I switched browsers for privacy and accidentally solved a two-year CPU problem

I switched browsers for privacy and accidentally solved a two-year CPU problem

I switched browsers for privacy and accidentally solved a two-year CPU problem

https://www.makeuseof.com/i-switched-browsers-for-privacy-and-accidentally-solved-a-two-year-cpu-problem/

Publish Date: 2026-07-05 09:30:00

Source Domain: www.makeuseof.com

For nearly two years, my PC always sounded like it was under load. The fans spun up within minutes of booting Windows, even when the machine was just sitting idle. I ran malware scans and reinstalled drivers, and worked through every troubleshooting guide I could find. Nothing told me why my CPU stayed that high at idle.

Eventually, I stopped trying to fix it. The computer still worked, so I accepted the fan noise as something I’d have to live with. The fix came later from somewhere I’d never thought to check. I switched browsers because I wanted better privacy, and within days, the CPU problem I’d been chasing for two years was gone.

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