Windows 8 explorer.exe high CPU usage w/USB HDD

Hi there,

Having strange issues, explorer.exe starts eating up CPU, only when my USB HDD is connected.
I could see a bunch of my files appearing in the DLL window of process explorer (screenshot included) so I assumed it was an indexing problem.



Ran SFC, CHKDSK on all partitions, delete/restore index, in the end I have completely disabled indexing and it is still occuring. Weird, and cannot understand why this would be happening. I have disabled real time protection also.

It appears to still happen under a clean boot, and I cannot link it to any specific program or process or service, only that it happens when USB HDD is plugged in.

Any help would be much appreciated!


System Info:

Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.2
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 8 Pro with Media Center, 64 bit
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) X2 Dual-Core QL-65, AMD64 Family 17 Model 3 Stepping 1
Processor Count: 2
RAM: 4093 Mb
Graphics Card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4500/5100 Series, 512 Mb
Hard Drives: C: Total - 109701 MB, Free - 31787 MB; E: Total - 1782726 MB, Free - 302299 MB; G: Total - 124998 MB, Free - 31645 MB;
Motherboard: Quanta, 3060
Antivirus: Windows Defender, Disabled