Csrss.exe taking up 50% of CPU?

Question

I'm looking at my task manager and i have 3 csrss.exe processes up. 1 is running at 256,900k.(50% CPU)
Another is running at about 9,364k and another at 720k
Obviously, this is really slowing down my computer.
I'm currently running my Windows Security Essentials to scan for trojans. I've done a little bit of research and apparently Csrss.exe is a program that NEEDS to be running on my computer. I'd really like to end the process thats taking up 50% of my cpu, but on the other hand, i dont want to destroy my hard drive or something.
What can i do to make sure that this process isnt the process that needs to be running on my computer?

Answer 1

Greetings!



Well first off, Csrss.exe is a program that Windows uses to basically tell the operating system the instructions it needs for graphics. Having a high CPU usage won't hurt your computer so there isn't really a reason for you to stop it (stopping it will most likley give you a BSOD)



One thing that I noticed is you have three of them running at the same time which may be the result of a Virus or simply just multiple processes open.



Something you might want to do:



Restart your computer and see if there are still three processes. If so, follow the next steps, if not, just don't worry about it, your computer will adjust to the usage as needed.



Go to safemode with networking and download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (Malwarebytes.org)

Open it and run a full scan. If it finds anything remove it and restart your computer. The virus should be gone. If it doesn't pick it up, then your fine anyways because your computer is working like it should.



Hope this helps!



~Looninjg

Answer 2

Csrss.exe High Cpu

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.



RE:

Csrss.exe taking up 50% of CPU?

I'm looking at my task manager and i have 3 csrss.exe processes up. 1 is running at 256,900k.(50% CPU)

Another is running at about 9,364k and another at 720k

Obviously, this is really slowing down my computer.

I'm currently running my Windows Security Essentials to scan for trojans....

Answer 4

Without actually seeing/working on the machine, I can only make speculations. However, it sounds like you may have some background processes running that you're not aware of. When you run anti-virus and anti-spyware programs, do they come up clean, or do they show issues? Plus, you mentioned everything was fine 2+ months ago; have you made any changes that could be causing these issues? Another thing to keep in mind is that your security suite could be causing the explorer usage issue. Since those types of suites integrate themselves into so many facets of the Windows runtime, they're more likely to cause explorer to hog resources than the application itself. Check to see if there are any software (not just definition) updates for your suite. Bottom line is, unless you notice that it's actually affecting system stability, or your ability to run programs or applications, I wouldn't worry about it too much. If nothing, toss on an extra case fan; that should alleviate any unusual heat build-up. As for your hard drive, it'll be fine; and your processor will shut down before it allows itself to critically overheat.