CPU Usage ~90% ... Is this normal?

[Darkhawk28]

When I'm running WinXP Pro and have only a dial-up internet connection, 2 browser windows and winamp running, my CPU usage according to the Task Manager is around 88-94% ... Is this normal? If not, how can I fix it ... If it is, what other solutions can I use?


My specs ...

Duron 750
Abit KT7A
384MB PC133
Geforce3
SB Live! Value
30GB 7200
Linksys NIC
52X CD-ROM

Thanks ahead.

 

[bjc112]

way to high.. i can do all that about 6-7 percent even less! type Msconfig under the run command.. then the processes tab... how many do u have running? list a few and then we can disable ones taking to much CPU time!

 

[Damascus]

Are you sure it's not just the system idle process that's "eating up" your
CPU time?

 

[Agent004]

Sometime IE can take up a lot of processing power, while those numnerous background service does not take much at all. Btw, Task manager eats up all the processing cycles available to measure the usage.

 

[boyRacer]

maybe you have things running in your system tray... winxp is able to hide them if you want.

 

[T2T III]

I had a similar issue, but my CPU useage was at 100%. It turned out to be the Roxio DirectCD software that was causing the issue. Looking at the system processes that were running quickly revealed this problem. I was able to remove DirectCD so it would not load when my PC restarted and things have been fine ever since.

 

[ST4RCUTTER]

My CPU is always running at 100% too. Of course I'm usually running 36+ processes and 7 or more apps. My system is still snappy as sh!t. Even large apps like Word pop up in around 2.5 seconds.

 

[HalfCrazy]

<< When I'm running WinXP Pro and have only a dial-up internet connection, 2 browser windows and winamp running, my CPU usage according to the Task Manager is around 88-94% ... Is this normal? If not, how can I fix it ... If it is, what other solutions can I use?


My specs ...

Duron 750
Abit KT7A
384MB PC133
Geforce3
SB Live! Value
30GB 7200
Linksys NIC
52X CD-ROM

Thanks ahead. >>



I gave this a try on my main system and got only like a 10% CPU usage. Below is the specs on the system if you want to compare.

Processor: 900mhz AMD ThunderBird
MotherBoard: FIC SD11
Memory: 768 Megs pc133 Crucial
Video Card: 32mb GeForce256 DDR
Hard Drives: 20gig Western Digital 7,200rpm
Hard Drives: 80gig Western Digital 7,200rpm
Hard Drives: 30gig Maxtor 7,200rpm
Burner: Philips 8x4x32
SoundCard: SoundBlaster PCI 128
Ext Storage: 100mb Iomega Zip Drive
NetWork Card: 10/100 Linksys
Speakers: Altec Lansing Speakers
OS: Windows2000 Pro

 

[Conroy9]

if you run seti or other background distributed thingies your cpu usage will go up without slowing down your system

otherwise, check the task manager, go to the processes tab, and see what's taking up all the cpu usage

 

[Darkhawk28]

These are the items that are enabled in my msconfig's "services" section ...

Alerter - Stopped (S)
Application Layer Gateway Service - S
Application Management - S
Windows Audio - Running (R)
Background Intelligent Transfer Service - S
Computer Browser - R
Indexing Service - S
Clipbook - S
COM+ System Application - S
Cryptographic Services - R
DHCP Client - R
Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service - S
Logical Disk Manager - R
DNS Client - R
Error Report Service - R
Event Log - R
COM+ Event System - R
Fast User Switching Compatibility - R
Help and Support - R
IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service - S
Server - R
Workstation - R
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper - R
Messenger - R
NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing - S
Distributed Transaction Coordinator - S
Windows Installer - S
Network DDE - S
Network DDE DSDM - S
Net Logon - S
Network Connections - R
Network Location Awareness (NLA) - R
NT LM Security Support Provider - S
Removable Storage - S
NVIDIA Driver Helper Service - R
Plug and Play - R
IPSEC Services - R
Protected Storage - R
Remote Access Auto Connection Manager - R
Remote Access Connection Manager - R
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager - S
Remote Registry - R
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator - S
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) - R
QoS RSVP - S
Security Accounts Manager - R
Smart Card Helper - S
Smart Card - S
Task Scheduler - R
Secondary Logon - R
System Event Notification - R
Internet Connection Firewall(ICF)/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) - S
Shell Hardware Detection - R
Print Spooler - R
System Restore Service - R
SSDP Discovery Service - R
Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) - S
MS Software Shadow Copy Provider - S
Performance Logs and Alerts - S
Telephony - R
Terminal Services - R
Themes - R
Telnet - S
Distributed Link Tracking Client - R
Upload Manager - R
Universal Plug and Play Device Host - S
Uninterruptible Power Supply - S
Volume Shadow Copy - S
Windows Time - R
WebClient - R
Windows Management Instrumentation - R
Portable Media Serial Number - R
Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions - S
WMI Performance Adapter - S
Automatic Updates - R
Wireless Zero Configuration - R

All of the those are enabled. I haven't touched those ever.

The following is CPU usage according to the task manager ...

taskmgr.exe ................. 0%-4%
EXPLORER.EXE ............. 1%-3%
SVCHOST.EXE ............... 1%-2%
IEPLORE>EXE ............... ~4% spiking at ~12%
System ......................... 57% - 66%
System Idle Process ..... 19% - 38%

Any thoughts on how I can improve this, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks ahead!!

 

[Rhombuss]

Holy CRAP!!! That's a LOT of services! I seriously suggest you pinpoint the ones taking up over 15KB or so, unless you need all them to run some form of server basis.

 

[Darkhawk28]

I don't know which ones are safe to turn off and which ones aren't. I need help with all that. ARGH!! hehe

 

[Darkhawk28]

bump

 

[crypticlogin]

That's a lot of services *listed* but half of them are stopped. Darkhawk: what kind of Linksys NIC do you have?

 

[Darkhawk28]

Just a simple 10/100 LAN card ... model LNE100TX

 

[crypticlogin]

<< Just a simple 10/100 LAN card ... model LNE100TX >>


Well, that killed my idea. The only other thing I could find with a quick browse of Google Groups was if Norton Antivirus was installed and the web filters were set to 'detect all'.

 

[Darkhawk28]

I have Norton Systemworks 2002, but I haven't installed it. I figured that if I did, I'd be completely dead in the water.

 

[Darkhawk28]

bump

 

[Darkhawk28]

Could a bad USB modem driver cause this?

I have a Diamond SupraMax USB ...