100% CPU usage

[radamsk1]

I know this is a common problem afflicting many people, especially with various system services like svchost.exe etc. etc...

However, my CPU tends to run 100% randomly on ANY program that is currently running or that I am trying to run. Sometimes it calms back down, but usually runs at 100% consistently.

Some programs that randomly run at 100% include Skype, MSN messenger, WMP, explorer.exe, taskmanger, etc. Basically it is almost any program. I fear something is wrong somewhere in the OS.

Any ideas?

radamsk1 wrote:
> I know this is a common problem afflicting many people, especially with
> various system services like svchost.exe etc. etc...
>
> However, my CPU tends to run 100% randomly on ANY program that is
> currently running or that I am trying to run. Sometimes it calms back
> down, but usually runs at 100% consistently.
>
> Some programs that randomly run at 100% include Skype, MSN messenger,
> WMP, explorer.exe, taskmanger, etc. Basically it is almost any
> program. I fear something is wrong somewhere in the OS.
>
> Any ideas?
>
>

How much ram is installed in the system? If you are low on memory and
your hard drive is constantly active, CPU activity will increase by a
subquential amount.

PS.....good idea when you are seeking info about system troubles to
included details on your systems specs, OS, fixpacks (service packs)
etc. :-)

[radamsk1]

Sorry about the lack of info.

2GHz Core Duo, 2GB Ram, Dell XPS 1210 with Vista Home Premium. I've never had any of these problems prior to the start of this about a week ago. No new installed programs, nothing found on antivirus or spyware scans. On Task manager less than 50% of memory seems used, no major use of virtual memory is noted. Randomly one process running will suddenly go to 100% usage and be sustained for a few minutes, upon ending of the program in task manager, CPU use returns to normal within 30 seconds. However, this happens with many programs, not just one single running program.

radamsk1 wrote:

>
> Sorry about the lack of info.
>
> 2GHz Core Duo, 2GB Ram, Dell XPS 1210 with Vista Home Premium. I've
> never had any of these problems prior to the start of this about a week
> ago. No new installed programs, nothing found on antivirus or spyware
> scans. On Task manager less than 50% of memory seems used, no major
> use of virtual memory is noted. Randomly one process running will
> suddenly go to 100% usage and be sustained for a few minutes, upon
> ending of the program in task manager, CPU use returns to normal within
> 30 seconds. However, this happens with many programs, not just one
> single running program.
>
>

Do clean boot troubleshooting because something is causing this, whether it
is easily apparent to you or not. :-)

How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista -
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;929135

Also, please review these general malware removal steps to see if you were
as thorough in your scanning. If you weren't, it would be a good idea to do
at least some of the steps. But try the clean boot troubleshooting first.

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...moving_Malware

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

::This is common especially within two to three weeks after fresh Vista
installation. You should disable the windows search service and then see
the CPU resources (click on graph to see process detail), in Task
manager’s Process page and then resource monitor. It will work but cost
you slow search speed. ::


--
blueknight6

Indexing service can also cause issues on CPU. Try error checking and
defrag your hard drive. Do you have all your updates and latest
versions of all the apps.


--
SCSIraidGURU

Michael A. McKenney
'www.SCSIraidGURU.com' (http://www.SCSIraidGURU.com)

Supermicro X7DWA-N server board
pair of Intel E5430 quad core 2.66 GHz Xeons
16GB DDR667
SAS RAID
eVGA 8800 GTS 640 MB video card

[radamsk1]

All current program update, did malware/spyware scans again that turned up negative. I've been running Vista on here for the past year, never had a problem with the indexing service but I'll try disabling it for a day and see if it happens still. Thanks for the tips, i'll try researching them. Any other ideas are welcome still.

radamsk1,
What problem does a application running flat out cause you? Any high
priority application that is not performing physical I/O will consume all
CPU power available.
"Malke" <malke@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:%232dL%23tMvIHA.1936@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> radamsk1 wrote:
>
>>
>> Sorry about the lack of info.
>>
>> 2GHz Core Duo, 2GB Ram, Dell XPS 1210 with Vista Home Premium. I've
>> never had any of these problems prior to the start of this about a week
>> ago. No new installed programs, nothing found on antivirus or spyware
>> scans. On Task manager less than 50% of memory seems used, no major
>> use of virtual memory is noted. Randomly one process running will
>> suddenly go to 100% usage and be sustained for a few minutes, upon
>> ending of the program in task manager, CPU use returns to normal within
>> 30 seconds. However, this happens with many programs, not just one
>> single running program.
>>
>>
>
> Do clean boot troubleshooting because something is causing this, whether
> it
> is easily apparent to you or not. :-)
>
> How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows
> Vista -
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;929135
>
> Also, please review these general malware removal steps to see if you were
> as thorough in your scanning. If you weren't, it would be a good idea to
> do
> at least some of the steps. But try the clean boot troubleshooting first.
>
> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...moving_Malware
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> Don't Panic!

[radamsk1]

Basically the laptop comes to a halt, it becomes unresponsive, takes over a minute to open a program... basically unusable until the event resolves which takes about 2 minuntes, or I have to force the program to end and close, which resolves the 100% usage about 30 seconds after it is closed. But the main problem is that it seems any program can be doing it ... IE, svchost, ccsvchost, skype, messenger, even task manager.

Ran more spyware scans, antivirus scans in safe mode with no avail. Hijackthis reports reveal no useful information. I can't isolate any specific program either causing it, thereby complicating this situation. Half of the time the computer is ok, but othertimes a random program consumes the whole CPU use and I can't use it.

radamsk1 wrote:

>
> Basically the laptop comes to a halt, it becomes unresponsive, takes
> over a minute to open a program... basically unusable until the event
> resolves which takes about 2 minuntes, or I have to force the program
> to end and close, which resolves the 100% usage about 30 seconds after
> it is closed. But the main problem is that it seems any program can be
> doing it ... IE, svchost, ccsvchost, skype, messenger, even task
> manager.
>
> Ran more spyware scans, antivirus scans in safe mode with no avail.
> Hijackthis reports reveal no useful information. I can't isolate any
> specific program either causing it, thereby complicating this
> situation. Half of the time the computer is ok, but othertimes a
> random program consumes the whole CPU use and I can't use it.
>
>

Did you do clean-boot troubleshooting per the KB article?

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

Take a look at the sysinternals process explorer tool. That allows you to
see what the threads inside the offending process are working on. Then you
might be able to see what system component is using all the CPU by looking
at the stack of the thread with the high CPU utilization.

My guess is that it could be some virus scanner (or similar) that is linked
in dynamically into each program. Uninstall everything that is not necessary
and update the rest to the latest version (including applications, device
drivers).


http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../bb896653.aspx


"radamsk1" <radamsk1.39vo3e@DoNotSpam.com> wrote in message
news:radamsk1.39vo3e@DoNotSpam.com...
>
> Basically the laptop comes to a halt, it becomes unresponsive, takes
> over a minute to open a program... basically unusable until the event
> resolves which takes about 2 minuntes, or I have to force the program
> to end and close, which resolves the 100% usage about 30 seconds after
> it is closed. But the main problem is that it seems any program can be
> doing it ... IE, svchost, ccsvchost, skype, messenger, even task
> manager.

[radamsk1]

Ok, as mentioned prior, I tried the clean-boot and tried to discern any specific process causing my CPU issues. However, this came to no avail.

Current update on the situation:
It appears whatever my active program running is, that which would normally consume the most CPU use, is consuming the majority of the CPU, up to 70% of it. Whether this program be MSN, skype, task manager, IE, and so on. And some other random running process appears to consume the rest. I'm uncertain why there is a lack of any particular type of program causing this. Using process manager I couldn't find anything linking any of these programs.

Any further ideas would be appreciated. At this point I fear I may have to do a clean reinstallation. I rather not do this due to time restraints, but if it's all that is left, I'll make do.

This is totally off the wall, but could your power management be
underclocking the CPU when the system load is low? In theory, dynamically
underclocking the CPU until the current load just fully utilises it saves
the most power, compared with running the CPU at maximum speed all the time
and having it only partially utilised.

I'm sure this is available in various CPUs available from both Intel and
AMD.

Sorry I can't help more.

SteveT

It is also possible that the CPU is being slowed down due to overheating if
the laptop fans are partially clogged or the laptop is not setting on a hard
surface where the fans can their air from.
"Steve Thackery" <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:uvYIAiSzIHA.3920@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> This is totally off the wall, but could your power management be
> underclocking the CPU when the system load is low? In theory, dynamically
> underclocking the CPU until the current load just fully utilises it saves
> the most power, compared with running the CPU at maximum speed all the
> time and having it only partially utilised.
>
> I'm sure this is available in various CPUs available from both Intel and
> AMD.
>
> Sorry I can't help more.
>
> SteveT

I'd like to say thanks for the referral to Process Explorer!

"Martin Stein" wrote:

> Take a look at the sysinternals process explorer tool. That allows you to
> see what the threads inside the offending process are working on. Then you
> might be able to see what system component is using all the CPU by looking
> at the stack of the thread with the high CPU utilization.
>
> My guess is that it could be some virus scanner (or similar) that is linked
> in dynamically into each program. Uninstall everything that is not necessary
> and update the rest to the latest version (including applications, device
> drivers).
>
>
> http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../bb896653.aspx
>
>
> "radamsk1" <radamsk1.39vo3e@DoNotSpam.com> wrote in message
> news:radamsk1.39vo3e@DoNotSpam.com...
> >
> > Basically the laptop comes to a halt, it becomes unresponsive, takes
> > over a minute to open a program... basically unusable until the event
> > resolves which takes about 2 minuntes, or I have to force the program
> > to end and close, which resolves the 100% usage about 30 seconds after
> > it is closed. But the main problem is that it seems any program can be
> > doing it ... IE, svchost, ccsvchost, skype, messenger, even task
> > manager.
>
>