.

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References:

• Exercise 2 - Evaluate Fast Startup Using Windows Performance Toolkit
• You experience performance issues in applications and services when the system file cache consumes most of the physical RAM
• Speed up a Windows 8.1 computer