PhoneExperienceHost.exe high CPU usage when pc idle

Anonymous
2022-11-12T15:18:33+00:00

Hi,

When I come back to my laptop and it's gone into idle mode (screen off) I can hear the fans running fast, but as soon as I move the mouse the fans die off. I tried to figure out for a while what was happening and eventually set up perfmon to record what processes were running. I discovered that runs at 50% CPU continuously while the machine is in idle which is ridiculous for something that shouldn't be doing anything much (I'd upload a screenshot but there doesn't seem to be an option anywhere). Looking at details in Task Manager the PhoneExperienceHost.exe process has used twice as much CPU in total than any other app, even though I haven't used it in the foreground.

I do use Phone link to connect to my phone, but it's in the background (system tray icon only) and shouldn't be doing anything most of the time.

There's nothing related in Event viewer and I can't see anything in Scheduler which might trigger it.

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the Phone Link software.

The machine says it is up to date for patching.

I've searched for anything related to this issue and found nothing helpful so either it's only my machine, or other people don't realise it's happening as it only happens when they can't look at it!

Any ideas on how to fix this so it stops using my power (obviously uninstalling is not an option)? (TBH though, I expect it's something built into the software and can only be fixed by MS)

Thanks,

Jon W

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Connect Phone and PC

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-04-18T11:23:55+00:00

    I do confirm this is now fixed on my end too. Glad to see it was finally addressed!

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-03-08T17:03:14+00:00

    This is obviously an area of Windows Microsoft has allocated very little development resources to. It's not a feature the vast majority of the tens of millions of Windows users are going to take advantage of and therefore isn't a differentiator for the purpose of generating more sales. So support inquiries basically go nowhere and you are asked to submit feedback. Gee, I'm busy, why don't you debug and maintain your own software without me telling you what to do!

    With that said. I tried MyPhoneExplorer. The interface is dated but it is impressive for being free. There was only one deal breaker. It appears you can view MMS messages but you can only send SMS messages. I send MMS with image attachments from my PC all the time so that was a deal breaker.

    Currently the only thing I've found that does everything well is MightyText Pro, but it costs. It's a small amount though to have excellent, complete, bug-free functionality.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-03-08T13:53:00+00:00

    Good to know but, given that this disables the notifications, it sort of defeats the main point of having Phone link in the first place :-(

    As I mentioned above, since discovering that phone link doesn't transfer pictures properly, I'm looking for an alternative anyway. So far, MyPhoneExplorer seems the best for me (others will have different requirements) but it's far from ideal.

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-11-13T02:22:21+00:00

    Thank you for your detailed reply and I do apologize it didn't work on your end. Let's ask our colleagues if they do have ideas and fix for this.

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-11-12T16:43:14+00:00

    Hi and thanks for reaching out. My name is Bernard a Windows fan like you. I'll be happy to help you out today.

    I understand the issue you have, nothing to worry I am here to help, I know some of these steps are already done, you have just skipped it if you think it will have the same result.

    Method 1. Do clean boot:

    A “clean boot” starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs, so that you can determine whether a background program is interfering with your game or program.

    • In the search box on the taskbar, type msconfig and select System Configuration from the results.
    • On the Services tab of System Configuration, select Hide all Microsoft services, and then select Disable all.
    • On the Startup tab of System Configuration, select Open Task Manager.
    • Under Startup in Task Manager, for each startup item, select the item and then select Disable.
    • Close Task Manager.
    • On the Startup tab of System Configuration, select OK. When you restart the computer, it's in a clean boot environment.

    troubleshooting reference: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929135...

    Method 2. Run memory diagnostic tool: Memory diagnostic tool is a RAM test to check if there is any issues with RAM.

    • Press Windows key + R then type in mdsched.exe hit OK then restart the device.

    Let me know how it goes and I hope that helps.

    Bernard

    Independent Advisor

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