maxed out CPU every 3 seconds

[coughtryb]

I'm playing around with an old Dell notebook, Latitude CPi D300XT. P2, 300MHz, 128MB.

I just finished installing win2K and every 3 seconds my processor is maxed out for about a second and then returns to normal. i wouldnt care except everything im doing laggs terribly when this happens, mouse movement, keyboard strikes, sound, everything.

The mmc.exe process that i can see increacing along with the total CPU usage but rarely spikes above 10% of the CPU.

Whats going on?

Thanks friends!

 

[mechBgon]

Perhaps worms infected it. Win2000 has significant worm vulnerabilities. It should be kept isolated offline, and not allowed a network connection of any kind, until you have it patched to Service Pack 4 level and have firewall protection up and running. Remember, get that stuff done while it's offline.

After that, install & update antivirus software, patch it at Windows Update, enable the Automatic Updates in Control Panel, then scan it with Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (search for MBSA at Microsoft.com) and fix the issues that are raised, including RestrictAnonymous and weak/blank passwords.

 

[coughtryb]

i have yet to get a network card for it. nothing is installed other than the OS. ill be sure to update it as soon as its online though, thanks.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: coughtryb
i have yet to get a network card for it. nothing is installed other than the OS. ill be sure to update it as soon as its online though, thanks.

No, update it before it's online. The gladiator don't go out into the arena in his underpants and then start putting on his armor... Eh?

 

[coughtryb]

SP4 is installed. no change.

i would doubt its worms only because it's never been online since the low level format when installing windows. ive seen similar behavior during DVD playback when there is a parrallel zip drive attached. nothing is attached here, however. does that ring any bells?

 

[mechBgon]

Check the Event Viewer logs (right-click My Computer > Manage > Event Viewer) and do you see any pattern in the events that seems like it might correspond to these CPU spikes?

 

[coughtryb]

Unfortunatly, no. Event Viewer doesn't give any indications.

However I found what was causing the problem. There was a Token Ring card installed in one of the expantion slots, which when I removed it stopped all processor spikes and the computer ran normally. This isn't something I'll need as I will be purchasing a cheap wireless network card for the computer soon.

Thanks for all your advice! I appreciate it. Take care!