Avira AntiVir is one of the best free antivirus software for Windows 11/10 designed to protect your device from malicious programs. However, at some point, as experienced and reported by some PC users, you may notice the program is causing a high CPU utilization. In this post, we provide solutions to the most common causes of the Update Avira AntiVir.servicehost.exe high CPU usage on your PC.
The Service Host (svchost.exe) is a shared-service process that serves as a shell for loading services from DLL files. Microsoft introduced a unique svchost.exe for each of the default pre-installed Windows Services on PCs with more than 3.5GB of RAM. Services are organized into related host groups, and each group runs inside a different instance of the Service Host process. In this way, a problem in one instance doesn’t affect other instances. Service Host groups are determined by combining the services with matching security requirements.
Can I turn off Service Host Local System?
If Service Host Local System is consuming high CPU usage, you can disable it, but this will disable some automatic programs in the system. Corrupted system files may cause these issues. So, you can try to run SFC /scannow in the elevated command prompt to check and repair the corrupted system files and see if that helps before you try disabling it.
Fix avira.servicehost.exe high CPU usage
If in Task Manager you see avira.servicehost.exe high CPU usage on your Windows 11/10 device, then the suggestions we have outlined below can help you resolve the issue to ensure the overall performance of your system is not impacted for the best computing or PC gaming experience.
Initial checklist
Update Avira AntiVir
Exclude large folders from scanning in Avira
Uninstall any other AV solution (if applicable)
General troubleshooting for program process high CPU usage on PC
Switch to an alternative AV solution
Let’s have a look at how these fixes can be applied!
1] Initial checklist
Sometimes, high CPU consumption can indicate malware or trojan attack, or even operating system malfunction. So, before you proceed any further, we suggest you scan your computer with antivirus software installed on your PC and if need be, you can use any of the free Standalone On-demand Antivirus Scanners. You can also run Windows repair utilities like the SFC scan and CHKDSK. If the problem started after a recent Windows update or some suspicious software installation, you could uninstall the update or use a system restore point to revert your computer to the previous state.
Troubleshooting in a Clean Boot state can help in cases like this which can be caused by software conflicts. Restarting the avira.servicehost.exe process in Task Manager might also help, and the basics of all, restarting your PC.
2] Update Avira AntiVir
The avira.servicehost.exe high CPU usage you’re experiencing on your Windows 11/10 computer could be due to a bug in the security software which updating the software should fix assuming the developer is aware of the bug and has released a patch. So, you can manually check for the software update and install any available bits to ensure you’re running the latest version on your system.
On some rare occasions as reported by some affected PC users, the Avira Antivirus might not be able to update automatically or manually due to several reasons, but the primary and most prominent one is in some cases after a system restart, the RebootPending.txt file permanently remains in the Avira Antivirus’s installation directory. This will cause your system to expect to restart once again after the startup and will end up blocking the automatic updates of the Avira Antivirus software.
In this case, to have the software update as usual, you will need to delete the RebootPending.txt file from the program’s installation directory by following these steps:
Click on the Update Avira AntiVir icon on the system tray to open up the Avira user interface.
Next, click on Security. on the left navigation pane.
Next, click on Protection options.
Under System protection, click on the Settings icon > General > Security.
Now, uncheck the Protect files and registry entries from manipulation option.
Click on the Apply > OK button.
Next, press the Windows key + E to open File Explorer.
Navigate to the directory path below:
C:\ProgramData\Avira\Antivirus\CONFIG
At the location delete the RebootPending.txt file.
Now, return to the Avira interface and checkmark the Protect files and registry entries from manipulation option once again.
Click on the Apply > OK button to confirm and save the changes.
Restart your PC.
You should now be able to update Update Avira AntiVir on the next system startup. However, if this isn’t the case or updating the software didn’t solve the problem, then you can continue with the next fix.
Resource URL: https://www.thewindowsclub.com/fix-avira-servicehost-exe-high-cpu-usage