CPU chomping all my resources.....

:yum

What the blinkety-flip is going on with my computer??? It seems to lag once every ten seconds. If I scroll down a screen it will do so then stop for a second before carrying on. If I hover the cursor over a URL, it'll take a second to show me the glove etc etc etc.

I did the old ctrl+alt+del thing to show processes, and my CPU spikes at 100% usage (then down to 0-2%) every ten seconds or so. By looking at applications, my 'system idle process' goes from 0-2% to 98+% every ten seconds.

Clearly the issues are related. The application 'system idle process' is chomping away at all my computer's brain and it's doing my crust in!!! I dare not even attempt to play games online as the lag ruins it completely

How can I sort this out please???

BTW - Windows XP Home edition, Athlon 1.8Gig, 1 gig RAM. Should be fast enough and indeed it was until very recently.

Yours frustratedly....

 

Here. You should go over this. Really. Some forms of malware can do this.

 

Go to task manager and see what process is holding up the memory.Then report back.
Use CCleaner>Tools >Startup,and give us the startup list.

 

I also have this problem even after going through the cleaning process on the malware forum. I changed from AVG to avast and made other changes as recommended and have begun cleaning unused programs from my computer, but I am still often hitting 100% CPU usage. I don't want to derail this thread with my own problems, but I am curious what the deal is. Should I simply buy a new computer? I am running WinXP-SP3, Pentium-4 2.4GHz, 1GB RAM.

 

Some programs have bugs that causes this and Windows Live Photo Gallery is one of them. This here is a Microsoft article about some of the Windows Live Photo Gallery problems - some tweaks there as well. We had a thread about it yesterday - link here.

 

As far as I can tell, it's System Idle Process. If it's another answer you seek you'll have to guide me because though I'm not a novice, I'm not a geek either!! :-D

As for the start up list, is there a way to take a screen shot etc as I realy don't have the time to sit and note it all down then type it in. Sorry

I have done the malware and start up things and there were no major issues.

One thing I forgot to mention is that this problem started about the same time that every time the computer was switched on I get a Microsoft Failure Notice at start up saying 'Delivery Manager Service failed to open and has to be shut down' or something similar. I don't have a clue what that program does though!!

Cheers

 

One quick tip: "System Idle Process" isn't actually a process using your CPU... the higher the CPU usage on "System Idle Process", the LESS your CPU is being used. "System Idle Process" is exactly that -- the UNUSED percentage of your CPU.

 

word.. What you're looking for is what is taking up the CPU when 'System Idle Process' is low.


I had a friend with a similar problem. It turned out to be explorer.exe that was eating the CPU. He had a manufacturer install of Windows XP Home. Apparently there's a bug in some of the prerelease versions of XP home edition that causes explorer to eat up all the resources. After I tried several fixes to no avail I finally just formatted the computer with a slipstreamed copy of XP Pro and he's never had a problem since.

 

Malware can cause CPU usage to peek. To find out use these guidelines.

 

I have to agree with Cordialis in that it could be a form of malware causing the problem. Seeing that you live in England, it would explain the hits that I got searching for the file. It could involve the Kontiki software installed with the BBC player, if you use this application. http://www.pcdoctor-guide.com/wordpress/?p=2452. Hope this helps.