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Thread: High CPU usage. Terminate the process and another process starts high CPU usage

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
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    1

    High CPU usage. Terminate the process and another process starts high CPU usage

    Toshiba Tecra M4 dual processor 1GB RAM 100Gb HDD.
    XP Pro SP3; Trend Micro IS 2007; a-squared antimalware
    I have scanned the entire PC with the latest updates of all the above and found nothing that might indicate the problem described below.

    Symptom: its another High CPU usage problem but does not seem to be the same as others that have been reported. Basically everything works fine [well the PC seems a little sluggish sometimes taking ages (2 - 3 secs!") to perform a trivial task (e.g. show the dialog box after File->Save)].

    Then (for no apparent reason) one application (usually windows explorer) will start to run the CPU flat out. It actually shows in task manager as one CPU locked at 50% and the other behaving normally but the computer behaves as if both CPUs are running flat out (sluggish, takes ages to open a new window etc) In fact the only thing that works well is Alt-Tab to move between processes (much faster than clicking a window of a background process).

    If Task Manager is used to terminate the process things usually go back to normal but you have to wait 5 minutes before starting up explorer again or it will just lock up once more.

    Sometimes, it is almost impossible to fix the problem with out switching off. In this situation, every time you terminate a 50% CPU process another process goes to 50%. Even shut down does not work with each running process in turn going to 50% (well I got bored after 5 or 6 and pulled the plug!!)

    The normal culprits are explorer, Firefox (v3) and Outlook but it seems it can happen to anything especially after terminating a process with Task Mgr.

    I have restored an image from July 2007 (when I did not have the problem) and the problem seemed to go away) I then let the various automatic updating processes (Windows Update, Software Update etc) loose. Shortly after that the problem started again.

    I am running:
    Trend Micro Internet security 2007 but disabling that did not seem to help
    Spigot Search and Destroy but I have uninstalled that (no change)
    A-squared anti malware

    It seems as if an update is causing this but short of rebuilding, updating one at a time with a days testing in between I am never going to find which. Has anyone got any ideas where I might start.
    TFAI
    R

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
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    2,291

    Re: High CPU usage. Terminate the process and another process starts high CPU usage


  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2008
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    2,680

    Re: High CPU usage. Terminate the process and another process starts high CPU usage

    Sounds like it could be either your HDD(s) need defragging OR it would be a good idea to update ALL the drivers you use (and don't forget the motherboard drivers).

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    3,522

    Re: High CPU usage. Terminate the process and another process starts high CPU usage

    The most obvious culprit is a virus, spyware, or some other malicious software. Scan your system regularly with a good spy-catching program. Spybot Search & Destroy is also good. Next, update your antivirus definitions and run a full virus scan. Set your antivirus program to check for updates and do a full scan automatically at least once a week.

    If virus and spyware scans don't find the problem, it may be due to a malware program that's too new to be caught. More likely, however, is an unintended problem with an honest program.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    3,026

    Re: High CPU usage. Terminate the process and another process starts high CPU usage

    For those of you with issues where you get 100% cpu usage on startup for a couple of minutes, the culprit is most likely windows updates. Disable that (use manual only) and your boot-ups will be much, much faster.

    Type msconfig into the run box, go to start up and disable everything, reboot... If it doesn't happen repeat and enable one item at a time...

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Posts
    4,085

    Re: High CPU usage. Terminate the process and another process starts high CPU usage

    One approach to this problem is to stop and then disable the Windows Automatic Update service. If you have it open in Process Explorer, as shown above, with Automatic Updates selected in the list then just click the Stop button. If your CPU usage then drops to more normal levels, you've identified the problem.

    To prevent the Automatic Update service from starting again, right click on My Computer and click on Manage. Expand Services and Applications, and then underneath that click on Services. In the resulting list on the right, locate Automatic Updates:

    Right click on Automatic Updates and click on Properties. Change the Startup type to Disabled:

    Click OK and Automatic Update service should be disabled.

  7. #7
    dickovan Guest

    Re: High CPU usage. Terminate the process and another process starts high CPU usage

    After rebooting my system, ehrec.exe was consuming 50% (dual processor). The only change made was an update to Rhapsody software. Being the suspicious type, I removed Rhapsody and rebooted. No more problem with ehrec.exe.

    Go figure.

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