I noticed that in my Task Manager, there's an app called Service Host: Local System that's hogging up to 79% of my CPU usage, sometimes even hitting 80%. I'm worried this might be malware. When I check its location, it leads me to the system32 folder, but I don't want to delete anything since I'm not tech-savvy. Does anyone know if this is safe or if I should take action?
2 Answers
If you're really worried about malware and nothing else seems to help, reinstalling Windows and formatting your drive is an option. But keep in mind, it's a more extreme measure and should really be a last resort. Make sure you back up your important files first!
It sounds like you might be encountering a common Windows process, and it can sometimes use a lot of CPU if there are updates or services running. You can try using Process Explorer, a free tool from Microsoft, to see what's really going on with that service. It gives you a deeper look at what's running in the background.
Why would I need to go that far?