CPU running @ 100%

[Wallace]

After about a minute after booting up, my PC runs like a dog. I wondered why. According to the task manager, my CPU is running at 100%. It appears that svchost.exe/system is hogging all CPU time. I can also see/hear a lot of disk activity.

This stops after nearly a minute and the PC is back to normal.

I have virus checked using online scanners and my AVG. I also have The Cleaner, Windows Defender, SpyBot and Spywareblaster running too.

I have also tried a clean install of WindowsXP Pro.

Could it be a Windows update doing this?

Any advice would be appreciated. thanks.

BTW: WindowsXP Pro SP2, 512M RAM, 2x160GB HDD. P4 1.7M.

[gunner]

I had this problem when a slax install went wrong. I did everything, but eventually a system restore was my only option to fix it.

[TheFincher]

How odd.......... just discovered i have EXACTLY the same problem.................. I was gonna flop a post up in a bit, problem is its on my work laptop and i cant be arsed with the drive to Manchester for them to sort it for me as they dont allow me to do anything to it, fuckin gay lords!

[Wallace]

I had this problem when a slax install went wrong. I did everything, but eventually a system restore was my only option to fix it.

Tried a complete clean install of XP. Problem noticed after Office 2003 installed and used Microsoft Update.

So many updates were installed I cannot begin to find out which, if any, are causing problem.

To clarify. "Fault" occurs after minute or so after booting with only clean install of XP and Office 2003!

[gunner]

Did you reformat?

[wulliec]

Try and install Process Explorer

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sys...sExplorer.mspx

It can give you much better info of the exact process that is hogging resource. Things like svchost.exe can be "mined" down to see more info with this. It has gotten me out of the shit a few times!!

[Wallace]

Did you reformat?

Originally I used the two 160GB HDD as a RAID0 array. I reverted back to two single drives as a test. In doing that, I did reformat both HDD (Full) to NTFS. The problem remains the same.

[Nikki]

I had this problem when a slax install went wrong. I did everything, but eventually a system restore was my only option to fix it.

ditto

[Wallace]

Try and install Process Explorer

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sys...sExplorer.mspx

It can give you much better info of the exact process that is hogging resource. Things like svchost.exe can be "mined" down to see more info with this. It has gotten me out of the shit a few times!!

Thank you. It does give me more specific info on the processess run by svchost. However, I still have no idea which one is causing the problem or indeed, how to stop it!

[drdude]

Wallace, do you have Automatic Updates switched on?

The Svchost.exe process contains the Automatic Updates service. When you perform a scan, the Svchost.exe process can cause CPU utilization to reach 100 percent for a prolonged time. For example, Microsoft Office updates use Windows Installer. When Microsoft Office updates are detected, these updates can contribute to 100 percent CPU utilization for a prolonged time.

If so, Microsoft have released a fix (KB916089 titled - FIX: When you run Windows Update to scan for updates that use Windows Installer, including Office updates, CPU utilization may reach 100 percent for prolonged periods)

[Wallace]

Wallace, do you have Automatic Updates switched on?



If so, Microsoft have released a fix (KB916089 titled - FIX: When you run Windows Update to scan for updates that use Windows Installer, including Office updates, CPU utilization may reach 100 percent for prolonged periods)

Thank you. That will explain why I only really noticed it after I installed MS Office! The Microsoft article says that there is a fix as you say, but I need to call Microsoft Tech Support.

Thanks again, looks like I am finally getting to the bottom of it.