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Firefox high CPU Usage even when no tabs open in a separate process

Kj
Kj
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Hey folks,

i am facing issue with high CPU usage on firefox in completely different process other as visible in task manager than my actual process for firefox. is there something wrong with firefox or my system.

This separate process uses more than 60% of my CPU (AMD Ryzen 5 4600). If I close that process in the task manager nothing happens to my current firefox process and i can use firefox normally.

But everytime this separate process starts my system fans ramp up and CPU temps peaks to 70 degrees celsius. and i have to end that process to make it run normally. Thats a quite annoying process to do every time.

I am able to recreate this separate process by:

  1. 1. Plug my system for charging
  2. 2. I was working offline and connect to internet

both the times the separate process automatically starts and uses very high amount of CPU. I even left my system for 2 hours to keep that process running and complete whatever it was doing. but nothing happend. It continued to run for 2 hours also.

Please find a solution for this. I have already tried solutions provided in the forum:

  • Restarting firefox
  • Refreshing Firefox
  • Enabling hardware accleration
  • Clearing some user profile data
  • Completely uninstalling firefox and deleting the residual files then reinstalling etc.

but nothing worked.

Hey folks, i am facing issue with high CPU usage on firefox in completely different process other as visible in task manager than my actual process for firefox. is there something wrong with firefox or my system. This separate process uses more than 60% of my CPU (AMD Ryzen 5 4600). If I close that process in the task manager nothing happens to my current firefox process and i can use firefox normally. But everytime this separate process starts my system fans ramp up and CPU temps peaks to 70 degrees celsius. and i have to end that process to make it run normally. Thats a quite annoying process to do every time. I am able to recreate this separate process by: #1. Plug my system for charging #2. I was working offline and connect to internet both the times the separate process automatically starts and uses very high amount of CPU. I even left my system for 2 hours to keep that process running and complete whatever it was doing. but nothing happend. It continued to run for 2 hours also. Please find a solution for this. I have already tried solutions provided in the forum: * Restarting firefox * Refreshing Firefox * Enabling hardware accleration * Clearing some user profile data * Completely uninstalling firefox and deleting the residual files then reinstalling etc. but nothing worked.

Chosen solution

For programs that run at startup, the Autoruns utility is useful (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns). However, since it appears able to start at any time that Firefox is already running, there must be more to it.

I finally ran a web search for the "gecko-crash-server-pipe" bit and it returned a variety of malware-related results. This one actually reached a resolution:

May 2021: https://superuser.com/questions/1649119/why-firefox-is-consuming-internet-and-almost-70-cpu-and-how-to-stop-this-behavi

I also searched "windows-display-service .com" and found a breakdown of where that malware installs:

https://infosecwriteups.com/how-i-ended-up-downloading-a-malware-c5aa93742ce4?gi=91e4fb7f0c12

(If you haven't already set Windows to show hidden files and folders, see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/view-hidden-files-and-folders-in-windows-97fbc472-c603-9d90-91d0-1166d1d9f4b5 so you can explore the AppData path.)

But using a good cleanup tool may take care of it.

Read this answer in context 👍 2

All Replies (2)

Kj
Kj Mwenye swali
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jscher2000 - Support Volunteer said
For programs that run at startup, the Autoruns utility is useful (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns). However, since it appears able to start at any time that Firefox is already running, there must be more to it. I finally ran a web search for the "gecko-crash-server-pipe" bit and it returned a variety of malware-related results. This one actually reached a resolution: May 2021: https://superuser.com/questions/1649119/why-firefox-is-consuming-internet-and-almost-70-cpu-and-how-to-stop-this-behavi I also searched "windows-display-service .com" and found a breakdown of where that malware installs: https://infosecwriteups.com/how-i-ended-up-downloading-a-malware-c5aa93742ce4?gi=91e4fb7f0c12 (If you haven't already set Windows to show hidden files and folders, see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/view-hidden-files-and-folders-in-windows-97fbc472-c603-9d90-91d0-1166d1d9f4b5 so you can explore the AppData path.) But using a good cleanup tool may take care of it.

Thanks for letting me know about it. I was completely unaware of this thing. I did found out that my system has that windows update service folder with .vbe file in it. I have deleted that from my system. also i have installed the malware bytes trial version. Scanned my system it detected another trojen somewhere in windows registry. I has been quarantined. Hopefully it wont happen again. Thanks for the support.

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 25 Contributor
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I should have done that web search sooner, but I'm glad you are in a good place now.

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