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Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

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Shivaxi
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Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by Shivaxi »

So, I figured I'd post this information somewhere in-case anyone else has been running into this problem, as I found a solution pretty quick fortunately.

The Problem:

I don't have a lot of info as to WHY this is happening because I honestly don't know, but both Bleeder and I started having this issue around the same time, where you run Unreal, and Unreal starts the RUNDLL32.exe process for whatever reason, it's a normal windows process, used for shared dll's or whatnot, however RUNDLL32.exe starts using 100% of your CPU usage, just all of a sudden.  Neither Bleeder nor I had run Windows Updates in forever, so this was really strange this was suddenly happening now.

I thought maybe it was a coincidence this was happening to both of us, until UberPwnr also messaged me with the same issue, and he is on Windows 7 as well (as is both myself and Bleeder).  So if anyone else is experiencing this and maybe knows what is all of a sudden causing it, I'd be very interested in finding out.  Anyway, onto the solution I found:

The Solution:

After a lot of digging about various issues that can occur related to RUNDLL32.exe suddenly using a crapton of your CPU, one of the known issues was that it could be caused by a service.  So I went disabling services 1 by 1 until, wallah, I found the culprit.

It seems to be related somehow or caused by the DNS Client service.  Simply stopping this service and disabling it brings RUNDLL32.exe back down to minimal to no CPU usage, you don't even have to restart or anything.

If you need help finding and disabling this service, just do the following:

-Click Start
-Type "services" and press enter
-Find the process titled DNS Client
-Right click and click "stop"
-Right click again and go to properties
-set "Startup Type" to "Disabled" and you should be good to go

UPDATED SOLUTION:

https://www.gog.com/forum/general/old_g ... ws_7/page1

Do this instead as this is the root of the issue and it'll fix the problem for any game using GameUX, and again it still only seem to effect Windows 7 users
Last edited by Shivaxi on Thu Jun 27, 2019 7:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Mahem
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by Mahem »

A large HOSTS file can cause DNS Client to behave badly
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TONI-M
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by TONI-M »

Maybe I can add more:
About 3 4 months ago I disabled any kind of update because my pc is not so compatible with win10. It works so I said then it's enough. But ... to my surprise I find myself with the updated antivirus .. I said nothing makes us. My problems started: To complete a build, it takes an hour instead of 5 minutes. After 2 3 days everything comes back normal ... I will try your solution ... It could be that mine is another problem but similar.


I add that cleaning up Internet explorer the problem resumes. See if it also extends to other games. Disabling the antivirus changes nothing.

A few seconds after disabling the DNS service it resumes. I will try to restart.
The PC was restarted, the service stopped. Nothing changes with win10
Sorry if I disturbed you.
Ciao Toni.
:)
Last edited by TONI-M on Sat Jun 22, 2019 3:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Dr.Flay™
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by Dr.Flay™ »

Worth baring in mind that if you use HOSTS file blocking you should disable the windows DNS service anyway.
You will see a copy of svchost eating lots of CPU if it is chewing through a big list.

Windows task manager isn't very useful as it does not show which task launched which other task, and does not list which services each copy of svchost is running.

You will find it a lot quicker to find the problem task or service if you replace task manager with Process Explorer, and enable CPU and I/O history columns.
https://docs.microsoft.com/sysinternals ... s-explorer
Hover over any item to see what command line launched it, and what sub-tasks it is in charge of.
Any instances of RUNDLL32.EXE will show the same info.


Another notable problem that will show a busy RUNDLL32 is the stupid GameUX thing which you can disable/remove but will come back after a windows update.
https://www.sites.google.com/site/mojun ... x-rundll32


@TONI-M Disabling Windows updates is not going to make a difference with Windows 10 compatibility.
Microsoft stopped offering Windows 10 for free a long time ago, and if your PC is not compatible with Win10 it would not offer it anyway.
You can't accidentally catch Windows 10 disease.
Good luck using your PC online with no updates, especially with the recent vulnerabilities that are so bad even XP got given an update.
I hope you have Microsoft EMET installed and set to high security mode.
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by TONI-M »

Thank you so much for your reply.
Long story: Everything must always be worth it: Years ago I used win7. there were very serious problems between ATK and windows7. Blue screen and white writing. I tried everything but my configuration was always blocked. I used the professional version of win7. Perhaps it was the well-known sound card. Perhaps the video ... well-known brand. Pc for games. Win10 no too compatible but the finished ATK error.


Un giorno forse ne parleremo meglio. Di come in ho quasi risolto tutto. E' difficile continuare perchè ciò che scrivo è poco corrispondente a quello che voglio dire. Uso il traduttore.
Avete dato un occhiata ai miei livelli? Cosa ne pensate.
Ciao e grazie.

One day = Un giorno

One day maybe we'll talk better. How in I almost solved everything. It is difficult to continue because what I write is hardly corresponding to what I mean. I use the translator.
Have you looked at my levels? What do you think.
Hello and thanks.

Toni-m

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medor
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by medor »

Try just right click on the unreal.exe and set compatibility "win xp sp2".
UTfiles http://medor.no-ip.org/
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)Leela(-[otS]-
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by )Leela(-[otS]- »

Hi :)

I ran into the same problem now. It started today.
When I start an Unreal client the process starts, but not the game. In the taskmanager it shows that Unreal.exe has low memory use, about 3k.
Also rundll32.exe was started and it eats 100% of CPU usage like described in the first post.

When I start the same Unreal client again the game starts, but then I have two instances of Unreal running.
Then killing rundll32.exe in the taskmanager also kills the first instance of Unreal which I started. The second instance then runs normal and also the CPU usage is normal again.

This is not only related to Unreal, with all other installed games the same happens.

I have no idea why this problem suddenly occurs, there was no update over the last days. It simply came out of nowhere.
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Masterkent
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by Masterkent »

Neither Bleeder nor I had run Windows Updates in forever, so this was really strange this was suddenly happening now.
Maybe both of you recently visited the same pron website? :D
So I went disabling services 1 by 1 until, wallah, I found the culprit.

It seems to be related somehow or caused by the DNS Client service. Simply stopping this service and disabling it brings RUNDLL32.exe back down to minimal to no CPU usage, you don't even have to restart or anything.
Several people got the same trouble with DNS client service at the same time without updating anything? I'd suspect that a malware is involved and recommend to check your system with portable anti-virus scanners, f.e.

Dr.Web CureIt
Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool
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)Leela(-[otS]-
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by )Leela(-[otS]- »

Hi :)

I found the reason on my system. It's this stupid Microsaft garbage:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... 1b3?page=1

Currently I have only one way to fix this:

1) start Unreal - apparantly nothing will happen

2) start it again - the game will start

3) switch to desktop and open the taskmanager and close the rundll32.exe process

after that the second instance of Unreal works normal until the next time.
Unfortunately it's not possible to fix this anymore with the hints given on the linked site.

Microsaft and their stupid Windows 7 can go to hell, that's the right place for them >:(
Last edited by )Leela(-[otS]- on Wed Jun 26, 2019 6:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
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)Leela(-[otS]-
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by )Leela(-[otS]- »

Hello :)

like I already said:
This is not only related to Unreal. It happens with all installed games.
And I've tried the suggestions made before, like disabling this DNS Client, but with no result.

One time I'd thought it is fixed when I removed the games from this Win7 Game-explorer. All seemed to work again, but then I got the same problem with the explorer.exe in the taskmanager, eating all CPU power.

I can't even remove the two gameux.dll files because I get no access to them.
I'm using Windows XP for about 16 years now but never had something like this happened, but since I was forced to use Windows 7 I only ran into one problem after the other. Most of them I found a solution for, but in this case nothing works.
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by )Leela(-[otS]- »

Hello again :)

there is one other thing which could be responsible for the problem and that's an infected TrustedInstaller.exe
Not sure right now because all scans of my system were without a result.
But when I watch the behavior in the taskmanager it could be possible.

I'll check this more closely now.
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Shivaxi
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by Shivaxi »

Neither Bleeder nor I had run Windows Updates in forever, so this was really strange this was suddenly happening now.
Maybe both of you recently visited the same pron website? :D
So I went disabling services 1 by 1 until, wallah, I found the culprit.

It seems to be related somehow or caused by the DNS Client service.  Simply stopping this service and disabling it brings RUNDLL32.exe back down to minimal to no CPU usage, you don't even have to restart or anything.
Several people got the same trouble with DNS client service at the same time without updating anything? I'd suspect that a malware is involved and recommend to check your system with portable anti-virus scanners, f.e.

Dr.Web CureIt
Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool
I did forget to mention I ran a full scan with MalwareBytes and my system was totally fine.  I posted this on USP as well and someone there also confirmed it happened for them around the exact same time that it happened for myself, Bleeder, and Uberpwnr.  It makes me think somehow it's master server related?  And it's not just 227, I tested with Unreal Gold 226 and it also happens there.  None of us changed our game in any way, we didn't run Windows Update...it's very strange it just suddenly happened out of no where.  But the fact that it's now confirmed to happen for 4 or more of us all at pretty much the exact same time tells me it's not some coincidence.

Someone on USP linked to this old OU thread which may be related somehow? Issue looks simliar: https://www.oldunreal.com/cgi-bin/yabb2 ... 1445253103
Last edited by Shivaxi on Wed Jun 26, 2019 3:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by Masterkent »

It makes me think somehow it's master server related?
Since Unreal uses hostnames (such as oldunreal.com) to retrieve community news and game server list, it has to use a DNS service to resolve these hostnames to IP addresses. This may explain how the DNS Client service could be invoked. On the other hand, it seems that the DNS Client service can also be used by Game Explorer. I don't have Windows 7, so I can't check how it works there.
Someone on USP linked to this old OU thread which may be related somehow?  Issue looks simliar:  https://www.oldunreal.com/cgi-bin/yabb2 ... 1445253103
Did you ever have such issues with Unreal when your PC had no access to Internet? And what do you mean by 100% CPU usage: 100% single-threaded load or 100% load on all CPU cores/threads?

P.S. I'm using Windows 8.1 and I never had any issues like you described.
Last edited by Masterkent on Wed Jun 26, 2019 5:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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)Leela(-[otS]-
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by )Leela(-[otS]- »

Did you ever have such issues with Unreal when your PC had no access to Internet? And what do you mean by 100% CPU usage: 100% single-threaded load or 100% load on all CPU cores/threads?

P.S. I'm using Windows 8.1 and I never had any issues like you described.
About the CPU usage:
There is nearly 100% CPU usage on all cores. Without killing the rundll32.exe process first, the game is unplayable. It stutters like hell.
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Masterkent
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by Masterkent »

Possible cause & solution are described here:
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/old_g ... ws_7/page1
Last edited by Masterkent on Thu Jun 27, 2019 6:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
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)Leela(-[otS]-
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by )Leela(-[otS]- »

Thank you Masterkent for this link [smiley=dankk2.gif]

and "thank" YOU Microsoft for another crappy thing in your OS >:(
A dead server which leads to an infinite loop, very very intelligent. [smiley=thumbdown.gif]
They should stay by their own games but keep their hands from other games.

At least changing the url to the Localhost fixes this problem.
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Masterkent
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by Masterkent »

and "thank" YOU Microsoft for another crappy thing in your OS >:(
I wonder how much malware MS put in Windows 10...
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by Dr.Flay™ »

)Leela(-[otS]- I already covered your issue in the post above.
See https://www.oldunreal.com/cgi-bin/yabb2 ... 176076/3#3

As noted it will come back after Windows updates, so you have to disable it again.
This is a problem when the GameUX component cannot talk to the net.
To fix it you either connect to the internet, or remove the GameUX components.

Without the fix or being online, you must run the game twice, and then close the first session.
If you use Process Explorer instead of Task Manager, you can kill the first game and the copy of rundll that launched it.

GameUX was added to Win7 but is an integrated part of newer Windows.
The idea is that Windows can notify you of any updates for the games it recognises.
Look in the Start Menu -> Games -> Game Explorer
You should see this
Image
Any games listed in here will use rundll32 during launch.
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Shivaxi
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by Shivaxi »

aahh that makes a lot more sense then, so this URL https://games.metaservices.microsoft.co ... rvice.asmx listed in the GameUX ServiceLocation recently went down, and that's what is suddenly causing this for Windows 7 users.

I followed the steps in the GOG link to just edit the URL in the registry to fix this once and for all, and it worked wonders, very good to know, thanks for that GOG link!
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by )Leela(-[otS]- »

Hi Dr.Flay :)

yes, I have tried that and followed the steps on the Moj Unreal site but it didn't work, the problem still was there.
It's even not possible to remove the gameux.dll files because I can get no access to them. Windows always tells me that I would not have the rights for it. There is only one "User" with full access and that's TrustedInstaller. Even the System has no full access on this file.
And I can't get the ownership for it, because windows even refuses that.

Without a fix it's easy to get the game working. As you said, you must start the game twice, but then you only need to close the rundll32 process, this will also close the first instance of Unreal. But that is very annoying.

I'm not sure how long the fix from the GOG site will last. Now I'll have to wait for the next windows updates and see if the problem comes back after it. But for now everything works normal again.
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by Dr.Flay™ »

You must rum CMD.exe as admin or you cannot unregister the DLLs (you don't need to delete them, but you can after they are unregistered. May need a reboot though).

The registry patch at GoG should stay fixed, as now that MS have disabled the site that was used, I doubt they will update the GameUX settings again.

If you still want to unregister the DLLs anyway, you may find it easier to put these 2 lines in a txt file

Code: Select all

regsvr32 -u c:\windows\system32\gameux.dll
regsvr32 -u c:\windows\SysWOW64\gameux.dll
then rename from *.txt to *.bat
Now right-click on it and run as admin.
Keep the file to use again if you need it (but I don't think you will).
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by Hyper »

I had this nonsense at my Windows 7 server. Unregistering these DLLs did not work for me. I had to go into safe mode, forcefully take ownership of the two files, give myself full control and rename them to .dll.bak.

Now Unreal and Guild Wars start normally again. (I temporarily run GW at my server to farm some dragon festival points)

The issue has nothing to do with Unreal. It is Microsoft who is letting us down for some reason. It's a shame because I usually praise Windows 7 over any other version, but this is a major fail.

For some reason I do not have this issue at my other Windows 7 machines.
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Hyper
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by Hyper »

Update: I now have this problem at all of my computers. If this affects all users of old games on Windows 7, then this is a major fail from the side os MS.
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Dr.Flay™
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by Dr.Flay™ »

Yeah well pity all the idiots that bought DRM protected e-books from MS, as they are about to kill that service also, and oh dear lots of people regretting they didn't buy real books.
https://www.thurrott.com/cloud/web-brow ... ng-in-july

I guess I should collate this info for a post at UT99.org
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Hyper
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Re: Unreal and RUNDLL32.exe process using 100% CPU (Windows 7)

Post by Hyper »

This is the easiest solution. Add the text to a new .reg file (GameUXFix.reg) and run it.

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\GameUX\ServiceLocation]
"Games"="127.0.0.1" 
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