Community Newsletter: Q&A: CPU keeps going to 100%--any suggestions to remedy?
- 2/28/08 2:46 PM
adsltv
by zirner - 2/29/08 2:58 AM In reply to: CPU Usage Stuck at 100% by waytronin 12 months my tv on the pc (freebox package)has packed up for several weeks, rebooting has been suggested. I tried. did not work. phone the provider, impossible; always engaged. Any other solution, apart frm buying an ordinary tv?
adsltv thread / topic Oops!
by DADSGETNDOWN - 3/1/08 2:13 AM In reply to: adsltv by zirnerThis "thread" / "Topic" is called,
(CPU keeps going to 100%--any suggestions to remedy?).
If you want more responses and better information, try searching
the forums for ADSLTV OR, make it a "Thread" / "Topic", in the forum
that best fits.
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Even though some may reply here, you really should.
You would be better off.
Ya! what he said
by LionsMike - 3/1/08 11:12 AM In reply to: adsltv thread / topic Oops! by DADSGETNDOWNSorry I just could not resist
cpu usage stuck at 100%
by eckyw - 3/3/08 5:00 PM In reply to: CPU Usage Stuck at 100% by waytronwell done dana nearly every thing right but move answer number 5 to answer number 2.
100% Cpu load/ Freezing
by colinpeel - 2/16/08 5:34 AM In reply to: CPU keeps going to 100%--any suggestions to remedy? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I had a similar problem which lasted for weeks & there was no specific reason as to when this would occur!
It seemed completely random & usually happened at least once a day but at no specific time!
It usually resulted in the explorer.exe process hogging 100% of resources with no let up & although the system had ground to snails pace it never actually froze completely, albeit the clock would not update from when this occured!
I tried waiting....and terminating (eventually) all other programs but as soon as explorer was termianted (unsurprisingly) it would result in a STOP error (I think 0x4e? but that's from memory)!
Eveything that I tried resulting from searching this error was all in vain and due to the infrequency of the problem became more than a nightmare to resolve. I started using system as best I could with restricted programs running, but that's easier said than done, but after several weeks of trialling various combinations, i found the problem!
It all pointed to Panda Antivirus & Firewall 2007 and whilst I had reverted back to the usually lame Windows Firewall, all seemed to be ok!
After a little more delving, I found that it was the 'Heuristic' scanning option for 'Protection against unknown threats' that was the root cause of all my problems and whilst it may be good for most people, it appeared that when I was going to use the system for relatively simple tasks, such as copying a file, etc (Although not all the time), this scanner would intercept this action, thinking it was a Virus/ infection of some kind & from there the hogging commenced!!!
I still use this security package on some of my systems, albeit with this scanner disabled!
Whilst my experience in this respect was with Panda (despite all it's good reviews!), I'm sure other security packages are equally as guilty in resulting in false positives & ageing their owners by 10+ years!!!
Colin
(XP Home SP2)
100% cpu freezing
by aldpal45 - 2/23/08 5:15 AM In reply to: 100% Cpu load/ Freezing by colinpeelthe main culprit is a windows process called system idle process, unfortunatelly , as far i have been able to know , windows will not allow this process to be shut down.. so for me , the best solution is to reboot.the process then returns to the 4 or 5 % usage. hopefully, windows will someday provide a patch to this problem.
Maybe just maybe that helps me,also info on 100%cpu &pc care
by knock_out_uk2002 - 2/23/08 5:54 AM In reply to: 100% Cpu load/ Freezing by colinpeelI think that may apply to me, even though i dont use panda, i have been a loyal user of Esets Nod32 for years.
I am currently running vista home premium, so there are differences between xp sp2 and a few things that i sometimes notice hogging my systems resources.
One of the processes i sometimes see is ekrn.exe which is a Nod32 process, like you did i have all things checked, to scan for unknowns as well as anything and everything else. I wonder if having the advanced heuristics checked is the culprit behind my problem of it sometimes hanging on 100% it will be interesting to see, although it may take sometime before i see it happen again.
NOW JUST SOME GENERAL ADVICE, NOT AIMED AT THIS REPLY
I never get any viruses, and my worst offender is usually just tracking cookies, but they are pretty hard to avoid. I backup my important documents, music and video files, as well as install files for programs you just cant be without(or atleast i cant), (flash, divx, ad-aware, older azureus-not vuze, openoffice-huge file no need to download it everytime-, and many others) it saves time and since i often work as a middleman(no charge i just enjoy it) in helping people choose a good computer or laptop many of these are installed straight away for added functionality and security giving the recipient a computer to simply enjoy from the get go without all the hassle, and gives me something new to play with. Went a little off track but basically saying i take care of my systems(1pc 1laptop, and look after my bro and sisters laptops as well, so 4 systems in total) and keep regular backups on my external harddrives.
I have been the victim of my own stupidity, i never used to create backups, at one point on our first pc back when i knew nothing(about 8-10years ago, i was like 12 or so at the time), we didnt even renew the antivirus license or install a free version, no antispyware, just a defenseless system where the worst was bound to happen at some point, and it did. It suddenly one day just wouldnt bootup, i was still young and inexpeienced but if i could i would love to know how many viruses and spyware threats where on it. We used to use limewire, i dont anymore, but rest of them do, but i cant even imagine how many threats where caused by downloading anything and everything especially considering 90% of what you try and download ends up being porn(I.e your not trying for porn but you get porn anyway) probably infected in someway as well.
Basically just stating past mistakes are to be learnt from, keep a good backup, it doesnt have to everything just make sure you dont miss anything you will want/need if worst came to the worst and you had to reformat your computer or replace it. Check what you download and install, make sure its both clean and check its compatibility, even a program you have used before can have issues with a new machine or OS, remember this if your changing from XP to Vista, not everything works how it used to.
As for 100% cpu, well it can be extremely hard or extremely easy to fix, from taskmanager see what it is causing the 100%cpu, if its a program, for sake of agruement, openoffice, end task, and uninstall, restart your system(assuming it keeps happening, no need to uninstall for a 1st time offender). Now as i chose openoffice its likely you would want it back on, so download a fresh copy of the install files, incase your old one was corrupt. Now install as you normally would, restarting your computer if and when prompted to. Once installation is complete try it again, hopefully you would no longer have any issues, if you did its likely to be compatibility thats the problem, either with your system(i mean the hardware side of it here)or the programs and processes you have installed and running on it. At this point you would need to start troubleshooting again, possibly posting for help again on the forums, or find an alternative product/program.
Now if it wasnt a program, but a certain .exe in the process list, you first need to see what that process is for, 9/10 simply googling it will get you your answer to that. Now once you know what it is, you have a few possible options. 1st it maybe be a system process that can be disable, if so, google that if you dont know how to, if not just go ahead and disable it, restart your system, make sure its all working fine, and ofcourse keep an eye on your cpu usuage.
2nd it may be a part of a program that you use but didnt recognise. In this case uninstall, and restart your system. If you want the program back, make sure to install the latest version (not beta if thats an option) with any and all updates. Restart and try again, keep an eye on cpu usage.
3rd a process recognised as being tied to your system. I.e if you removed or disabled it your system probably wouldnt work at all, or you would be worse of than before you removed/disabled it. Go to any relevent sites for updates, the manufacture, windows update, anywhere that is likely to offer a update to this process, should be checked.
If none are found or they dont resolve the issue, you can assume its corrupt and the only way to get rid of the problem is to start over, so reformat. Before doing this backup any data you can backup, i would advise not to do a complete backup, just files and such that you need, documents and music and video, programs should be left pretty much alone if your backing up when you already have a problem.
Now if you have a recovery cd or partition go ahead and begin the reformat process, as you have all you need to reinstall your system. However if not and i should ask why not, many systems that dont have such things have the tools needed to create them. Others you can have added a recovery disc to your order for something like £10.
Well at any rate, i would advise you get it done professionally at this point if you dont have a recovery cd or partition, a local computershop, or pc world can do such things, and should be able to provide the necessary programs and drivers you may need, and if needed a new OS, remember anything you cant provide them with(meaning programs, drivers etc, you should add any documents and media files yourself) but want installing will increase how much this will cost. Depending on that, a new system may make more sense, if so remember to get the recovory cd this time. If you get it done at a computer shop or pc world, ask if they can make you a recovery cd or partition, so as your prepared if it were to happen again.
That should just about cover everything, if it cant be disabled, or cant be removed/reinstalled, them the likelyhood is that you will end up at the point of reformating anyway. I thank Colinpeel for his addition regarding antivirus and heuristics i hope to see if it makes a difference to how my cpu runs in the future. I also hope that both my past experiences in looking after a computer, and my lessons learnt from that are valuable to anyone reading this. Lastly that my suggestions on what to do if your cpu is hitting the 100% mark proove to be helpful. Sorry about the long post but im hopefully it may help someone.
Task manager
by kentishhog39 - 2/16/08 5:40 AM In reply to: CPU keeps going to 100%--any suggestions to remedy? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Anthony. I'm no expert so let's get that straight! However, I have the same problem so here's how I deal with it. Keep Task Manager (ctrl>alt>del) running in your task bar. If it floods have a look at 'processes' which will tell you what app etc is hogging the cpu. In my case, nine times out of ten, it's one of my software progs, av or spyware, running a background scan that hogs the cpu and slows what I'm doing to a crawl. Simply highlight it and end the process - you can't go wrong for if it's a system process it won't let you close it. If it is software causing it consider exchanging for another proramme which has a smaller footprint
Best wishes
i think i have a solution for your problem
by nviraj - 2/16/08 5:47 AM In reply to: CPU keeps going to 100%--any suggestions to remedy? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
your cpu might be slowing down because of a virus named schvoest.exe which you will usually find in your flash drives or pen drives
follow the steps given below:-
1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL and go to the processes tab
2. Look for svchost.exe under the image name. There will be many but look for the ones which have your username under the username
Press DEL to kill these files. It will give you a warning, Press Yes
Repeat for more svchost.exe files with your username and repeat. Do not kill svchost.exe with system, local service or network service!
3. Now open My Computer
In the address bar, type "C:\heap41a" and press enter
Delete all the files here
4. Now go to start -> Run and type "Regedit"
Go to the menu EDIT --> FIND
Type "heap41a" here and press enter
You will get something like this "[winlogon] C:\heap41a\svchost.exe C:\heap(some number)\std.txt
"
Press DEL. It will ask "Are you sure you wanna delete this value", click "Yes"
5. Now close the registry editor
BANG! Virus is Gone!
Note: Please format all your pen drives because the virus is in that hidden in an microsoft.exe autorun.inf which you might not find. Else you might have to repeat all this everytime!
WITH REGARDS
Viraj
PC Problems and a Solution
by j_richey - 2/16/08 6:00 AM In reply to: CPU keeps going to 100%--any suggestions to remedy? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
All PCs do is create problems. My solution for you is to get a mac. If you bought a mac, you'd have a flawless, secure, fast machine. You'd also never have any problems. Once you've bought a mac, go take your old PC outside and **** on it!
I have had this problem
by Icaarus - 2/22/08 8:35 PM In reply to: PC Problems and a Solution by j_richeyI have had this very problem on my mac. DON'T go touting the greatness of mac's until you have run one to death. As with most readers here I have dealt with my fair share of compy problems from Win 3.1 to openSUSE 10.3. The mac platform is a happy middle ground, yet it still has flaws.
To Mr. 100%, the easiest way to see what is going on is actually google. Assuming you keep regular backups and the other routine operations mentioned above just open task manager, find out what task is eating up your processor and Google what is controlling it; unless you are an advanced power user [read beta/alpha tester or developer] it will have happened to someone else first and most likely will be online.
Wishing Mr. 100% the best of luck and Mr Mac a serious crash (yes it will happen to you)
P.S. a mac is a PC [personal computer]
My wife had this problem
by Malik48 - 2/22/08 11:20 PM In reply to: I have had this problem by IcaarusFirst thing we did was to scan for adware,spyware and virus.Them we made sure that only start up programs we really needed to start up,this is very important because when you have a number of programs starting they cut resources,and them program will continue to run in the background.Lastly we upgraded our memory to the max.Its also good to get rid of programs you don't need,Try these things,hope they work for you.One last thing always check the last program you may have installed,it could have a few bad files.So good Luck.
PC Tied up 100%
by jwlaurie - 2/22/08 11:52 PM In reply to: I have had this problem by IcaarusKeep in mind that when looking at the process column in Task Manager you can click on the title bar and automatically sort the processes in order of the amount of resources being used. You don't need to scroll up and down to find the offender.
Your problem may be twofold
by edmedlin - 2/16/08 6:27 AM In reply to: CPU keeps going to 100%--any suggestions to remedy? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The CPU going to 100% would not, in and of itself, cause your system to freeze. An overheating system can cause those problems. I would suggest opening the case and checking for dust buildup around the HS/Fan assembly and around heatsinks on the motherboard. Then check your system temps. I use a utility called Core Temp which is free and can be found with a simple Google search. If cleaning doesn't do the trick, you may have to remove the CPU heatsink/fan assembly and clean the contact surfaces and reapply thermal compound.
Now for the CPU going to 100% usage (which probably uncovered the overheating issue). This is usually caused by spyware or maleware of some sort or an application locking up. Using ctrl-alt-del to open task manager may show an open program, or if not, show some process that is running at a high CPU usage. Run an anti-spyware program like Spybot Search and Destroy or Add-Aware to remove any maleware and do a good antivirus scan just to make sure you have no issues there. If you find a program that is locking up or using a lot of CPU cycles, you might want to uninstall it and try an alternative.
There are a lot of other things that can cause your problem, but those are the main two that come to mind. I wish you luck.
Regards,
Ed Medlin
PC Slows down or freezes
by kirchos - 2/16/08 6:29 AM In reply to: CPU keeps going to 100%--any suggestions to remedy? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
My past computer was acting up the same as yours. Eventually it stopped running completely...fried the motherboard. I suggest to back up your system now if you haven't done so already and start looking for a new computer or install a new motherboard. Sue K.
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