Right i have a bit of a problem, ok a big problem. My CPU usage is always about 90-100% and i only have about 30 processes running and most of them are system. (i cant even open word and excel at the same time :( ) it never used to be this slow. Ive removed all the programmes i dont use anymore and its stil the same.

I have XPSP2 (it was like this when i had sp1 too)
512 MB
1600 processor

I have ran adaware - updated the definitions, and done a full scan, also my virus definitions, and scaned the whole thing.
I did have sygate firewall but i removed it and turned on SP2 firewall i should really get myself a NAT device.

what going on? can anyone help? :(
Im thinking somethings hijacked me :(

Hello

Only things that come to mind is to get the most recent Adaware, namely Adaware SE, update the definitions and do a full scan.
Get latest Spybot S&D update the definitions and do a full scan, this should find and destroy the wares that Adaware wont find and vice versa.

Get AVG anti virus or go here and do a full system scan Panda Active Scan (http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm)

Dont use Windows own firewall as it sucks, get ZoneAlarm or any other free firewall, they are much much better than the one bundled with windows.

If its still persists get Hijack this, do a scan save the log file and post it in this thread and some expert may notice something thats not right.

Cheers

Dude, Man, go into task manager by right-clicking on an empty space on the tool bar and scrolling into 'task manager'. Once there, click on the 'processes' tab. There, it should tell you how much CPU bandwidth each program is taking up. Usually if the computer's using 100 percent of its capacity, there's only one program that's using like 97% of it. That program is your problem. Let me know if that helps.

Hello

Only things that come to mind is to get the most recent Adaware, namely Adaware SE, update the definitions and do a full scan.
Get latest Spybot S&D update the definitions and do a full scan, this should find and destroy the wares that Adaware wont find and vice versa.

Get AVG anti virus or go here and do a full system scan Panda Active Scan (http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm)

Dont use Windows own firewall as it sucks, get ZoneAlarm or any other free firewall, they are much much better than the one bundled with windows.

If its still persists get Hijack this, do a scan save the log file and post it in this thread and some expert may notice something thats not right.

Cheers
Hey

I have adaware SE and spybot - tried them and they are both clear!
I tried ZA and sygate but they both sucked - hence the possible investment in a NAT router then i can network my laptop to my PC (haha hopefully :eek: ) I also Downloaded hyjack this and had a look but nothing really stood out (i might post a print screen in the morning) Might try that panda scan! Thanks sev!

Dude, Man, go into task manager by right-clicking on an empty space on the tool bar and scrolling into 'task manager'. Once there, click on the 'processes' tab. There, it should tell you how much CPU bandwidth each program is taking up. Usually if the computer's using 100 percent of its capacity, there's only one program that's using like 97% of it. That program is your problem. Let me know if that helps.

the top usage is my system idle process - which is normal right?
then its EXPLORER.EXE
and then tasmgr - obviously :p havent got much runing at the mo :bugeye:

[Firstly Idle Process should be the highest as without it your computer wouldn't process much.]

What it sounds like to me is something that I noticed with my graphics tablet.

Basically the OS has what is called "Idle Time" which is when the system can work out when a process can be run. Most normal computers work on one process at a time, however if you were to have a list of 20 processes you wouldn't want to wait for 19 processes to finish before starting the 20th, so the processes are managed to start and stop to allow them to be processed asynchronously.

The OS has it's own form of Idletime, and certain languages and Interpreters also have the capacity to generate Idle Time Processes which "hook" into the OS's Idletime.

However the OS and Programming environments are not the only ones that harness Idle time, since Graphics tablets utilise multiple calculations to work out the positioning of a pen in relationship to the tablet this means when a tablet is on and the drivers are loaded, it actually processes information so the tablet can be used. The same can be said for certain peripherals like Wireless/Network cards.

When you are connected to the internet, even when you are not downloading information there is still a small amount of data keeping the connection "Syncronised".

What I suggest with this is if you have peripherals that you aren't using, "unload" their drivers and turn the peripherals off. This will save some process time.

I would also suggest to check your "Services" to make sure you aren't running any clandestine SMTP (email) servers, perhaps even hooking up a secondary software firewall to identify what processes are attempting to connect out on which ports and to what IP destinations.

Note also that waht drains the CPU the most is "buffering" information too and from the screen, thats why GUI's are the most CPU intensive. Try altering your XP's layout to be "classical" and less intense in the way of skinning perhaps.

Hope that all helps in someway or at least gives you a better idea what your computer is upto.