In Windows 11 "shell infrastructure host" process using a lot of CPU when viewing Photos on external SSD

Anonymous
2021-11-11T17:25:41+00:00

I have two computers on Windows 11 22000.318 and on both of them when I connect my 512GB Samsung SSD "shell infrastructure host" starts to use a lot of CPU and power usage is "very high" in task manager. I understand this may be normal when browsing large folders on the SSD or copying files to/from the SSD but even if I close all the File Explorer windows to the SSD "shell infrastructure host" continues to use a lot of CPU. If I try to eject the SSD it says its in use. So my only option is to log out of Windows and log back in and that stops "shell infrastructure host" and it goes back to normal. Could this problem be part of the Windows 11 memory leak bug with File Explorer I've been hearing about? Or maybe something to do with indexing going on? My external SSD has thousands of photos and I am using the Photos app.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-02-28T23:10:36+00:00

    Same problem here only when I check photos on Windows Photos. Also enabled screen saver, adjusted color, etc. All of the things people claim it is for them, not for me, just Windows Photos. Just have to remember to open my pics with a different program which is fine as I use Lightroom.

    M

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-03-01T17:52:04+00:00

    Same problem here when viewing images using Windows Photos, even from an internal or not-SSD disk in my case.
    I have noted this issue only after upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11, but cannot be 100% sure that it did not happen before.
    The process can be terminated from task manager but it causes explorer to crash, which is annoying.
    Another "workaround" is not using Windows Photos, but some other application to view photos.
    Being a common issue reported by so many users, I think it should be fixed.

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-03-04T13:14:26+00:00

    I can confirm that problem too. My laptop battery used to be enough for a few hours, after upgrading to windows 11 I noticed the laptop always draining the battery within an hour.

    Saw that process always around 50% of the CPU and the fan was always running high. Killed the process, it kills the explorer and taskbar, then reloaded the taskbar and fan slows down, no more issue without reboot.

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-03-06T17:58:58+00:00

    I have the same issue, clearly related to using the Photos app, no external drive needed.

    Watch some photos with the Photos app.

    When the photos app is closed sihost.exe starts to use CPU time.

    Killing the sihost.exe solves the problem.

    Easy to reproduce on my system.

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-03-07T16:20:06+00:00

    Same problem here! But I found out that the error doesn´t show up when I quit the photo app with the taskmanager!

    Hope that helps.

    Walter

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