explorer.exe very confused

hi everyone...

my problems are as such:

explorer.exe jumps up and down in cpu usage, basically depending on how much the other processes are using up. so if i'm doing a couple of things, explorer.exe will jump to 60% or something about once every two seconds. the result is a graph that pretty much looks like my computer's having a heart attack:

http://www.chivesthebutler.org/tim/files/pics/2005/01-09/problem2.PNG ​

yeah so that's a problem. also, my mouse (microsoft optical usb basic with scroll wheel) dies every couple of minutes (particularly when explorer.exe is acting up) and then comes back. also, sometimes explorer.exe just dies alltogether and then comes back.

also, when i startup, i get a really messy thing going on with my start bar. that can be seen here:

http://www.chivesthebutler.org/tim/problem.PNG ​

i also get a bunch of problems with "Language Bar" and "The language bar" as toolbars on the start bar when i startup.

they always manage to disappear within a couple of hours though...

when i start up IE, it freezes for a couple of seconds before i can do anything. so if i click or anything it has to be task-ended.

i was going through the thread at the top of the forum, but when i went to disable the system restore i hesitated...
will i regret deleting ALL my restore points (which are a lot because i have a 120 gb hd and full restore usage on)?

i've done most else of what's on that list. if you guys really think it (getting rid of system restore) will help i will.

just gimme a heads up (maybe there is a problem like this that's easy to fix... i had a similar problem with my computer when i first got it. the messenger service caused the system idle process to actually take up cpu cycles, and i turned that off and it was fixed).

thanks!

(PS i put all of these problems together because they all started at once, so i guess it's just one thing?)

 

ok nevermind. i got rid of system restore... i'm working through the list of things to do, i'll post a hijack thingy list when i get to it.

again, if anyone has any basic ideas just let me know.

 

ok i'm working my way through the list as of now, i'll let you know if anything comes up. and i will follow the list, for sure.

 

sorry, i guess i wasn't too specific.

yes indeed many of those processes are from other programs, but the up and down motion is caused by explorer.exe. the way i know is because i sort the processes by which is using the most cpu cycles (%) and then highlight explorer.exe. everything else remains (more or less) in place except explorer, which jumps up and down, accounting for that heartbeat sort of motion. i remember how that line looked before explorer.exe happened, and when i wasn't doing anything (as was the case when i took this screenshot) it usually remained pretty steady.

 

yes it can. it's not common, usually it stays at around 60%, but if i have a browser open or something like that, it can sometimes randomly jump up to 97%.

and yes, i am working my way down the list. i will post when i'm all done.

hopefully that will fix my problem...

 

hey,

i did everything on the list, and the problem remain.

it seems to have changed a bit... the odd cpu usage sort of died away for some time, but it's back again... even in safe mode, i think... or it seems so.

anywho, just a heads up that the tutorial thingy is done.

hope you guys can help me!

-tim

 

will do in a moment. just an update. recently, i've been having problems with my USB mouse (it dies every couple of minutes and then comes back) and my internet connection... it seems to be getting spikes or something, as my instant messenger programs will boot off and sign back on often.

i'll get that log going now.

 

i think it is.

the log file is attached... i think i did everything correctly...

 

hmm... do you think this is a windows problem? maybe explorer.exe is corrupted. if you really thing it's not a spyware problem, could you drop this thread over into the software thread or something?

i tried disconnecting the mouse and not much changed...

i do think that toolbar (the first post) has something to do with the problem.

but what do i know... hmm.

you've helped a lot though... my computer is running quicker (albeit still with the same problem) and that software i got from this site will surely come into use later.

 

I had very similar symptoms. No adware/spyware running, but the explorer.exe process would spike every few seconds. It would start out around 10 to 20% peaks, but later would be hitting nearly 100%. This was verified with perfmon.

I didn't think it was too much of a problem at first, but it became quite a nuisance. Simple text editing became annoying and videos were increasingly more choppy. I had installed the latest video drivers from Nvidia, and I think the problems started around the same time, but I cannot be certain it was the drivers. Another reason I think it was something related to video is that I didn't seem to have the problem when I used Remote Desktop to my computer.

Fortunately, I believe the following resolved my issue with the explorer.exe process spikes:

Video may momentarily stop or pause when you use other programs in Windows XP Service Pack 2
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/885853/EN-US/?

Hopefullly it works for you, too.