Resolve Cisvc.exe High CPU Usage Issue

Cisvc.exe – File Information

The cisvc.exe (Content Indexing Service) is a Windows system File and is part of the Windows operating system indexing service.

By default, the cisvc.exe file is located in the %system% folder. The most common size of this file is 5,632 bytes. You may also find this file in 5,120, 11,264, and 6,656 bytes sizes.

Note: %system% is a variable that refers to the Windows System folder. By default, for Windows XP/Vista it is C:\Windows\System32.

Purpose of cisvc.exe process

The main purpose of the cisvc.exe process is to monitor the Indexing service and ensure that the Indexing service does not consume huge amounts of memory and CPU resources. Cisvc.exe also monitors the memory usage in CIDAEMON.exe and prevents low memory issues from occurring.

Solution to cisvc.exe high CPU usage problems

It is ironic that a process whose primary function is to prevent memory hogging situations is often reported to be consuming huge amounts of system resources in terms of CPU and memory usage.

If cisvc.exe is frequently consuming high CPU resources and you do not use the Windows Search feature often, then you can resolve the issue by disabling the indexing service. The Indexing service facilitates the quick finding of files and folders on your Windows computer.

Therefore, if you do not use the Windows Search feature to locate files or folders, disabling the Indexing service will not affect you. On the other hand it will prevent cisvc.exe high CPU usage issues from occurring.

To disable the Indexing service, perform the following steps:

1. Click the Start menu and select Control Panel.
2. Double-click Add or Remove programs.
3. In the Add or Remove programs window, click Add/Remove Windows Components.
4. Clear the checkbox before Indexing Service, and click Next.
5. When the Indexing Service is disabled, click Finish to close the Windows Components Wizard dialog box.

Cisvc.exe – Security Report

The true cisvc.exe is a Windows file and is not a system threat. However, a malware process by this name is also recorded. The malicious cisvc.exe performs spyware related functions and is known to be associated with following Internet Security threats:

Troj/SDFDrp-Gen [Sophos]
Worm.Rbot [Ikarus]
Win-Trojan/Downloader.77824.BZ [AhnLab]
Virus.Win32.VB [Ikarus]
TrojanDownloader:Win32/Horst.Q [Microsoft]
Trojan-Downloader.Win32.VB.krl [Kaspersky Lab]
Trojan-Downloader.Win32.Calac [Ikarus]
Trojan.Win32.VB.jwf [Kaspersky Lab]
Trojan.ProgentKeyLog.A [PC Tools]
Trojan Horse [Symantec]
Spyware-Ssppyy [McAfee]
Mal/Horst [Sophos]
Keylog-Progent [McAfee]
Infostealer [Symantec]
BackDoor-CMQ.gen.d [McAfee]
BackDoor-CMQ!a [McAfee]
Backdoor.Win32.Agent.adpp [Kaspersky Lab]
Backdoor.Trojan [Symantec]
Downloader.Trojan [Symantec]
Generic Downloader.x [McAfee]
Trojan-Dropper.Agent [Ikarus]
Trojan.Win32.VB.kcp [Kaspersky Lab]
not-a-virus:Monitor.Win32.FamilyKeyLogger.250 [Kaspersky Lab]
Mal/Behav-236 [Sophos]
Generic.dx [McAfee]
Generic PWS.y [McAfee]
Trojan-Dropper.Win32.Agent.ahdr [Kaspersky Lab]
Trojan-Proxy.Horst [Ikarus]
Trojan-Spy.Win32.VB.bip [Kaspersky Lab]
Win-Trojan/Agent.204800.BC [AhnLab]

How to ensure that cisvc.exe running is not a system threat

As malware programs often use processes that have same name as legitimate Windows processes, it becomes imperative that you ensure that only legitimate processes run on your computer.

To verify if the cisvc.exe process running on your computer is legitimate or not, perform a malware scan using top-rated security tools, such as Antivirus Plus and StopZilla. If the scan results report a malware infection, immediately remove the malware processes.

At this point, also perform a registry scan using a reliable registry cleaning tool, such as RegGenie to remove harmful entries that the malicious cisvc.exe process may have added to your registry.