Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

processor intermitently running at max

Jan 31, 2004 1:53AM PST

Hi everyone.
Firstly I apologise for not being too knowledgeable on the jargon, my pc know is very limited.
Anyway problem is my new pc intermitently runs very slowly and at such times the task manager shows the processor running at 95-100% but for no obvious reason.
This is even when no applications are open and I can associate no other activity with it. The suppliers have already changed the processor which seemed to cure it but for only a day. They are a bit stumped.
System info is AMD 2.4G, winXP prof, 512DDR memory.
System information gives:
x86 family model 8 Stepping 1 Authentic AMD 1999Mhz
as the processor info.
Hope someone can advise. Thanks

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Re:processor intermitently running at max
Jan 31, 2004 2:10AM PST

Remember that XP is not an OS to drop to zero percent and stay there. If this is what you want, then its the wrong OS to achieve such an effect.

Also notable are firewalls will get rather busy as packets arrive, log files are written and more.

Then we have the WORM problem. A new owner of XP will not know that as delivered, XP is ready to be invaded by some dozen or more worms such as Nach, Welchia, MS Blaster and more varients. What a new owner will also not know is that an Antivirus does not stop the worm from infecting the machine. Only by installing a firewall or using ICF can you stop that issue as well as patching the OS immediately.

In closing, there's also the issue of all the other pests. I write a 5 item tool/scan list at http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-6132-0.html?forumID=32&threadID=1313&start=0 which are great at finding out the most common maladies.

Note: CWSHREDDER has moved to a new web site. Find it with your favorite search site.

- Collapse -
Re:Re:processor intermitently running at max
Jan 31, 2004 7:47PM PST

thnaks for your advice. I have norton internet security 2004 and keep it updated. To clarify my meaning of intermitent that is to say there are periods of hours say where everything is fine, and then times such as now (day or more) where the processor is continually running at 95-100% and my machine is ridiculously slow. Could it be something to do with another part of the system such as motherboard etc etc?

thanks again

- Collapse -
"norton internet security" doesn't stop them all.
Jan 31, 2004 8:31PM PST

Besides the issues I noted in my second reply there are any number of drive-by downloaders, web page hijackers, and the list goes on that NIS 2004 does not stop. Symantec's software does not address the Adware/Spyware i.e. PARASITES and PESTS issue.

Many have to read about 2 or more replies by a few people before they use the 5 scans and tools to find and eject to rest of the pests that I note at http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-6132-0.html?forumID=32&threadID=1313&start=0

Be sure you don't have any Parasites and check the items in the other posting.

Bob

- Collapse -
Re:Re:Re:processor intermitently running at max
Feb 1, 2004 2:58AM PST

You say it is running at high CPU, which implies you are looking at Task Manager to acutally see CPU Usage. What you need to do next is check the Processes Tab when this is happening and see what processes are using that high CPU. Let us know, then maybe we can throw some light on what the actual problem is.

- Collapse -
Re:Re:Re:Re:processor intermitently running at max
Feb 1, 2004 5:11PM PST

Clicking on the process tab shows that 'system idle process' seems to be continually at the top of the CPU list at about 99% varying occasionally (every few seconds) to 80 / 90% with various other processes making up the rest.

What makes this irritating for me is that my machine is not always displaying these issues and running slowly, the problem is definately intermitent. At the moment though I would say that once my system has been working for say 30 min or so then the problem tends to appear though that is by no means consistent.
Sorry im not able to be more technical.
I have downloaded and run most of the bug checkers suggested by another contributor and all the virus checking comes back clear.

- Collapse -
"hows that 'system idle process' seems to be continually at the top of the CPU list at about 99%"
Feb 1, 2004 9:27PM PST

It's supposed to do this.

With all due respect and in the kindest words I can find, you have shown that you may be new to the OS in question. The idle thread is were all cycles go when the machine isn't doing things.

This is by design in Windows NT, 2000, XP and Microsoft's later OSes.

In closing, but sure to check that ethernet port post and that no PESTS or PARASITES are installed.

A common issue is that some write "I have downloaded and run most of the bug checkers" which they leave PESTS on the machines such as COOL WEB or other. I'm unsure how to impress you that leaving PARASITES on the machine is a bad idea or that the current state of affairs is that you run all 5 tools, eject all that they find and if you still can't find it, then you proceed with a LOG FILE from HIJACKTHIS for the forum to pick over.

Bob

- Collapse -
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:processor intermitently running at max
Feb 1, 2004 9:44PM PST

Now you are making things VERY unclear. When you have System Idle process showing at 99% it means the CPU is doing nothing, it is running at 1%, since system idle process means the CPU is running at 1% or less.

You need to look under the Performance Tab, you will see the CPU usage is the number that equals 100% - system idle process. So, if you are running at 95% all the time, like you first claimed, then CPU Idle must be at 5% or less. If that is not true, then your whole question is based on flawed reading of the information in task manager.

- Collapse -
Re:processor intermitently running at max
Feb 3, 2004 5:55AM PST

Im not IT literate but I do not what I see (saw) and when looking at the processes page of task manager it would read CPU usage 90-100% whilst at the top of the processes list would be 'system idle process' at say 99. If this doesnt make sense then I cant explain it.
Since then my mc has been back to suppliers who thought that the norton internet 2004 installation may have been causing the fault. They reinstalled it and so far things seem to be better Happy.
For eg at moment task manager shows 31 processes, 60-70% CPU (constantly changing), system idle process at top of list on mainly 99. Note that the system idle process figure doesnt change as often as the CPU usage figure. Looking at the performance tab as you stated shows CPU usage 55-70% at the moment. When I first noticed the slowness on my system the CPU usage on both the process and performance tabs was showing nearly always 95-100%.
Hope this new nfo is more accurate and helpful. Do you think that a faulty installation of Norton could have been the cause ? Mind you I will wait a few days more before I consider it fixed!
In the meantime thank you for all your help and advice. For a complete novice like myself its most useful.

- Collapse -
2 points. Short and sweet.
Feb 3, 2004 6:12AM PST

1. Don't fret about not being an IT person. Many people get spooked by the System Idle process running at 99% or 100. This is by design.

2. Symantec had a Verisign/Symantec GAFFE last month and the effect is the machine runs slowly.

I am unaware if they fixed that, but I don't install, use, suggest this software package. Something has gone sour at Symantec. It's your choice to stick it out and see if they correct it, but I've already jumped ship.

Bob

- Collapse -
Not listed, but an unused Ethernet port can do this.
Jan 31, 2004 2:48AM PST

A rather interesting problem is that an unconnected Ethernet port on a PC running most Windows OSes will cause a momentary CPU spike for some time as it tries to get an IP address from a server.

Worth noting are some slowdowns are noted when a SHARE or PRINTER was connected to over the network and the SHARE or PRINTER is offline/not available. Windows will, on a repeating 10 or so minute scheduler (can be programmed, so I can't tell you what yours is set to) will try to reconnect to the SHARE or PRINTER and the CPU will spike as well.

Microsoft has no patch/fix available for these two issues so its up to the user to disable unused Ethernet ports and disconnect from any offline SHARE or PRINTER.

Bob

- Collapse -
Re:processor intermitently running at max
Feb 1, 2004 5:17PM PST

One other thing that you may be able to advise on : when viewing my hotmail account, the 'print view' button no longer seems to work? Also on some sites when clicking on a button or link to get say more info, or go to a help page, there is no response either. My winXP did not come with MS Virtual Machine so I have downloaded that seperately and applied the updates.

I recall people mentioning something about java settings may be responsible for not being able to access or see all links or info and so on.
Any advise welcomed as surprisingly the link on the MSN page, and hotmail page, to their help centre does not work either!

Thanks

- Collapse -
Re:Re:processor intermitently running at max
Feb 2, 2004 3:54AM PST

I had exactly the same problem 2 months ago.
I got adviced to find a registry cleaner. Tried it and it removed more than 700 bad entries.
Afterwards the computer ran the fastest ever. I'm sorry I can't remember the regcleaner i used but I think anyone will do. You could try one with a trial period. Remember to turn off system recovery, otherwise you will just get all the bad entries inserted again.
/ Wolf