Are there any PC gurus who could help? Just about anything I do on my laptop sends the CPU to max, which stalls all programs and is a major pain in the butt. When IE7 is open, just moving my mouse back and forth causes the CPU to go to 100%
So far, I've cleaned the registry, checked for driver updates, and scrubbed with every antivirus/malware/spyware program I can find. I even tried switching to Firefox, and nothing seems to help.
Any advice?
Hello,
You need to press "Ctrl+Alt+Del" Then when that menu presents you with a list of choices, Shutdown, Logoff, etc. Chose "Task Manager", this will show you a new window. Under the "Processes" Tab, you can see a list of the currently running processes on your computer .
Next time your CPU usage jumps look at this list of processes (NOTE: Open the Task Manager BEFORE your CPU jumps in activity, if possible, because it can be a challenge to go through the steps to open it AFTER your CPU starts peaking; sometimes takes forever). You should be able to sort that list by CPU usage (By clicking on the "CPU" tab header, like sorting columns in WIndows Explorer), so you can have them in order from most "hungry" to least. The one taking the highest percent (Note: It doesn't show the "%" sign, just the number, i.e. "67" in the CPU column = "67%" CPU usage) is probably the problem causing process.
There should be a process name "name-of-process.exe" or whatever it is, make a note of that process and Google something like "name-of-process.exe is using 100% CPU" or "name-of-process hogging CPU" or something like that. Chances are someone has had a very similar or same issue and you'll probably find some goos suggestions going that route.
Hope this helps somehow, cheers!
promet
Yeah, I guess I should have mentioned that I already had done that as well. I went thru and culled all the processes that weren't necessary. Typically I run with 29 processes active inc. whatever browser I'm using. The culprit is almost always whichever program I'm using at the time, sometimes including Windows Explorer (not the browser).
For example, I'm in IE7 right now, typing this. As I move the mouse to check the Task Manager, the cpu usuage for IE7 goes to 100%. Why the cursor should be using IE7 resources is beyond me.
There are plenty of hits on a google search, but most of them revolve around cleaning the registry. A few have other specific fixes like particular add ons and toolbars, but none have been relevant so far.
I also considered it might be a heat issue, so I downloaded Speedfan to monitor temp but still no joy.
Thanks
What are you running? XP , Vista, Win7?
Is it with all programs that you have the problem, or only with specific programs? (could you list the programs that you have encountered the problem with - maybe someone will see a common area)
ffff, other then that... you could try defragging your system? (dunno if it will help, but it can't hurt - but dependant on your harddisk content, it might take a while) - how much free space do you have on your hard disks (I'm thinking, maybe a virtual memory problem) (and how large are they)?
mmm ... can you think of anything you changed before you had the problem?
Have you considered using FreeRam to clean your RAM? Your comp might be duplicating data unnecessarily, that could be the reason for the 100%'s.
Just downloaded FreeRam myself. freed up a ton of ram.
Thanks for the suggestion Arms... I was having ram issues.
Try right clicking on My Computer -> Properties
Look for this information:
Some Laptops run in a powersave mode even while plugged in and reduce the amount of processor speed being used (i.e. where it shows 2.33GHz / 2.33GHz, one will sometimes read .99GHz).
This, as one would expect, will cause it to run much slower. To fix it you will want to go to your Power Management Settings (either in Control Panel, or sometimes its in your taskbar on the desktop). And change it to use full performance.
Let's see, since I can no longer see other messages in the thread while replying (Bad! Bad WotC!), I'll try to respond to everyone from memory.
Checked power options in the control panel and everything seems to be fine.
Downloaded Free Ram. No joy.
I'm on a Dell Inspiron 8600
XP, SP 3
1.44 chip
2.0 Gigs Ram
So far I've experienced the problem in IE7, Firefox, Moyea FLV player, ITunes, and once in Windows Explorer.
This is my Net machine (as opposed to gaming machine). I run AVG with Resident Shield and Windows Defender in the background whenever I'm online, but disabling both of those doesn't seem to make any difference.
The biggest problem is that moving from one tab to the other in IE7 causes the problem, sometimes with a pretty long delay. Using the back/forward button causes a similar long delay. Even scrolling up and down will cause the CPU to spike and the display to hang.
Some of the behavior is just truly bizarre.
As I type this ie7 is running at about 3-5%. When I use the mouse to make little circles with the cursor, IE7 jumps to 98% and stays there. If I minimize IE7 and make the same little circles on the desktop the CPU usage stays low. But if I 'pick up' the task manager window and move it around the desktop, Windows Explorer usage goes to 100% whether IE7 is open or not.
Oh, and I'm not entirely sure how long it's been going on. I was previously on a dial up connection, so long pauses in opening web pages were what I expected. I recently got satelite access (still not broadband, but better than dial-up...kind of) and that's when I started noticing the pauses, freezes, and cpu usuage. Using the satelite didn't require any special programs, however. I use the same wireless card and program as before.
Found this whilst purusing my Wizspace. Here I am, your all in one fix for everything. Given that you have 2 gigs of ram, it's not a memory issue. If you only had 256 that'd be the thing I would suggest fixing. We can ignore that. It's not an overheating issue, though it may cause one. If your CPU overheated it would simply shut off, or corrupt the video, and become unusable. We can ignore that too.
Since this happens in several pieces of software, all of which access the web, we might want to explore that. Of course with networking there are several steps before a piece of data is sent from one place to antoher, and vice versa. One of which is the OS. It's possible that since you were once on dial-up your settings are still set to that optimum. I'm not 100% sure how to check or fix that, but there are programs you can download to check your network settings. TTL, packet size, so on and so forth. If those seem optimized for broadband usage, perhaps it's time to check your files with the system file checker. Just go to run and type in sfc /runnow. You'll need your windows disc to continue. If it finds corrupted files it'll replace those with fresh new ones.
I want to stress that this does not sound like hardware at all. It's too dependent on running specific programs. Perhaps if you run the network connection wizard you can clear the worst of it up.
If none of that works, but you don't want to reformat (who does?), you can try to refresh your windows. Given that you're running SP3, you may want to rebuild your disc. Go to www.nliteos.com and download the program. Copy your disc's files to a folder on your desktop, download the SP3 network install, and go ahead and check out some of the update packages on that website. You can get several hotfixes pre-installed that way. You can even have IE7/8, or firefox, or pretty much any other program to install automatically. To make your day even easier, download all of your drivers for your make and put them in a driver folder (unzipped), and include those in the disc. That will speed everything up.
Once you make your new disc, just run it and tell it to "upgrade". It'll refresh your system files, and default settings, but will not destroy your existing user files and programs. Should take about an hour.
But if I 'pick up' the task manager window and move it around the desktop, Windows Explorer usage goes to 100% whether IE7 is open or not.
I had the exact same problem on MacOS (Leopard) ... but there, that's normal ... (the reflexion of the task manager on the task bar nukes your processor speed).
Installed a new screen / played with screen settings ?
edit: does your fan work?
Sometimes just taking some canned air and blowing out as much dust as you can will help speed issues. This becomes more of an issue the longer it has been since it was last 'dusted'.
NB: This should be done in a well ventilated area, because dust will go everywhere!
Since this is a laptop, it is likely that you cannot take a panel off to see the circuit boards. In this case, do the best you can by blowing short bursts around the air vents in the sides, as well as around the CD drive. If, just by looking at the vents, you can see a LOT of dust, using a tube detachment from a vacuum might make more sense, since you don't want to blow big chunks of dust inside the laptop.
On some laptops, the keyboard can be popped up and off without too much trouble. This is something I would research online before attempting, however.
Groveborn seems to be an expert here, but I'll toss this advice out there as well. Run a scan with Malwarebyte's Antimalware and Spybot Search and Destroy. Both are available for free at Download.com
I don't know of anything specific but it's theoretically possible a virus could corrupt IE and Firefox to use system resources at an unusual rate.
Thanks for the advice everyone. Right now I'm working on Groveborn's recommendations to see if they help.
The problem with IE7 keeps getting worse. Just switching between IE7 and the Task Manager causes a lag/lock up of 3-5 secs. Trying to scroll down the page does the same. It's better in Firefox, but not much.
Someone asked if the fan was working, and the answer is yes, but only when SpeedFan is running as well.
I'm using Hughesnet (may the Gods curse their name), so I have to be careful how much I download in any 24hr period (about 100 megs) or they cut the connection back to dialup speed. I tripped the limit one day just by surfing and updating windows. I really hate that company, but it's the closest to broadband that's available here in the sticks.
If GB's solution doesn't help, I'm going to borrow a friend's connection and do a reformat, but that will be in a couple of weeks. I'll continue to repost with updates.
Thanks again.
Jacob
PS. WizSpace? I LOVE IT! I'm not a member of the DnD forums. I live in WizSpace!
I think I'll change my sig to:
"This is madness!"
"This. Is. WIZSPACE!!!"
OK, if you just started your computer (after having it turned off for a night) do you have the problem the first couple of minutes, or does the problem comes after a few minutes? Then if you reboot you have the same problem much faster?
if so I think your CPU is overheating (problem with the fan): when you computer is cold (first time you turn it on) it works fine, when it gets hot (you used the computer (if you simply reboot, doesn't get much time to cool down) ) it starts working up ...