Mobile hotspot - data using @100megabytes per minute

[PhillyRage23]

So I've used my hotspot a lot, and all the sudden from the moment I connect my laptop, it is using an absurd amount of data. In the 30 minutes I had it connected, I used 1.4 gigs.
Now before you say something regarding my laptop, I turned everything off. Just looking at my desktop with a Word doc in the background. I opened my processes and looked at what was running and nothing was running besides the necessary stuff.
Does anyone have a solution?

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[N4Newbie]

Because laptops are usually turned off when not in use, they typically try to "take care of business" (or, as I call it, "housekeeping") the moment they are turned on. That means your anti-virus checks and starts downloading updates, Windows Update does the same, and many other apps you may have installed get on the bandwagon - everybody is checking for and downloading updates. If you have a printer installed, you can bet it's driver is checking in. Java? Same thing. Adobe apps? Same. Google drive or similar cloud service? It checks to see if your cloud storage has changed and syncs the local folder if necessary. I can go on and on, but hopefully you get the idea.

And, of course, your laptop could be infected by any number of well-hidden viruses...