svchost.exe CPU lag

[Joby117]

My CPU usage is 90% - 100% all the time, in the past it idled at 5%-15%
So I looked in the Task manager to see what was hogging my cycles and it appears one of the instances of svchost is just trying it's hardest to melt my processor.

I can end the task and everything returns to normal. But after a reboot it loads up with the system and I'm back to square one.
So I google reasons for svchost to eat up CPU cycles, turns out there's hundreds of people with (almost) the same problem. But none of the fixes help me because they're all for Windows components going haywire and this process doesn't seem to be Microsoft related...

My thought is some malware, and when I run Malwarebytes it catches the little sucker and deletes it from the Windows/Temp folder... but after a reboot it's back in the folder and laughing at me. Even manually finding and deleting this 1.4 Mb file called svchost.exe doesn't fix the issue after another reboot.

I've run scans with Security Essentials, Malwarebytes, and some rootkit based version of Kaspersky. None of them fix it and two don't even find it as malware... I'm fairly certain it's malware, but I suppose it's possible that it could be a broken Windows service

I don't want to reformat my computer if I don't have to, If anyone can help, please and thank you.

 

[Entomber]

In Task Manager, right click on the svchost.exe and select the option "go to services"

This will tell you which services are hogging your CPU, and if they are unneeded go to services.msc and disable them.

-edit- it does look like malware, though, you need to find how it's duplicating itself. Try uninstalling any programs that look suspicious, and search your entire hard drive for svchost.exe and see if it's in a strange place.

 

[SBMfromLA]

I had the same exact problem a few days ago. Malwarebytes would delete it and it would return after I restarted and Malwarebytes would detect the same thing again... I thought I couldn't get rid of it.

I know how it happened, though. It was something I installed recently. I got rid of it by uninstalling all programs I installed within the past few days and ran Malwarebytes again... and it disappeared and hasn't returned.

 

[Joby117]

In Task Manager, right click on the svchost.exe and select the option "go to services"

This will tell you which services are hogging your CPU, and if they are unneeded go to services.msc and disable them.

-edit- it does look like malware, though, you need to find how it's duplicating itself. Try uninstalling any programs that look suspicious, and search your entire hard drive for svchost.exe and see if it's in a strange place.

Entomber, thanks for the reply. I found the file through the Task Manager by clicking 'open location.' It's in the CWindows/Temp folder, which isn't where anything official should be hanging out. Deleting it doesn't fix the problem though.
As per yours and SBMfromLA's suggestion, I uninstalled any programs I've recently installed since I've noticed the lag spike, but still it persists.

 

[Entomber]

Could you screenshot your installed programs through Programs and Features for us?

 

[Joby117]

Could you screenshot your installed programs through Programs and Features for us?

No need, Microsoft Security Essentials updated and after my next restart wiped the problem from my computer, hasn't reared its ugly head since then.

Thanks for your help guys!