CPU keeps going to 100%--any suggestions to remedy?

How much memory do you have installed?
How many processes are running?
Does it do the same in safe mode?

You are using a memory demanding OS that allows you very little control over the system- performance is included- and very few options for correction. If my cpu usage is at 100%, it is because:
using multiple virtual environments, 3d rendering, system rebuilding, network scanning on multiple terminals, limited memory, and limited cache. I use beta and research OSes quite a bit, I know what performance is.


No, I doubt if it is a hardware problem, but: Install another operating system- not some version of windows- and use it intensively. If you have the same problem, then it is hardware.

Go to Programs,/ Systems Tools,/ Accessories, /Scheduled Tasks.

this will show you what if any programs are running on a set schedule. You may have set them up, or they may have been already in place when you got your computer.

Determine which of them you need running (I have none, and we are all happier for it), and close out the others.

what happens is, when a scheduled task starts running, it uses up an enormous about of your CPU. Things will just stop moving until it stops running. This may be a few seconds, or it may be much longer.

If you happen to have two or more tasks scheduled to run near each other, time wise, then you can be experiencing frequent slowdowns and stops, all day long. If you leave the computer on all night, as many people do, schedule your tasks to run then.

But for the most part most of them are unnecessary. This may not be the solution, but it's worth a try.

CTRL-ALT-DELETE open processes look for the process that is hogging the CPU, click and close the process, Only temp but you wont have to restart. Mine is McNasvc.exe I can't find a way to stop it permenently if you do email me johnt011@sbcglobal.net

Uninstall the last software you installed.

If you are running a Norton 2007 product on this computer, a scanning program titled AppSvc32.exe will occasionally run a quick scan of your system and, if you Google the service name, you will find that it takes up and often time freezes many computers. Most often Norton will scan on start-up and whenever you have received protection updates. The best way to deal with this problem is to, when your computer seizes up suddenly, to close all open programs, open up the Task Manager, open the Processes tab, and wait until you see both the virtual memory size (VM Size) and the CPU usage drop substantially.

I had this problem for a long time. I increased my memory to two gig, and now the most intensive program never goes over 30%!

wipe and reload best fix.

This software is programmed to clean my computer at start. I have been using it for quite a while. Should I run it manually instead? Thanks in advance for your consideration.

What I'd recommend doing first is finding out what program is using all of the CPU. To do that, bring up the Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del), and click the "Processes" tab. In that window, click the "CPU" tab to sort all of your programs in order of CPU use. When the CPU really starts being used, take note of what program is using the most at that time. Then use MSCONFIG to get it out of the startup. You can pull up MSCONFIG from right in the Task Manager - choose the "Applications" tab and than click the "New Task..." button. Simply type in MSCONFIG and it will open up. You'll than find the program you want to disable either under the "Services" or "Startup" tab of MSCONFIG. Uncheck it to make sure it doesn't start up with your computer again. If it's a program you don't need or don't use, I'd recommend uninstalling it from the Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs application. Good luck with your problem - hope this helps!
-Matt

This is the first time the CNET question is EXACTLY my situation, too. I can't wait to see the answers submitted. I'm so excited with this opportunity. Many thanks to Anthony K.

Some programs (Firefox is one) get more memory to use, then, after use, neglect to release it back into the common pool of available memory. Eventually, this results in your memory utilization in Window Task Manager, Processes tab, showing that the offending program is using enormous amounts of memory so no other program can operate, or operate sparingly. For example, right now, My Task Manager is using 143,000K of memory and processor utilization stands at 98%. At other times, my Outlook uses 65% of cpu time, again slowing my machine. These are my two main problems with a slowing machine; overload of one part or another.

This sounds like a problem that I've had for the past 4-5 months.
I'm running XP-Pro, SP2, 544mb ram, with an older GW2K, PIII-600MhZ.
Initially I thought it was just some system maintenance that was needed.
After a few times, I called up my task manager and found that I have 12 svchost.exe processes running. One will be running at 85% to 97% of cpu resources.
I then went into my msconfig utility and began turning off what I considered useless, or unnecessary programs that loaded upon boot up.
over the course of the next month or so I found that this was a standard occurrence regardless of what I did.

I then contacted my AV provider and asked if there was a virus because my AV program would have a malfunction on a regular basis. They could only tell me to uninstall, run an online scan, and then re-install.
This did nothing to stop the malfunction from occurring, and I ultimately noticed that my AV program had not updated in over 45 days.

At this point I downloaded some free AV and antispam programs that also found no viruses, or spam.
At this point I began looking on google to see if multiple svchost processes were somehow caused by viruses.
While I found numerous articles that implied this hypothesis, I never found any distinct article that definitively clarified it one way or another.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=multiple+svchost.exe+processes

I then decided to contact the AV maker directly, instead of my ISP who acts as a go between.
They of course directed me back to the ISP, and we appear to have resolved the AV issue malfunctioning, but I still have 12 svchost.exe processes loading every time I boot up.


At one point I did read up on a MS KB article that told how to determine which svchost process is performing what task, but I could never figure out how to stop it from occurring altogether.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314056
I think I even went to the MS newsgroups, and don't ever remember anyone ever responding. I did just find a response from MS tech support on the topic. I'll go back through this again. (I'll post their response below)

Now when I boot up, after about ten minutes all of the svchost.exe processes will be at max, and I'll go into my task manager to see what's taking place. When I see one that's running at the high percentage rate, I'll terminate it.
shortly thereafter another svchost.exe process will go to the high percentage. I'll then terminate it, and after a couple of moments my screen will flicker, and the taskbar will turn white, and take anywhere from 1 minute to 5 minutes to recover. Sometimes it won't recover at all, and I'll need to reboot.

It's my considered opinion at this point that my system is either just getting too old, or there is a virus affecting my system-- that has gotten so deep into my system that no virus checker has been able to find and eradicate it.

So, I'd like to join Anthony's request for assistance.

Here is the response I obtained from MS's tech support on the topic.
----------------------------------------
Hello Steve,



Thank you for contacting Microsoft Customer Service.



I apologize for the delay in our response to your issue. Due to an increase in requests, our response time is longer than usual. I appreciate your patience in this regard.



I understand from your message that 8 svchost's are running at once, and one of them is taking upwards of about 95% CPU capacity on Windows XP Professional.



I have included some self-help resources that may address your issue, and information on how to contact Technical Support. If the self-help resources that are provided do not resolve your issue, or if you prefer assisted technical support, you can contact the technical support team directly at the URL provided below:



Assisted Support:



You may work with a Microsoft Support Professional via e-mail, telephone, and chat to resolve your issue. Depending on how you obtained your software, there may be fees to use the Assisted Support option. Please visit the following link to contact the Support Team regarding your issue with Windows XP Professional:

http://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?ln=en-ca&prid=3518&gprid=185522



Please note that if the Microsoft Windows XP Professional came from your computer manufacturer, please contact your computer manufacturer directly. Contact information for most major computer manufacturers is available at:

http://www.support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=oemphone



Self-Help Resources:



Steve, you may search the Product Solution Center or the Knowledge Base of self-help articles to resolve your issue using the following link regarding your issue with Windows XP Professional:

http://support.microsoft.com/ph/1173



You may also post your issue in the Microsoft news groups. Please visit the link below to look for a possible resolution regarding your issue with Windows XP Professional:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/newsgroups/reader.mspx?query=Windows+XP+Professional&dg=microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support&cat=en-us-ms-winxp&lang=en&cr=US&pt=&catlist=B0DE109D-10E1-4C3C-BCC9-8EB7A22FC6A0&dglist=&ptlist=&exp=&sloc=en-us



I hope your issue is resolved at the earliest and appreciate your patience in this regard. Meeting and exceeding your expectations are my top priorities.



Thank you,



Kishan

Microsoft Customer Service Representative



If you have any feedback about your Online Customer Service experience, please send it to my manager, Smita Singh, at http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6998852 Please do not forget to indicate the name of my manager in the subject field.




--- Original Message ---

Sent : Friday, November 30, 2007 3:58:18 AM UTC
To : CNTUS.PRCS.NA.00.EN.TRA.BGL.CS.T01.CUS.00.WB@css.one.microsoft.com
Subject : svchost issues

CUSTOMER PROVIDED SYSTEM PROPERTIES
O/S: Win-XP, Pro-SP2
Br: IE 6.0.2900.2180.....
Country/Region: United States


PRODUCT
Windows XP Professional

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS
Message: I have 8 svchost's running at once, and one of them is taking upwards of 95% or more of my cpu's capacity.
I've read up on this from various links through google, and they all state that this is most likely a virus.
I have run my virus scans, and have all of my AV definitions up to date. It has not recognized this as a virus.
Do you have any better/comprehensive information on this topic than KB 314056?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314056
Is there a patch, or a fix for this?
I have no crashes, no system failures, etc...
My sole problem-- so far-- is that one of the svchost's is taking almost all of my cpu capacity.

I had the same problem Turned out that the CPU was going bad. The fan was not cooling it and if finally Fried according to the Tech. Tech replaced CUP and now it works fine.

When you find this happening (I do also) Open your Task Manager by pressing simultaneously Ctrl-Alt-Delete. On the bottom you will see the CPU usage displayed in percent. Normally the Applicatuions tab and list will be displayed. Look at it and observe which programs are active. Check the status. If one is reporting "not responding", highlight it and click on End Task (or Alt-E)give it a few seconds.

If that does not take care of the problem click on the Processes tab. you will see a list of running processes. There is a CPU column which displays the % of CPU that each process is using. Scroll up and down to find the process that is using up the CPU. BE CAREFULL ending a process here can lead to problems.

Some of the Image Names will be obvious and you may at that time determine which program is eating up your resources. Others are not so obvious and you will have to research the Image Name to determine the associated program.

I have found one very common cause for the lockup to be parrallel startups. From WIN-ME on for some reason the old windows faithful hour glass has been asleep at the wheel. you click on an Icon or program tab and wonder if you clicked hard enough or double clicked quickly enough. The hour-glass does not come up so you try again. Now you have started your problem. The first attempt did start the program and so did the second attempt (or with some real impatient people the third and fourth attemts did also) now the poor computer is striking a bottle neck. you have parrallel instances of the same program fighting each other. The battle can become so intense that there is no room for anything else. Often Patience is the best way to deal with the situation. Get up and get a cold beer or a glass of juice. When you come back, you can close the extra instances of the application. Ctrl-Alt-Del will tell you if you are running more than one instance of an application.

If that does not work you will have to go to the Processes tab and attempt to find out (with a help or an Internet search) what to do to end the process which is giving you trouble.