Surface Pro 3 High CPU load when idle, high system cpu load

Anonymous
2014-07-22T12:13:28+00:00

Has anyone else noticed that coming out of sleep or herniate results in unwarranted high cpu load from system interrupts? 

I have all the latest firmware and updates loaded. But using sleep even sometimes a cold boot I get this issue.

How can I fix this please. Its killing my battery life.

Surface | Surface Pro | Performance and maintenance

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.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2014-07-19T23:25:46+00:00

Hi jiachengguo,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community! Sorry to know that you are facing battery issues with your new Surface Pro 3. I can see how concerning this is to you, so please know we will do our best to help and guide you in the right direction!

In order to better assist you, I will need to gather a few more details:

  • Have you made any changes to the power settings? And if so, what exact changes have you made?
  • Do you have any startup or background apps running?
  • Do you have a micro SD card inserted or any accessories and Bluetooth devices connected? If so, please disconnect or remove any external accessories and test it again.
  • Have you restarted the Surface and then set it to sleep after the restart? If not, please do so as well.
  • Have you tried resetting the power settings back to the default settings? If you haven't, here is how:
  1. From Desktop, swipe in from the right edge of the screen and open the Charms menu
  2. Select Settings
  3. Select Control Panel
  4. Select Power options
  5. Select Change plan settings
  6. Select Restore default settings for this plan
  7. Select Yes
  8. Restart your Surface

Additionally, for further reference, all available battery information and tips on how to make it last longer, can be found in the next support article that applies for Surface Pro 2 and Pro 3:

We hope this information proves useful. Please keep us posted!

We are here to help!

Best Wishes,

Was this answer helpful?

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2014-07-19T17:43:11+00:00

Oh!! I just checked it again as I wanted to make a screenshot and now it's working! I don't know what changed. The only thing I did was that I originally enabled Hyper-V but when it started interfering with my WiFi connectivity I disabled it again, so maybe that's what was necessary.. I used to have constant high "System Interrupts" process running, but disabling one by one I found out that an Adobe startup process was causing it, so I disabled it and it seems to have fixed the issue. Either way, thanks for your responses!

Was this answer helpful?

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2014-07-19T02:11:55+00:00

Dear Clare,

No, this is not what I was asking. Please refer to the original question.

Perhaps you may have something running in the background.

Was this answer helpful?

0 comments

198 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2015-01-23T17:45:48+00:00

    Thank you michael_is_cool for the info.  My PDF extension filter was messed up and showing "Registered IFilter is not found" and I was able to fix it using your instructions.  I followed your instructions two days ago, and the filter registration is fine today (just unchecked and checked it again to make sure).

    Unfortunately, I have also stopped working on my laptop and rebooted 5 times since due to System and System interrupt CPU utilization and am getting ready to do so again (System is at ~16% and System interrupts is at ~10%, and my tablet is getting very warm).  I just checked for updates and there are none.

    But, at least some other problem was discovered and fixed ... thanks : ).

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2015-01-21T22:35:10+00:00

    I have had this same issue and I have tried everything under the sun and may have finally found the culprit after several support chats and calls, refreshes and device exchanges.  By the way- I figured this out without the help of MS Support.  Their answer is always, "let's exchange the device."  Well- I was tired of re-installing all of my programs.  I was about ready to give up on Surface Pro 3 until I tried this:

    Delete Surface Pen from Bluetooth Devices. 

    I tried to just reinstall the pen driver.  And I tried to unpair the pen and re-pair the pen- and these measures did not work.  But if you remove the Surface Pen from the Bluetooth device list and do not re-pair the pen, the battery drain in sleep mode returns to normal!  I think there is something wrong with the device driver that causes the Bluetooth to stay on during sleep mode and the battery to drain abnormally.  Interestingly, you can still use the Pen (like your finger) and the selection buttons still work.  I was not able to start OneNote with the top button, but that is not a big deal for me.  The first clue for me was that the problem was completely fixed when I put the device in Airplane mode before sleep.   Turning off WiFi helped a little, but airplane mode did the trick.  Then it occurred to me that Bluetooth could be an issue, but the only blue tooth device I had was the Pen.

    Obviously, since the Pen is an important part of the Surface experience for many, this should be addressed by MS.  I would like full functionality of the pen and hopefully it can be fixed soon.  However, if you are having battery drain in sleep mode issues, this may work for you until there is a fix.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments