Higher CPU usage, but not a service...

HP/Compaq nc6320 laptop, Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 60GB hard drive.

To start at the beginning, two weekends ago, my laptop suddenly developed a problem where both the wireless & wired LAN port icons in the systray would constantly indicate they were trying to acquire an IP address, even when the wireless was shut off, and nothing was plugged into the LAN. If I tried to actually use either one, the wireless would not see any networks, and the LAN would never obtain an IP address. The computer didn't seem otherwise affected (boot time normal, no speed issues with programs). Ultimately I pulled the wireless card out and my issues cleared up, so it looked like a possible bad wireless card.

I used the computer for a week with just the LAN, everything was fine. I decided to pop the wireless card back in, just to confirm it was bad. Well, upon re-install everything worked great...for about 4 hours. Then suddenly the computer came to a standstill while viewing a Youtube clip through the wireless...video froze, the sound was looping the last bit of sound heard constantly, and I couldn't do anything to shut the computer off normally. So, I powered it off, removed the wireless card & re-booted. This was Friday night.

Ever since then, the computer takes 6-7 minutes to boot up (used to be under 1 min). Once booted, programs are very slow to open (25 seconds for IE, for instance). When viewing the 'processes' tab in task manager while programs are starting, the total CPU usage % at the bottom of the screen hovers between 40-55%, even though the 'system idle process' could be showing less than 10% usage. There don't appear to be any running processes using the extra CPU resources, yet something is using it. When the computer is sitting idle, the CPU usage drops to near zero as expected, it's only when I actually make the computer do something that the CPU spikes much higher than it should, and what the processes indicate.

The same thing happens in safe mode (first thing I tried). I've forced a chkdsk upon reboot with no change to the problem. I haven't tried a system file check upon reboot yet, as I'm out of town & don't have my XPSP2 CD with me.

To be safe I performed full scans with both McAfee corporate AV & Spyware Terminator, both came up clean. HijackThis doesn't show anything out of the ordinary. A clean-up of the registry with Registry Mechanic and of the hard drive with Ccleaner haven't helped.

I'm thinking a driver or other system file was damaged when the computer froze & I had to power it off & am hoping the system file check will fix things once I get my hands on my XP CD. Hard to say, since I can't tell what's using the CPU. The computer is usable (I'm posting from it), but I'm hoping one of the gurus here might be able to steer me towards a resolution...I feel like I'm running with my old Pentium 233MHz desktop!