Abnormally high CPU usage with Windows ME from time to time

[claw]

I've recently encountered a strange problem that I can't figure out. It happens in Windows ME, though it probably might apply to 95/98 as well. From time to time (sometimes just 10 minutes apart), the computer will completely slow down to a crawl for about half a minute and then resume normal operation. The wierd thing is that there is absolutely no drive activity during this period and when I run Wintop, it shows KERNEL32.DLL taking up 95% of the CPU time, which it shouldn't do. I've checked that I don't have any scheduled programs running when they shouldn't so I'm just puzzled. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[bonkers325]

is this from a fresh install or a uprgade

 

[claw]

Completely fresh install... though the problem only started occurring recently. I don't remember exactly when, but probably not more than 2 or 3 days ago. I've only installed Office 2000 and Final Fantasy VIII during that time. I'm pretty sure it's not Office since I never had this problem before on a prior installation with Office. It's also not that stupid Office Find Fast program either; I made sure I removed it during Office installation. Also, I don't think it's FF8 either... why would that screw with KERNEL32?