Host Process for Setting Synchronization High CPU

I'm getting the same problem on a Surface Pro 1. It has been using 40% CPU pretty much all day. I've also turned Synchronisation off, but it made no difference.

I've put 9926 on 2 other PCs (upgraded from 9879), and each one was very sluggish for several hours before settling down to typical cpu/disk/network usage.

The Surface Pro was upgraded from 8.1. I'm going to try leaving it on overnight to see if the same happens. I tried last night, but it ran out of battery.

Hi Paul,

Thank you for posting your Microsoft Forums.

As per the issue description, I understand that “SettingSyncHost.exe” uses 25-30% of CPU which causes the fan to run at high speed.

“SettingSyncHost.exe” is the process that synchronizes your system settings with your other devices so that changing your wallpaper/color on one computer changes all your other computers.  It also syncs your Internet Explorer, mail app, OneDrive, Xbox and other useful apps settings. 

I appreciate if you could answer a few questions:

1. Is your computer connected to any domain or work environment?

2. Are you using too many third party applications or games on your system?

Check if you can experience the issue in ‘Safe mode’; if safe mode works fine then set the computer to ‘Clean boot’ state to check for software conflicts.

Step 1:

Windows Startup Settings (including safe mode).

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/windows-startup-settings-safe-mode

Note: This article is also applicable for Windows 10 tech preview.

Step 2:

Keep the computer in a clean boot status and check. If everything works fine after a clean boot, you can infer that some third party services are causing the issue. Proceed with the remaining steps to pin-point out the third party service. After you figure out the issue causing program, you may have to update or install a latest version of the program.

How to perform a clean boot to troubleshoot a problem in Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Note: This article is also applicable for Windows 10 tech preview.

Note: Please go through the section: How to reset the computer to start as usual after troubleshooting with clean boot of the Kb article to boot the computer in normal startup after fixing the issue.

Hope this information helps you. Please do let us know if you need further assistance, we’ll be glad to assist you

I am seeing this too, with the following extra information.  I check the Windows Log under 'Microsoft-Windows-SettingSync/Operational' and I see the following error messages:

Cloud sync engine failed to sync collection browsersettings-wininet-internet-explorer from Windows to cloud storage (Result: 0x80072EE7)

Policy document failed to download. (Result: 0x80072EE7)

Failed to scan collection windows-personalizesettings for offline changes. (Result: 0x80070057).

Failed to scan collection windows-privacy for offline changes. (Result: 0x80004001).

Policy document failed to download. (Result: 0x80072EE7)

Under the 'Microsoft-Windows-SettingSync/Debug' is see this logging message every couple of seconds:

The background upload task has started (Reason: 3, Result: 0x0).

When the Surface is undocked, the fan starts to run constantly.

I just tried killing the process and I will let you know what happens from that.

BTW, my computer is connected to a domain and it has the corporate Symantec Anti-Virus crapware installed.

I do have the same problem on a Dell M6700 - I just hadn't noticed it as the fan is quieter.

I also get lots of messages in Microsoft-Windows-SettingSync.

In Debug I see about 10 information messages a second. Most of them are one of the following:

 - Attempting to sync settings from Windows to cloud storage
 - Storage request: GET to https://dm2305.storage.live.com/mydata/windows/settings?filter=Changes&InlineBlobs=True&MaxInlinedBlobsKB=512&View=WindowsSettingsV2&SyncToken=LM304d63557946850590304bID304dD7A6605CD516D0C5!1016304bLR304d63557946857323304bEP304d4304bTD304dTrue304bSO304d0 completed with status code 304.
 - Successfully resolved a conflict with setting unit {BEF723E2-01AD-438B-A441-D0112DF5142A} for collection packagestate-microsoft.bingweather_8wekyb3d8bbwe-0 with sync operation LOCALTOREMOTE (Result: MERGE).
 - Storage request: GET to https://fbvgig-dm2305.files.1drv.com/y2plpLn8HtSkwMPG-EOyPO7Orv_xYdy9_SzuhrUXvMChJ69MPAjGruiX8Fhkfb-zHd4aW8y31ar8BXq0ir2R40Bigrxw9PJ_IA5S2GVrmBDrR35xH56upSZqw4L3Tzm8nx4?View=WindowsSettingsV2 completed with status code 200.
 - Successfully synced 1 settings from Windows to cloud storage for collection browsersettings-wininet-internet-explorer

In Operational the messages are less frequent - 4-6 messages within a few seconds, but then a gap for a couple of minutes.

 - Cloud sync engine failed to sync collection packagestate-microsoft.bingweather_8wekyb3d8bbwe-0 from Windows to cloud storage (Result: 0x8007025D)
 - Merging setting unit packagestate-microsoft.bingweather_8wekyb3d8bbwe-0 for collection {BEF723E2-01AD-438B-A441-D0112DF5142A} with sync operation LOCALTOREMOTE failed (Result: 0x8007025D).
 - Local creation for collection windows-userssettings failed. (Result: 0x80070057)
 - Local creation for collection windows-privacy failed. (Result: 0x80004001)
 - Local creation for collection windows-personalizesettings failed. (Result: 0x80070057)
 - Local creation for collection windows-notifications failed. (Result: 0x80070057)
 - Local creation for collection windows-lockscreenslideshow failed. (Result: 0x80070057)

The Bing Weather messages are very frequent, so I tried removing the Weather app. On the Dell this cut the CPU usage to virtually zero.

On the Surface it wouldn't let me uninstall the app. I could right-click the tile and select Uninstall, but it just stayed there. However the CPU usage for the settings did reduce from 40% down to 2%.

So I think the problem is with the Weather app.

I too, noticed the error messages about Bing Weather.  I uninstalled the app, but the high CPU usage came back the next day, so I did not mention it here.

Just an update, the process starts up again.  It is logging a ton of error messages and they are all different.  Killing the process seems to help for a while.  I can upload the logs to someone, if that is useful.

1. My Surface 3 is a personal computer and is not connected to a domain, although I do log into my OneDrive for Business on Office 365 using an organizational credential.  Logon for Windows 10 is my personal Microsoft Account.

2. I am using very few third party applications and this has been happening since I originally upgraded my Windows 8.1 system to Windows 10.

I will try a safe mode boot with networking to see if the problem continues.

I also tried uninstalling the weather app and turning off synchronization.  Neither has helped.

Same problem here with Surface Pro 3. Eager for a resolution to this issue.

Doing a clean boot resolves the problem.  But as soon as I add any of the startups back into the boot sequence the problem comes back within 30 minutes or so.  I tried a clean boot with just One Drive or OneDrive for Business and still had the issue.  It does not seem to be related to third party apps.