Win 10 cursor always spins as if busy

[pcnthuziast]

I've done plenty of googling about the issue, but can't seem to connect the dots for my case. Only when I have a web browser open does it do this, but even if I let my pc idle for minutes without touching anything and have any browser open (ff, chrome or edge) the cursor shows the little spinning icon to indicate background business. It started doing this about a day ago.

 

[Cycloid Torus]

Little spinner => "I'm busy waiting for..."

What is it waiting for? Goes away when you close browser - so it is something in either browser...Chrome or Edge. Started a day ago...

I would run a complete malware check to start.

Possibly a hung update of some type.

Any other changes?

See: https://www.techradar.com/best/best-free-malware-removal-software

 

[pcnthuziast]

Tried all the basics already. No other changes made. For a work around I just changed the mouse cursor behavior to show the regular cursor even in a waiting state and my pc shows no other adverse affects like lag or missed clicks, etc, but I would still like to determine exactly what is causing this.

 

[Cycloid Torus]

My guess was that it was a PUP waiting to hear back from its Boss... so take it out with anti-malware. Until I hear you ran Anti-malwarebytes or similar, I think I would stick there.

 

[pcnthuziast]

I use Norton and I know that's terrible to a lot of people, but it is what it is. I ran the free version of malwarebytes and it found nothing. In tasak manager the processes I see floating around the top of cpu at idle are things like system interrupts higher than I would expect in the list, not #1, but 3rd. It's been easy to ignore since I changed the cursor in settings, but I still worry something is wrong. Even though Norton and free version of MB said 0 detected, is there still a chance it's a virus?

 

[Cycloid Torus]

Always a 'chance', but less likely - thanks for trying to catch one, if there.
Unlikely in browser since it appears in two.
My overworked and fatigued brain says try disabling Norton and running Windows Defender. Keep task manager running and in details mode and watch top of sorted columns - CPU .
"system interrupts higher than I would expect" https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-detect-an-irq-conflict

 

[pcnthuziast]

If it is indeed Norton, it must be a new update that caused it because I have been shamelessly using it for over a decade and have never witnessed this behavior on the many pc's I have used running it. Checked for irq conflicts and sheesh the list is long of resources, but no conflicts are found.

 

[Cycloid Torus]

Not browser, not IRQ, apparently not a hung update, not a waiting PUP, You are already watching CPU in Task Manager. The link leads to a successful troubleshooting of the spinning problem. In your case, you will probably need to start and close browsers and to observe CPU use with one or two browsers open.
https://www.infopackets.com/news/10156/how-fix-constant-spinning-cursor-circle-windows

 

[pcnthuziast]

Lol that is for owners of HP machines. I came across MANY posts like the 1 you linked and I have no HP software of any kind on my self built machine. Thanks anyway, seems like I may just have to reinstall windows or ignore this.