System Process maxing out during browsing.

Hi there,

I've recently encountered a problem that is driving me mad. The 'system' process (not system idle) keeps maxing out anywhere between 50% and 90% causing the PC to grind to a halt for a short while.

After some investigation I have noticed this only happens when I'm browsing (I use the latest Firefox). Doing anything else on the PC (watching films, using programs etc etc) is no problem.

So, opening ANY web page takes forever especially media rich ones. Every time I open a new page BOTH Firefox and System processes spike wildly causing huge lag. Watching videos is virtually impossible now.

I tried using 'Process Explorer' to locate the prob but expanding the System process shows me nothing.

I've never had this problem before up until a week ago. The only 'new' things I've done to the PC was update my video driver and install Avast Anti-Virus (free version). I have disabled the Avast shield to see if it was that but nothing changed. All Java and Flash etc are up to date. I did have some Malware problems a few weeks back but that was dealt with on this very forum and the system is clean (I have runs various scans and nothing shows up).

My guess is a conflict somewhere but I have no idea how to track down the problem. So, to recap, this only happens when I'm browsing the internet. Does anyone having any advice? Using the internet has become a chore and is effecting my business!

TIA

Jay

 

I suspect Flash is the culprit but I don't know what can be done about it. I, too, have noticed the Task Manager will show a big increase in CPU Usage if I visit some sites with heavy Flash content. An example is barnesandnoble.com. The upper part of their home page has a swath across the page with a scrolling display of books. It has a pause button. If I click the pause button, CPU usage drops back to a normal level; resume the scrolling on the page and CPU usage spikes up again.

I wish Adobe and website developers would come up with a solution for this.

 

What about in safe mode? Any improvement?

 

Hi again. I have finally solved the problem. Turns out it was Avast.

I uninstalled it and restarted and everything is working smooth and fast again. No process spikes anywhere.

Could anyone tell me why Avast could do this to my system? I know some people had similar problems with AVG. I don't want to be without an AV but I can't operate like I was.

Any suggestions?

 

What Anti-Virus was in use previous to Avast? Did you use the previous AV's removal tool and then re-boot before installing Avast?

 

Prior to Avast I had AVG which wasn't running properly. I had trouble uninstalling it, I recall. I did manage to run the uninstaller eventually. I also remember that 'Kestrel' from this board removed a couple of traces of it during some Malware removal procedures. ( and yes, we did many restarts)

As far as I know it's all gone. Would there be a way of checking this? I seem to remember that AVG had a specialist removal tool too?

Thanks

 

Did you visit the site I mentioned? I get the same results on three different computers - 1 Avast, 1 AVG, 1 no anti-virus - so I'm skeptical that Avast is really the key to Flash causing a large increase in CPU usage. I think it's Flash itself, regardless of what anti-virus app you're running.

 

Not sure of a method to see if any remnants anywhere for AVG, if Kes says it's gone then it's gone. But it won't hurt to run the AVG Removal Tool(Uninstaller). Have you had any other AV(s) installed besides AVG?

Also believe Usafveteran has good point about "Flash".

 

I'll try that link. By the way, I never mentioned Flash being a problem. ANY Internet usage was causing the spikes. Be it, browsing a text based site, using utorrent, streaming music, watching videos. Everything! Simply could not use the internet or the processes would go nuts. It made me think there was a clash with Firefox and the AV. No idea...

I've not had it happen once since I removed Avast so....who knows. Seems more of a coincidence :confused

 

If you still haven't installed another AV you might try Avira AntiVir Personal - FREE Antivirus. First though, you will need to run the avast! Uninstall Utility.

If you have upgraded to the latest version of Flash, then it is possible you have "McAfee® Security Scan Plus" lurking about, especially if you got it from here. So you might look for McAfee on your system too. Even though you didn't mention Flash specifically, your comment "especially media rich ones" brings Flash to mind as so many pages use it.

As for Avast, something may have gone awry with the install, could be something else on your machine that interferes with Avast or as you say, it may just be a coincidence. I use Avast myself without any problems, but every machine is different.

 

Thanks, I'll try out your suggestions and play around with a few things. I did get the latest Flash update from the link you've showed and I honestly can't remember if I unchecked that McAfee box rolleyes

I'll use the uninstall progs for AVG and Avast then perhaps give Avast another go. Guess I'll soon track down the culprit

Sorry about the misleading comment about Flash. I meant to say it was worse with media rich sites but any form of internet activity was nigh on impossible!

Thanks for the tips, if I come unstuck again I'll post back but it certainly seems to have been connected to Avast in someway. Whether that was the fault of the program itself or a conflict somewhere, I'll guess I'll find out once I've tried out a few things.

Many thanks :cool

 

When I tried to install Flash from that link(it was an experiment), if I unchecked the McAfee Security option and then tried to install the Flash Player, nothing happened, no install. That's why I brought it up. If you installed Flash from that page then you most likely have the McAfee Security Scanner installed. What I don't know is if that would interfere with another AV or not. But think it would.

So, look in "Add/Remove Programs" and see if McAfee is listed. If so, download Revo Uninstaller and use it to uninstall McAfee. Make sure when using Revo's registry clean-up that you only delete the bolded entries.

One more question, did you uninstall the previous version of Flash before upgrading to the current version? If not, see if there is more than one version of Flash listed in "Add/Remove". If there is, then uninstall(using add/remove not Revo) the older version(s).

Once you've everything set the way you think is should be, if Fx is still slow, try running Fx in it's "Safe mode". If that solves the problem then you probably have a contrary add-on(extension, theme) installed.

All so try using IE/Opera in place of Fx and see if they too are affected or if it's just Fx.

Only other thing I can think of at the moment is to roll back your video driver update. But only as a last resort.

Lightning is starting to fly, gota get. Good luck.