How do I fix 100% CPU usage with explore.exe on my Vista computer?

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The issue involves a persistent CPU spike to 100% caused by explore.exe, specifically linked to the thread "SHLWAPI.dll!PathIsRootW+0xcc." Despite thorough virus scans with AVG, Spybot S&D, and Windows Defender revealing no malware, Process Explorer indicates that dllhost.exe is the main culprit consuming CPU resources through shlwapi.dll. This dllhost.exe process is confirmed to be legitimate, located in C:\Windows\System32, and is essential for COM Surrogate functionality. The user is seeking further assistance, questioning whether it is safe to kill or rename shlwapi.dll, and expressing frustration after attempting solutions from other threads without success. The ongoing high CPU usage remains unresolved, leading to significant system slowdowns and overheating.
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CPU 100% with explore.exe!

After hunting down a solution for days now, I have finally narrowed the problem down using Process Explorer and Process Monitor, Anti-virus softwares and all that jazz. Now I have found a dead-end, and need help.

System:
Vista Home Premium x64 for Pavilion dv5-1137la, bought 3 months ago. 320GB, 4096MB, AMD turion X2 Dual-Core

Problem:
CPU spikes to 100% constantly, keeps around 70-90% all the time, making the computer very slow and overheating it.

Troubleshooting so far:
- Full virus scan with AVG, Spybot S&D and Windows Defender -> found nothing
- Process Explorer shows the culprit as explore.exe, which uses most of the CPU
-> opening the process shows that all CPU is used by a thread "SHLWAPI.dll!PathIsRootW+0xcc"
-> stacking this thread shows various .dll processes such as "SHLWAPI.dll!PathIsRootW+0x195" and "DpoFeedb.dll+0x4932
"
-> locating this process takes me to "shlwapi.dll " located under C:\Windows\System32
- Used Process Monitor to detect which program is using up the shlwapi.dll through explore.exe, and found dllhost.exe to be the culprit
- checked that dllhost.exe is not a malware. It is located in C:Windows\system32 as well.

Now what?
I have narrowed down the problem: almost all of the CPU is used by dllhost.exe through shlwapi.dll through explore.exe.
Now what? Knowing this is not really helping. So far I understand dellhost.exe is important for internet through COM Surrogate. But it shouldn't be the case that CPU remains constantly near 100%, when no other software is taking up the CPU.

Can I kill the shlwapi.dll process, and rename/delete the file? Will this affect the performance of my computer? What now?

Thank you for your help!
 
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Hi,

Thank you for your reply. I have read the thread you gave me before, but unfortunately it wasn't the solution for me. I did what the guy in the thread did, but the problem persisted, and that is exactly because the problem is the dllhost.exe using the shlwapi.exe.

Thanks anyhow. :) Any other suggestions?
 
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