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iCloud photo library constant CPU use

I have the 7.13 version of iCloud for Windows installed on my Windows 10 PC. I've just noticed that even though no photo's are being synced and there is zero file activity (as checked in task manager and performance manager), the iCloud Photo Library (32 bit) application (iCloudPhotos.exe) is constantly taking on average 15% of my CPU. Does anyone know how to fix this? I'd love to know what its actually doing but from what I can see, its doing nothing at all (no disk or network activity), so why is it hogging 15% of my CPU all the time its running?



Posted on Oct 8, 2019 8:47 AM

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Posted on Feb 12, 2020 5:18 AM

Hi,


I just tried again what Piek2001 suggested - here are my observations:

  • I updated to the latest Version of Windows - including the latest Patches.
  • I updated iCloud to 7.17 - this version should be equivalent to 10.9.2
  • I disabled iCloud Sync by deselecting all the checkmarks.
  • I enabled iCloud Sync again


Result:

  • iCloud syncs the photo library again - and after this the whole photo library was a mess - many pictures were double, some even triple
  • But after the sync the CPU load was low (as expected)
  • After this I tried to download the photos of 2020 - everything went fine until suddendly he stopped downloading the photos and the CPU load increased - and stays high all the time. He didn't finish downloading the files of 2020 and he doesn't download new photos anymore - but the CPU is still high.... Process Explorer says "iCloud Photo Library is waiting for an E/A event to finish..."


So finally I decided to de-install iCloud, delete all the directories (with the photos and also the AppData\Local\Apple Inc\... where the info about the photo library is stored).

Then I re-installed iCloud and started photo sync from the scratch. And it worked (maybe because he just syncs new photos and not the existing ones)!

BUT: Then I tried to download the photos of 2020 like before. And again he suddendly stopped downloading the photos and the CPU load increased. At the very same picture/movie than the last time!!!!!! So the behaviour can be reproduced - which for me means that this must be a bug in iCloud for Windows or the iCloud Service!!! From time to time seem to be pictures/movies that cause iCloud for Windows consume so much CPU.


Finally I de-installed and re-installed iCloud once more and now it's working. But I will not try to download the photos of 2020.

Hope that it continues working! I'm wondering for how long...



12 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 12, 2020 5:18 AM in response to Piek2001

Hi,


I just tried again what Piek2001 suggested - here are my observations:

  • I updated to the latest Version of Windows - including the latest Patches.
  • I updated iCloud to 7.17 - this version should be equivalent to 10.9.2
  • I disabled iCloud Sync by deselecting all the checkmarks.
  • I enabled iCloud Sync again


Result:

  • iCloud syncs the photo library again - and after this the whole photo library was a mess - many pictures were double, some even triple
  • But after the sync the CPU load was low (as expected)
  • After this I tried to download the photos of 2020 - everything went fine until suddendly he stopped downloading the photos and the CPU load increased - and stays high all the time. He didn't finish downloading the files of 2020 and he doesn't download new photos anymore - but the CPU is still high.... Process Explorer says "iCloud Photo Library is waiting for an E/A event to finish..."


So finally I decided to de-install iCloud, delete all the directories (with the photos and also the AppData\Local\Apple Inc\... where the info about the photo library is stored).

Then I re-installed iCloud and started photo sync from the scratch. And it worked (maybe because he just syncs new photos and not the existing ones)!

BUT: Then I tried to download the photos of 2020 like before. And again he suddendly stopped downloading the photos and the CPU load increased. At the very same picture/movie than the last time!!!!!! So the behaviour can be reproduced - which for me means that this must be a bug in iCloud for Windows or the iCloud Service!!! From time to time seem to be pictures/movies that cause iCloud for Windows consume so much CPU.


Finally I de-installed and re-installed iCloud once more and now it's working. But I will not try to download the photos of 2020.

Hope that it continues working! I'm wondering for how long...



Feb 10, 2020 8:19 AM in response to magdy777

Dear All,


I contacted the Apple Support via phone.

First of all you might have to run Windows Update and get it to the latest level.

Second, update the iCloud App to 10.9.2

After that you might still notice the high CPU activity both for iCloud and Windows process called "Service Host: Local Session Manager".

At this point you must disable the iCloud Sync and then enable it back again. This will reset the wrong status which causes a fake continuous sync status.

Hope this helps!


Feb 11, 2020 1:14 AM in response to 2tomw

Hi 2tomw,


by "disable iCloud Sync" I mean clearing all the check marks in the settings. See picture:


Then put the check mark back and wait for the complete sync.

After this step the CPU activity should return to normal.


The "Service Host: State Repository Service" was not causing the high CPU with iCloud version 7.15.

I noticed it right after updating to 10.9.2

Dec 3, 2019 10:36 AM in response to tokon

Hi, I've got the same problem.

Using iCloud for Windows 10, version 7.15.

When I open the Windows resource monitor and analyze the waiting queue it says: iCloudPhotos.exe waiting for completion of network io-traffic. But I cannot see a network traffic caused by iCloudPhotos.exe.

When I open the Handles for this process and shut down the process for "ALPC Port" the cpu usage goes down to normal but it still does not sync the pictures - for me it looks like a bug in iCloud for Windows...

Any reactions or solutions from Apple?

Jan 8, 2020 3:02 PM in response to gattlink

I have exactly the same problem on 3 diffrent laptops where I logged in under my icloud account. I can not tell exactly, but it started in December when I took a number of photos then got back home and noticed my laptop's CPU FAN constantly spinning.

Then I looked at two other laptops where i have icloud installed and after syncing all pending photos got same problem.

I also tried to delete all photos from the laptop and sync them again. The CPU usage was minimum during the sync process but then jumped to 15% once the sync was completed.

I am using iPhone 11 Pro Max



Feb 11, 2020 12:54 AM in response to Piek2001

Dear Piek2001,

Thanks for your post.

I tried the steps you described but it didn't work for me.

What exactly do you mean by "disable ICloud Sync"? (logout or disable iCloud Drive or disable pictures, ...?)

In my case the "Service Host: State Repository Service" is not causing the high CPU usage...

There must be something else...


iCloud photo library constant CPU use

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