Mouse movement causes 100 CPU Usage

[edro]

My work PC was rebuilt a few months ago and ever since, mouse movement in a few programs causes 100% CPU usage.
The CPU usage drops to 0% when I stop moving the mouse.
One program is a Java based application, the other program is a 2d/3d CAD system.
The CPU usage goes significantly up in any program when the mouse is moved though.
Explorer.exe goes up to about 15% when I swirl the mouse on my desktop.
Firefox.exe goes to 20% when I do the same.

I have a USB Dell OEM optical mouse, but I have tried an OLD PS/2 ball mouse and it also does the same thing.

My mouse driver is:
HID-compliant mouse
Driver Provider: Microsoft
Driver Date: 07/01/2001
Driver Version: 5.1.2600.0

I have installed Logitech Mouseware (a few different version) but that doesn't fix it, so I uninstalled them.

I have my USB mouse plugged into my Dell monitor, which doubles as a USB hub.
But... again, I have tried a PS/2 mouse directly into the mobo, and it still does it.

Edit: Also, we can rule out a Virus or Spyware, as we run Symantec Corporate and I am pretty savvy at finding and eliminating spyware.

Has anyone seen this before or have any ideas on how to fix it?

Things I have tried:
- PS/2 Mouse
- Installed Logitech Mouseware, 2 different versions
- uninstalled driver, auto re-install
- updated video driver

 

[Roguestar]

A quick google shows that it is apparently common in CAD and heavy design type programs. I'd have said uninstall the drivers and just use the built in mouse drivers in windows to see if that helped but if you've tried them then I'm out of ideas.

 

[edro]

The driver shown above is the Microsoft standard one.
That is what I am using.

Anyone else have an idea?

 

[Rubycon]

What OS?
What video card?
Does the problem abate (even slightly) when running the desktop color depth lower say at 16bpp?
Is scrolling in webpages smooth?

 

[edro]

WinXP SP2
nVidia Quadro FX1300 PCIe
The problem does not seem to change when dropped down to 16bit.
When I scroll web pages and also when I hit WindowsKey+D to show the desktop and then not, the CPU goes up as well.

Sooo... that would hint towards a video card issue, right?
I have tried 2 different video drivers, an old one that everyone uses, and a new one from their website. Both do it.

There are a bunch of settings in nView, but I have been playing with them and none seem to reduce it.

 

[Rubycon]

Device manager looks clean? No issues? I have not seen this since the NT4.0 days and it was DMA address related. With XP and modern hardware this should not happen especially with a common mouse.

 

[edro]

Yeah, nothing uninstalled or broken in device manager.

You had seen it with old Serial mice and it was an issue with DMA addressing?
You can't even change that in XP, right?

 

[jdkick]

I experienced something similar with a few work PCs (desktops) where a Synaptics Touch Pad driver (for notebooks) had been installed instead of the proper mouse driver (error in the .inf perhaps). I would occasionally see CPU spikes at or around 100% (process was SynTPH or something like that).

 

[ForumMaster]

can you, just for kicks, try safe mode? i saw this a while ago. eventually, i just reformatted that computer. if it safe mode does fix it, then it shows that the graphic card isn't relevent.

also, can you post a HiJackThis log? that way, we'll be able to see anything and everything that's running. perhaps jdkick is on to something despite what you say about the mouse driver.

 

[edro]

I just tried it in Safe Mode and it is also doing it!
If I drag a Windows Explorer window around, the CPU goes to 100%, in Safe Mode.

 

[edro]

I looked around in the BIOS and I saw that HyperThreading was Disabled and that the "Performance" section for my hard drive was set to Low. I Turned the hard drive up to "Performance" (highest) and I turned on HyperThreading.

It is still doing it to my CPU, but instead of 100%, it goes up to 50%. (exactly)

I still wish I knew what the real problem is, but I can honestly live with that.