High CPU Usage

Question

Computer,   Dell 8400 Penteium 4, 3.20GHZ 2.00GB of ram   Xp Home Edition service pack 2   Internet- AOL Internet connection- Wireless with truemobil   My cpu usage is 52% right after I turn on my computer. I close all the programs 'expect Norton' on my quick bar 'lower right hand corner of the screen'. I've checked for spyware, ran a disc clean, defragmented. Still my usage is the same. Here are the top 10 items in my task manager.   SVCHOST.EXE - SYSTEM - 00 - 31,804k waol.exe - Brian - 00 - 20,000k to 21,000k  'it jumps' ccApp.exe - Brian - 00 - 20,728k EXPLORER.EXE - Brian - 50 - 11,184k RUNDLL32.EXE - Brian - 00 - 8,280k SVCHOST.EXE - LOCAL SERVICE - 00 - 7,500k SVCHOST.EXE - SYSTEM - 00 - 6,732k PCMService.exe - Brian - 00-01 -6,722k ccEvtMgr.EXE - SYSTEM - 00 -6,084k TASKMGR.EXE - Brian -01 - 5,536     Please help,                               Brian

kirkd · Answer

Could be that Norton is doing a scan. Try unplugging from the internet and disabling Norton also and see if the usage continues. Many of the anti-virus and -spyware programs can grab up 50% of CPU usage (usually is explorerwhich you see) for no reason. I have switched to ZoneAlarm Security Suite and SpyBot as the only resident malware cops and no longer have explorer problems.

Do you by any chance have two examples of explorer.exe listed in Task Manager? This can also cause the problem.

1up · Answer

Ok I unplugged my internet, then turned off everything in norton. Still no change what so ever in usage. I'm thinking of reformating, but i don't want to spend hours on the phone with dell. No offense I just am not a phone person. I've checked out the explorer.exe problem. Read about it on another website. It's not that.

Any other idea's?

msgale · Answer

What does the CPU usage look like after a few minutes of doing nothing?  I have always noticed a startup spike on my systems

kirkd · Answer

Do you have more than one copy of explorerin Task Manager?

To see what happens, go to task manager and right click on explorer then select end process. Your desktop should disappear. Wait a minute then click on File then New Task and type in explorer.exe then OK. Everything should come back. Does explorer usage stay low or go back to 50%?

kirkd · Answer

Did you deactivate Norton by right ckicking on the Norton icon in the notification area and click on whaterver will stop the whole program?

1up · Answer

I did what you said, End process Explorer.exe. It worked. My usage dropped to 0-6%. Does that explain the problem any? Hopefully so. Message Edited by 1up on 03-18-2006 06:28 PM

1up · Answer

Well now i know what is taking up all my space, now how do i make it so it doesn't take up all that usage without taking away the bar.

1up · Answer

I think I 'restarted it' I turned it back on. If that is what you mean. I've rebooted my computer tried it again an again. When I end process my cpu usage drops back down to less than 10%, then I start new task an get 50%+ again.

kirkd · Answer

Did you restart the explorer process. If not, please restore it and see what happens to CPU usage.

kirkd · Answer

I would uninstall Norton completely (disconnect from Internet first) and see what happens. Norton is a pig, and the uninstall will take awhile.

mrrobind · Answer

After 6 days of intensive research and try this-try that..... I was able to reduce the high CPU usage from 100% to 2%. Keep in mind the high cpu on a DELL 4550, P4 2.0 GHZ with 384 mg ram was pulling the 100% usage with no programs running.

The probabliity of this being virus, spy ware etc. related would appear to be high.

The FIX:

F2 SYSTEM SETUP

CPU INFORMATION

IF CPU SPEED IS SET TO COMPATIBLE... CHANGE TO NORMAL

:smileywink:

mrrobind · Answer

After 6 days of intensive research and try this-try that..... I was able to reduce the high CPU usage from 100% to 2%. Keep in mind the high cpu on a DELL 4550, P4 2.0 GHZ with 384 mg ram was pulling the 100% usage with no programs running.

The probabliity of this being virus, spy ware etc. related would appear to be high.

The FIX:

F2 SYSTEM SETUP

CPU INFORMATION

IF CPU SPEED IS SET TO COMPATIBLE... CHANGE TO NORMAL

:smileywink:

mrrobind · Answer

FIX FOR HIGH CPU ON A DELL 4550 WITH P4 2.00 GHZ 384 MB RAM IS AS FOLLOWS PRESS F2 SYSTEM SETTINGS CPU INFORMATION IF CPU SPEED IS SET TO COMPATIBLE CHANGE TO NORMAL ..........................

adjuster_secret · Answer

i hope this works. i'm going to try it when i get home from work.   i, too, have been having high cpu usage problems, with explorer.exe running at 100% with no programs running.   i must have run norton about 10 times in the past week and am at my wit's end with this... it's almost convinced me my next machine should be an apple :smileyvery-happy:   anyway, you guys are all running much newer machines than my 2 yr old dimension 2400 so you can imagine what a nightmare this has been for me with even less power to work with!   i'll let you know if it works...

adjuster_secret · Answer

nope.   cpu was already set to normal.   i think i'm screw-ed. :smileysad:

Windows General

High CPU Usage

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