Remote Desktop Server with high(er) CPU load? A possible fix!
Posted by DeluxiusNL@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 1 comments
Sharing this in case it helps someone else dealing with high CPU usage on an RDS server.
We occasionally see Remote Desktop Servers hitting 70–100% CPU usage, and it can be tough to track down the cause.
Quick Tip:
If you can identify the culprit process, you can right-click it in Task Manager > Details tab > Set Affinity, and assign it to just one CPU core. This can instantly improve server responsiveness, giving you time to troubleshoot properly.
But recently, we had a case where CPU usage spiked and none of the usual tools—built-in or third-party—helped pinpoint the issue.
The surprising cause?
A corrupted user profile.
After trying everything else, we decided to log all users off and have them log back in one by one. The moment a specific user signed in, CPU usage spiked. The weird part? No apps were even running under that session yet.
The fix:
- Log off the affected user.
- Rename their folder in
C:\Users
(e.g.,jdoe
→jdoe_old
). - Open Registry Editor and go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
Find the key corresponding to that user’s SID and delete it. - Let the user log in again – Windows will create a fresh profile.
- Optionally, copy needed data from the old profile to the new one.
After this, CPU usage stayed normal and the problem was gone.
Freakazoid_82@reddit
Thank you. I will keep this saved just in case this is going to happen. :)