Author Topic: CPU Usage shoots up to 100% !?! (Read 31628 times)

lanux128 · « **on:** February 08, 2007, 08:45 PM »

i have a problem with this PC where upon launching of a program, the CPU Usage shoots up to 100% eventhough it's not a resource demanding program.. it's a newly installed WinXP SP2 with no internet connection. other specs: Pentium 3 400MHz, 640MB RAM, Geforce4 MX440, etc..

i've tried scanning for spyware & viruses (eventhough the OS is newly installed), defragmented the hard-drive, tried changing the drivers for the graphic card. now, i'm thinking of hooking it up to the internet & run the windows update but before that, i thought i'd make a post here.. so does anyone knows why this happens? also attached some screenshots to explain this crazy thing..

CPU Usage shoots up to 100% !?!

mouser · « **Reply #1 on:** February 08, 2007, 10:29 PM »

could it be your antiivirus?

lanux128 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 08, 2007, 10:47 PM »

there is no anti-viruses installed yet.. i scanned from a USB drive..

mouser · « **Reply #3 on:** February 09, 2007, 12:30 AM »

well clearly in your screenshot its not a mystery, wherestigger.exe is using all your cpu.

lanux128 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 09, 2007, 12:33 AM »

that's what i'm trying to find out, why is it using all my cpu? not only that program, any program that is launched, as can be seen in the 2nd screenshot..

f0dder · « **Reply #5 on:** February 09, 2007, 05:35 AM »

Well, WinRAR does use up some CPU cycles, especially while compressing. Decompression is fairly fast, but then again - your box is more than fairly slow. Also, "wherestigger" sounds like a game, and most games will appear to use 100% CPU because of the way game messageloops are coded.

lanux128 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 14, 2007, 10:30 PM »

btw, when the CPU usage goes up to 100%, the PC alternates between freezes and becoming super-slow..

f0dder · « **Reply #7 on:** February 15, 2007, 05:40 AM »

Could you check device manager->IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers, have a look at the settings for your IDE channels, and tell us whether your devices are set to DMA or PIO modes?

lanux128 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 15, 2007, 07:49 PM »

f0dder, i've already checked it & they're all in some Ultra-DMA mode, which is good, i think.. anyway, i'm going to format & reinstall the whole thing.. i'm getting a bit too old to be chasing after random system instabilities..

f0dder · « **Reply #9 on:** February 16, 2007, 08:26 AM »

Yeah, UltraDMA is what you want - if they were in PIO mode, just about any disk activity would slow your system to a crawl... even if it was a much beefier system than what you have.

Lashiec · « **Reply #10 on:** February 16, 2007, 10:23 AM »

Disney games are evil...

lanux128 · « **Reply #11 on:** August 19, 2007, 12:15 AM »

after googling for several hours and i found out that i seem to have a very bad combination of processor & motherboard that has no viable solution..

however in one of the threads, i noticed that there was a mention of CpuIdle to "cool" the system. i've heard of these type of software before, such as Rain, CpuCool and WinHLT but didn't think much of them. but among others, CpuIdle claims to "enhance stability" and i was desperate enough to try it out..

and after several days of usage, i am happy to report that CpuIdle manages to tame the high cpu activity and make the system usable. the spikes in cpu usage does occur, though not as frequently as before.. and since my other alternative is to get a new motherboard, this is much welcomed..

for the record, CpuIdle is a time-limited shareware. Users can try CpuIdle for 30 days and after that are required to register. It costs USD30 or €30, depending on where you live.

finally some screenshots..

Config Screen - 1

Config Screen - 2

• http://www.cpuidle.de/

P.S. a small disclaimer: benefits of software in this category are highly subjective and only in case of a unique situation like mine that it's usage is likely to be required.

patteo · « **Reply #12 on:** August 19, 2007, 04:49 AM »

I've had a situation very similar to yours. After several reinstall of the OS, I would still be experiencing this problem. I was kind of on the verge of giving up what with my laptop freezing when I launch a program and it could be launching something as innocuous as IE, Firefox, or maybe some other programs and suddenly while using it I would hear a sound (like an exclamation type windows sound) and the CPU cycles with be very high and stay that way. And even trying to call up Sysinternal Process Explorer to find and kill the offending program would be next to impossible, since the CPU is tied up and Process Explorer takes forever to come up.

I tried to use Mouser's Process Tamer to solve this without success.

I had almost pulled up my last bit of hair after many months of hard resetting my laptop and reinstalling until I stumbled onto a most unexpected solution.

I thought perhaps my laptop needed to go on a diet by removing all the programs I rarely used.

I hit pay dirt with the 1st casualty in my diet - I removed Windows Desktop Search and I was no longer in 100% CPU hell anymore.

I cannot explain why that is so but that is just so. I have been out of 100% CPU hell for 20 straight days now and still counting.

See this thread below :

Dieting my laptop, starting with Windows Desktop Search -But I'm stuck, Help !!
"I've got an incredible bonus from removing Microsoft Windows Desktop Search.

Part of the reason for wanting to send my laptop on a diet was because my Laptop was inexplicably hanging every now and then.

I wasn't sure what it was due to. I had hoped that reducing the over-load on the processor would reduce these hangs and reboots.

But ever since I removed Windows Desktop Search, I have not had a single instance needing a reboot compared to at least 4 or 5 reboots everyday. I hope I'm not speaking too soon.

I had been dreading the day I would be forced to reinstall the laptop especially since I had been forced to do that only a few months ago.

From now on, I would go lite when possible and try to remember to remove the software I rarely if ever use. Or better still, ask myself do I really need a particular software before I install it (them)."
https://www.donation...82.msg70036#msg70036

lanux128 · « **Reply #13 on:** August 19, 2007, 08:17 AM »

thanks patteo, i was beginning to think that i was the only one with this problem.. i learned a lot trying to solve this problem, applying one fix after another until i realised that it couldn't merely be a software problem.. now, even as i am using that pc, i make extra precaution to backup my data and software settings to an external drive..

it is disappointing from a consumer's point of view that there is no warranty against these sort of problems but that is a different story altogether.. now both software and hardware vendors can shrug off their collective shoulders and pass the buck to the users..

KenR · « **Reply #14 on:** August 19, 2007, 03:52 PM »

... however in one of the threads, i noticed that there was a mention of CpuIdle to "cool" the system. i've heard of these type of software before, such as Rain, CpuCool and WinHLT but didn't think much of them. but among others, CpuIdle claims to "enhance stability" and i was desperate enough to try it out..
-lanux128 (August 19, 2007, 12:15 AM)

Cool find lanux. I'll try it out after I reboot, so maybe sometime next week

Armando · « **Reply #15 on:** August 19, 2007, 06:40 PM »

Many years ago, I had to work with a 3d app (poser) that forced the CPU usage to 100%... And guess what? CpuIdle did the trick too. It reduced the CPU usage to the minimum, without slowing down anything. Go figure.

PS. And it wasn't some kind of cheap "trick"... Let me tell you, the PC temperature dropped dramatically... No more fan sounding like the computer was going to take off.

lanux128 · « **Reply #16 on:** August 19, 2007, 10:59 PM »

yes, i am pretty pleased myself with CPUIdle..

maybe we can try to get a discount for DC members, prefereably before my trial period runs out..

wreckedcarzz · « **Reply #17 on:** August 19, 2007, 11:07 PM »

I have had/am having a similar problem, whereas even during idle times, my CPU will jump up to 100% and the heatsink fan will go INSANE (if you know what a PS2 sounds like, take that up a knotch, and you have my CPU fan).

I tried CPUIdle and it helped (a lot), but the pricetag drives me away - I found a freeware program but development stopped several years ago when the company went out of buisness (and it doesn't support Vista, obviously).

I was going to ask once I started reading of we could get a discount on it, as it would help me keep my hearing for more then the next month

but I already see lanux has hinted at that.

lanux128 · « **Reply #18 on:** August 19, 2007, 11:42 PM »

I was going to ask once I started reading of we could get a discount on it, as it would help me keep my hearing for more then the next month but I already see lanux has hinted at that.
-wreckedcarzz (August 19, 2007, 11:07 PM)

i had already notified cthorpe and he has e-mailed the author. let's keep our fingers crossed..

lanux128 · « **Reply #19 on:** September 06, 2007, 08:36 PM »

just a small update.. there is a known problem where upon installing WinXP SP2, the CPU usage maxes out at 100%. probably it's not related to me as mine is an Abit motherboard related problem but i was curious to try it out.

so as per instruction, i requested for this hot-fix by giving them my email but it has been like 3 days and i've yet receive any reply..

even though, there was a notice saying: "A Microsoft Professional will respond to you via e-mail within 8 business hours."

• http://support.microsoft.com/kb/890582

Dirhael · « **Reply #20 on:** September 06, 2007, 09:31 PM »

just a small update.. there is a known problem where upon installing WinXP SP2, the CPU usage maxes out at 100%. probably it's not related to me as mine is an Abit motherboard related problem but i was curious to try it out.

so as per instruction, i requested for this hot-fix by giving them my email but it has been like 3 days and i've yet receive any reply.. even though, there was a notice saying: "A Microsoft Professional will respond to you via e-mail within 8 business hours."

• http://support.microsoft.com/kb/890582

-lanux128 (September 06, 2007, 08:36 PM)

I just went hunting around the web for you, and found said hotfix without having to contact Microsoft

I uploaded it for you here: [Download KB890582 here]

lanux128 · « **Reply #21 on:** September 06, 2007, 09:55 PM »

thanks Dirhael! that is wonderful..

i just checked my mail again and no news yet, so i'm going to use the link and will keep you posted. thanks again..

Dirhael · « **Reply #22 on:** September 06, 2007, 09:57 PM »

No problem at all

Junglerooster · « **Reply #23 on:** September 24, 2007, 09:15 AM »

My CPU recently burnt up and I replaced it. Since replacing my cpu, it runs at 100% almost all the time. When I resart my computer it takes a while to load. Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Junglerooster

OGroeger · « **Reply #24 on:** September 24, 2007, 09:32 AM »

Hm, maybe the cpu cooler is not correctly mounted and the thermal protection slows the cpu down. Did you check the cpu temperature?