CPU Usage 100.

[rogannn]

Hello,
I have found that the last week the CPU usage on my computer has been 100 constantly even when I do restart the computer, so I thought I should run a virus scan to see if it was a virus using Zone Alarm Security Suite but it appeared to have taken 1 hour to scan 100 files. It was very slow starting up after aswell and when I tried to standby or hibernate the computer just shut off the monitor, mouse and keyboard. I could still hear the fan running so I knew it hadn't been shut off properly. I have been checking other forums and stuff but to no avail.


If I can get some help it would very much appreciated

Thanks,
rogannn

[TOMxEU]

Can you look in Taskbar, which process is causing 100% CPU usage?
You can also try to boot into safe mode and try to do a scan in there.

[rogannn]

When I do try to look in the task manager it says that System is using 90-100 CPU and once i run in safe mode to scan it is still 100 CPU usage. So the scan is still very slow and I don't know what could of caused it.

[Devinco]

Rogann,

Does it say in taskmanager System Idle Process?
Because that is normal. Whatever is not used by other processes is used by the System Idle Process.

[rogannn]

It just says System is using 90-100% not System Idle Process. The CPU usage at the bottom of the Task Manager is always 100% even in safe mode.
So i still need to fix this ,but i hope someone can help.

[zapjb]

You're not saying that your System Idle Process in taskmanager is 90-100%? Because that is normal.

[rogannn]

Of course it isn't 90-100% on my System Idle Process that is what the guy just replied before... and that is the problem right now. So you didn't really help me by copying what Divinco typed. Maybe you should actually read what I typed before and then you would understand the problem.

[Notok]

You might want to get Process Explorer from www.sysinternals.com, then double click the System entry and look in the "Threads" tab to see if it will give you some idea of what it's doing that's consuming so much CPU. My guess is that you have a driver that's corrupted or conflicting.

[rogannn]

Process Explorer didn't give me any better idea on what's taking up the CPU or what the problem is yet ,but thanks. I hope i can still get an idea from someone to help me.

[Notok]

What did it show in the "Threads" tab as taking up the CPU?

[rogannn]

Oh, sorry I didn't mention about the threads thing. I couldn't really understand what it was written in there but Process Explorer shows a different CPU usage than Task Manager but the CPU usage at the bottom is still always 100%. The system is around 20-30% in Process Explorer, DPC is around 50%, Interrupts is about 20-30% and the other random things are about 1% sometimes. I don't know if that will help, but i don't really understand the other stuff.

[zapjb]

So no process in taskmanager shows inordinate CPU usage?

[rogannn]

Just the System process but I am unsure if it is linked with the 100% CPU usage problem ,but I trying to get some help to figure out why it is 100% and why it doesn't change is the real question i'm trying to ask.

[NICK ADSL UK]

Hi rogannn
The system process is normally at 00 where as the system idle process fluctuates between 80 to 99 which is normal and your computer should behave normal at all times. Now if your SVCHOST.EXE Which should be at 00 is showing a high figure then this would indicate that a service is asking for some information from the system and failing to get it. Do check in services / Administrative tools in the control panel to make sure that your services are at the Microsoft default level for xp service pack 2. Should you find a service there you are unfamiliar with then post back here for clarification of what it is and what setting it should be set to

Regards

[Notok]

but I trying to get some help to figure out why it is 100% and why it doesn't change

You also still never mentioned what it actually shows in the Threads tab as taking up the CPU. You might post a screenshot, preferably including the rest of Process Explorer as well.

[rogannn]

Okay, for the services thing I don't know what to do. For the Process Explorer thing I have the screenshots of the threads and the whole Process Explorer. The Process Explorer shows a different amount of CPU usage than Task Manager so i'm saying this again. For some reason I can't put two of the screen shots so I will put the other one in the next post.

[rogannn]

Here is the second screenshot. Have fun!

[gerardwil]

Regarding your DPC's (58%!) maybe you will find a hint reading through these pages.

http://forum.sysinternals.com/forum_...837&PN=2&TPN=1

Gerard

[zapjb]

Maybe it's just me. But I wanted to see the Processes tab of OP's Task Manager.

[Notok]

Maybe it's just me. But I wanted to see the Processes tab of OP's Task Manager.

Process Explorer is the same thing (first screenshot), it just gives more info and in a more organized manner.

Okay, for the services thing I don't know what to do. For the Process Explorer thing I have the screenshots of the threads and the whole Process Explorer. The Process Explorer shows a different amount of CPU usage than Task Manager so i'm saying this again. For some reason I can't put two of the screen shots so I will put the other one in the next post.

Process Explorer is just being more explicit, task manager doesn't show DPCs or Hardware Interrupts, and likely just puts them all together into the "system process".

I'd say Gerardwil probably has it there.. I'd start by just updating all drivers. If you have an nVidia graphics card, and updating all drivers doesn't help, you might try uninstalling the nVidia driver and just use the Microsoft one (which should automatically install after you uninstall the nVidia driver and reboot).

Regarding the services, this program can help and give you some guidance on what each service does and what is safe to disable. You can also reference this page, and of course you can always ask questions here.

[gerardwil]

Just another thought: if you have a network cable, unplug it and look if the DPC goes down.

Gerard

[rogannn]

Okay thanks for all the help but, none of it worked. I didn't get any ideas from reading gerardwil's forum on sysinternals and the Service Controler worked so I disabled some programs that were on the safe list but still 100%. I also did try to boot in safe mode which means there were the minimum processes as well. I also couldn't find any help on the reference page for the Service Controler or whatever it was. Unplugging the network cable didn't lower the DPC. I checked for all of my updates for drivers and they are the newest I can get.
So if anyone has a solution I would be pleased to hear it(or read it).

[rogannn]

Does anyone have any other ideas?

[Tommy]

Regarding to your snapshot you have a unusual high DPC usage, which results mostly from video drivers - have been torturing Google
A so called interrupt storm that is generated by the ACPI driver causes a Windows Server 2003-based or a Windows XP-based computer to stop responding. Responsable file is Acpi.sys. There is a regitry patch available, give it a try.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/834631/

Could work without this Registry Patch, do a simple test:

Start --> Control Panel --> System --> Hardware TAB --> Device Manager
Display Adapters --> Your vidoecard -- Right click, select Disable, your computer should restart.

When your computer is back in windows, see if the CPU is still being used at 50 to 100%.

Simply go through the same steps and select "Enable" to reinitiate your videocard. Restart your computer. Your videocard settings will not be erased and when you get back into windows the second time you may find that your CPU still isn't at 50 to 100%.

[rogannn]

Thanks for the help Tommy, but I am unsure how to download the patch because it ends up sending me to download the other high-priority downloads and I have them all already so I couldn't download that patch. Disabling my display adapter didn't fix the problem either.