Powershell continually popping up in processes

I got a new laptop yesterday (Lenovo i7, 16GB Ram, Win 11 Home). Battery life seems pretty poor, so I checked settings, and it shows Powershell as using 46% of the battery. I have checked Task Manager, and Powershell keeps popping up briefly for around a second or so continually. I have used GPedit to prohibit Powershell from running (Powershell.exe; Powershell_ise.exe; Pwsh.exe) as well as disabling it using the Windows Features dialogue box, however nothing seems to stop it - after each reboot, there it is, popping up for a second or so continuously according to Task Manager.

I have thought about just un-installing Powershell, but it's not showing up in the list of programmes that can be removed. Any thoughts?

I should perhaps add, the only software I've added to the laptop so far is "Start 11 v2" from Stardock.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Cliff

Hey Cliff,

Use autoruns from sysinternals to see why.

Thanks for the quick reply. Just downloaded autoruns, but nothing shows up for Powershell (though according to Task Manager, it is still popping up every few seconds). Very odd! I'm wondering if it's worth trying something as simple as temporarily re-naming the file extension for Powershell. exe to see what happens. Couldn't do any harm could it?

Cliff

@Teflon ,

Have you run diagnostics on the computer? Powershell should not be running that much unless some other app is using it.

I would start by running an SFC /scannow as an Administrator in Windows Terminal. If that finds corruption it can't fix, run DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth.

Let us know how it goes. Good luck, and have a great day.

Regards,
Phil

Your best option is to use something like Sysmon and then change the configuration file to monitor the Powershell process, it should hopefully give you an idea of what is consistently creating that process in the background.

Have you checked the event logs as well?

garioch7 said:

@Teflon ,

Have you run diagnostics on the computer? Powershell should not be running that much unless some other app is using it.

I would start by running an SFC /scannow as an Administrator in Windows Terminal. If that finds corruption it can't fix, run DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth.

Let us know how it goes. Good luck, and have a great day.

Regards,
Phil

Click to expand...

Thanks. Just tried that, but it found nothing wrong.

x BlueRobot said:

Your best option is to use something like Sysmon and then change the configuration file to monitor the Powershell process, it should hopefully give you an idea of what is consistently creating that process in the background.

Have you checked the event logs as well?

Click to expand...

Had a quick look at Event Viewer, and there re a lot of entries for powershell relating to Tiworker.exe. I think that's something to do with Windows update, so could be due to the fact that it's brand new machine, so lots of updating & configuration going on to start with. I'm not convinced it accounts for Powershell popping up in the background every few seconds. I'll give Sysmon a whirl and see what I can make of it. As you may have guessed, I'm no IT expert LOL!

Cheers,

Cliff

@Teflon ,

Well, the good news is that your Windows OS is stable and healthy. We will be interested in the Sysmon results.

This link might be of assistance.

How to Fix TiWorker.exe High CPU Usage in Windows

Please keep us posted. Have a great day, and Welcome to ElevenForum.

Regards,
Phil

Teflon said:

Had a quick look at Event Viewer, and there re a lot of entries for powershell relating to Tiworker.exe. I think that's something to do with Windows update, so could be due to the fact that it's brand new machine, so lots of updating & configuration going on to start with.

Click to expand...

What do the event log entries say?

TiWorker.exe is the Trusted Installer and is used by Windows Update as well as DISM. You shouldn't be getting frequent Powershell window appear every few seconds though. I suspect that something is being output to that window.

You could try and suspend the Powershell process which is appearing using PsSuspend and then see if anything breaks or the logs being written to the event log cease.

Thanks folks. Have to admit, I couldn't get on with Sysmon, as I couldn't fathom how to work it! .. I think I've found the cause though (if not the reason behind it). I mentioned in my opening post that the only software I have installed so far is "Start 11" from Stardock, so I thought it worth uninstalling it to see if it makes a difference. With Start 11 removed, the issue goes away. I Re-installed Start 11, and all remained well, until I made some changes to the configuration of Start 11, at which point the issue returned. Un-installed the program again last night, and once again, all returned to normal, so it looks as if my install of Start 11 is misbehaving in some way .

Really missing the old Win 10 full screen start menu, and ever since Windows 95, I've had my task bar at the top of the screen (hence the purchase of Start 11) so would love to have Start 11 working properly - a stable system is more important though!

Cliff

@Teflon ,

Great troubleshooting! Windows can be very territorial. Personally, I avoid programs that alter Windows. I have read of too many people, like yourself, who experience issues with such programs. Each and every Windows update can play havoc with such programs and with Windows itself!

In my opinion, Windows is sufficiently troublesome to itself without giving it a reason to sideswipe other add-on configuration programs. I have accustomed myself to living with Windows as designed. It saves a lot of grief. Perhaps I am just a coward!

Just my two cents. I am glad you identified the cause and reported back. Have a great day.

Regards,
Phil

Teflon said:

Had a quick look at Event Viewer, and there re a lot of entries for powershell relating to Tiworker.exe. I think that's something to do with Windows update, so could be due to the fact that it's brand new machine, so lots of updating & configuration going on to start with.

Click to expand...

Exactly. Don't disable PowerShell. That will just be shooting yourself in the foot. Give it time to settle down. Go to Windows Update and click on Check for updates. When all updates are complete and you can restart and not see any more updates, those PowerShell tasks should (mostly) go away. If not, then something unusual is going on and we'll need to dive deeper.

garioch7 said:

Personally, I avoid programs that alter Windows. I have read of too many people, like yourself, who experience issues with such programs. Each and every Windows update can play havoc with such programs and with Windows itself!

Click to expand...

Indeed, especially programs like Start11, StartAllBack and Explorer Patcher. These threads are chock full of complaints and constant troubleshooting. I used to use SecureUXTheme in Windows 10 which worked well but borked W11. I learned how to live happily with built-in settings and all is well.

garioch7 said:

@Teflon ,

Great troubleshooting! Windows can be very territorial. Personally, I avoid programs that alter Windows. I have read of too many people, like yourself, who experience issues with such programs. Each and every Windows update can play havoc with such programs and with Windows itself!

In my opinion, Windows is sufficiently troublesome to itself without giving it a reason to sideswipe other add-on configuration programs. I have accustomed myself to living with Windows as designed. It saves a lot of grief. Perhaps I am just a coward!

Just my two cents. I am glad you identified the cause and reported back. Have a great day.

Regards,
Phil

Click to expand...

oldschool said:

Indeed, especially programs like Start11, StartAllBack and Explorer Patcher. These threads are chock full of complaints and constant troubleshooting. I used to use SecureUXTheme in Windows 10 which worked well but borked W11. I learned how to live happily with built-in settings and all is well.

Click to expand...

The worse thing is, I know you're both right !! Back in my younger days, I used to welcome new tech, and new ways of doing things. Now, I'm older and more set in my ways, I'm far more reluctant to change my habits. In reality, programs like Start 11 are really just a crutch for folk like me, trying to put off the inevitable move to newer ways of doing things. Time to face up to change I think!

Thanks for all the input folks

Cliff

@Teflon ,

I don't know how old you are, but I'm 71. I am eager to embrace new tech and gain new knowledge as long as it is useful to me. I don't follow fads, but I do want to stay current. We can't stop progress.

Have a great weekend.

Regards,
Phil