CPU usage goes to 100% after 6 minutes idle

[ksf18e]

Every time I let my system sit idle, after exactly 6 minutes, the CPU usage jumps up to 100%,and never comes back down. Can anyone explain why this might be happening? I have been looking for a program that shows CPU usage by application, but I can't seem to find one that works on Windows Me. I did install Win Tasks 4 Professional, and it shows the CPU usage, but individual application usage is not supported by Windows 98. It also showed no new applications or threads at the moment the CPU jumped up to 100%.

I have Windows Me, Intel Celeron 600MHz (running at 800MHz), 320 MB SDRAM. Some other programs I have installed are:
MS Office 2000 Professional
Norton Anti Virus v7.07.23D
Norton Utilities 2002
Webshots Desktop v1.3.0.2991
I also recently added Mighty Fax v2.9z Build 5 amd installed a HP ScanJet5370C

 

[dakota81]

Well, as I understand it, Windows ME has this interesting feature that attempts to protect itself from any possible crash or file corruption - basically, when the OS thinks that the computer is idle, it will begin to make frequent backup copies of important system files so that in any problem situation, the OS will magically restore the last working copy of all its system files and the computer will continue on its merry way.

Well, if you didn't catch the hint of sarcasm, this is, in my opinion, the worst planned feature ever executed. I had the (dis)pleasure of working with two new Dells with ME preloaded. I started to remove some worthless applications installed by Dell when on both computers an error occured during one of the program's uninstall. ME said "I can save you, I've got a backup of the registry from a couple minutes ago!" Well, that backup was before I uninstalled a couple programs, and hence after just ten minutes I had two computers with trashed OS's.

Upgrade to 98SE, 2000, or XP. You'll be so much happier with any of those OS's; just think, you'll actually have a machine that can function as a computer!

 

[paparazi]

Win ME is ORRIBLE!!! get rid of it !
98SE is far better and XP better still.
600 clocked at 800!!!!!!!!!! woooooow!!
Martin Just trying to help, sometimes falling short, I am only human after all.

 

[Aveology]

I thought I was helping out my parents in 2000 by installing this OS. How wrong was I. After only a week I had to uninstall it. It is the worst OS I have every used.

As you have that 340MB ram. If you go for XP you will see a nice performance advantage as well. For the 80 Sheets it will cost you I think it will be well worth it.

 

[ksf18e]

So, basically what everyone is telling me is that I should get rid of Windows ME. I've had this OS running for over a year now and this is the first problem I have encountered. I originally had 98, then upgraded to SE, and I kept getting the old blue screen. So when a friend offered to burn me a copy of 2000, I tried it out. Well, I never have liked NT, and that's all 2000 is, just Windows NT 5.0. So that lasted about a month, and I got tired of dealing with all those security parameters, so it was back to 98SE. After a week of getting the blue screen 3 times a day, I went back to ME, and haven't had a problem since. This thing with my CPU going to 100% just started within the last week. By the way, I had my CPU running at 909MHz for about 9 months, but I backed it off to 800 because my system started getting unstable every now and then. Do you suppose this could have something to do with my processor burning up?

 

[cdogg]

If you do a CTRL-ALT-DEL, how many processes are running when your CPU shows 100% usage? Have you already tried ending task on everything except Explorer and Systray? If that didn't help, then I would suspect an overheating problem. I would assume that you are monitoring the temp inside your case...

~cdogg

 

[ksf18e]

CTRL+ALT+DEL shows that there are 11 processes running if my machine is idle. Yes, I have tried shutting each one down to see if it frees up the processor, but nothing works. THe CPU temp stays pretty stable 105-110 F. The strange thing is that no matter how many things I am doing, no matter if I am running 25 different programs at the same time and taxing the CPU to 100% on purpose, everything runs fine, until I let it sit idle for 6 minutes. And no new processes appear in the Close Program window.

 

[Guest_imported]

Sounds like your computers possesed Roger..

 

[stuartd]

It's not NAV is it?

 

[FatesWebb]

Ok, FIRST OFF Win ME is just WIN98SE and then some, so dont listen to these guys, win ME is just fine, I know people who have and have myself ran it for like 2 years with out a problem...

Check your power savings settings and disable them, turn off the screen saver if it is set to 6 minutes.


Richard
js error; 67 on line; 36 of signature.class

 

[ceh4702]

It is a memory leak in a program somewhere. If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[FatesWebb]

yeah I thought of that but leaking every time at exactly 6 min idle is weird..

but who said computers arent weird...

js error; 67 on line; 36 of signature.class

 

[ksf18e]

OK, so how does one go about finding and correcting a memory leak?

 

[cdogg]

Honestly, it doesn't sound like a memory leak to me. You mentioned that it only happens after your idle. So, if you actively use your pc for the first half hour after booting into Windows, no problems right?

If it were a memory leak, it wouldn't likely occur only after your idle. That just doesn't sound right...

A quick test might be to go into SAFE mode and see if it happens there. I think you can hold the CTRL key down during boot to get there. Remember to also disable all apps and screen savers...

~cdogg

 

[ksf18e]

OK, I started my machine is safe mode and the problem didnot reoccur,so that tells me that it has to be a software problem, right? I uninstalled any new programs that I had recently installed, but it that made no difference. Does anyone know of a program that I can install that will show all the processes running AND CPU usage by process for Windows ME? Like I said, I tried Win Tasks 4 Pro, but the CPU usage by process function is disabled for Windows 98.

 

[garwain]

I, personally, wouldn't waste much time on this. At this point I would break down and follow that standard microsoft tech support approach... Backup, format, reinstall (why is it that you never have to do this on linux unless you've really screwed things up, yet it's a common solutions for MS?)

Usually when a client tells me they contacted <insert company name here> and where told to format and re-install, I'll disagree and try to find the real problem, but sometimes, in a situation like this I would give it a try.

Even better would be if you have a second HDD that your could install your OS on, and see if the problem continues on an fresh install...

 

[ksf18e]

Unfortunately, I think I have to agree with you garwain. So far, I have uninstalled every program that I put on my computer in the past 6 months, and it has made no difference. I think that the culprit must be some .dll file that has gotten corrupted and starts running in overdrive in the background, but there are somthing like 2700 .dll files on my machine. Finding the right one would be impossible. This really ticks me of because I have done this before (when experimenting with different OS's), and it takes me about 8 hours to reinstall all the software. Maybe I'll try getting a second HDD and just use the one I have now as a slave so I don't have to uninstall everything. Thanks everyone for your help. What's the old saying....&quot;Intel giveth and Microsoft taketh away&quot;.
Maybe its time to switch to Unix....

 

[ceh4702]

To correct a memory leak you isolate the programs by truning off different programs that are running by pressing ctrl-alt-del and choosing a program to close. There are some other possibilities.

For instance it could be an issue with the BIOS and the energy conservation/screen saver. For instance if you go into hybernation mode and your operating system does not like that it could cause problems.

You may want to check out your settings in the Screensaver and energy conservation area to set up how that is working. In the BIOS there may be settings about hybernating and resume on reboot that were not considered when your OS was designed. Hardware changes are always ahead of software changes. If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[garwain]

Just thought of something you might try first. boot from your win CD or a boot disk, remove win.com (best to just rename it), the install windows again. This will keep all registry settings and installed software, overwriting the OS. This might work for you, it might not.

I would back up first just in case, since I've never tried this method on winME. Worst case is that you then have to start from scratch...

Best of luck
Ben Martin

 

[ksf18e]

Well sports fans, I found the problem. Now, what to do about it. I found an excellent program called Another Task Manager 3.0 (go to

http://download.com.com/3000-2094-6771750.html?tag=lst-0-11

if you want to check it out) It is the only one I found that shows CPU usage by process for Win98. Anyway, I waited the prescribed 6 minutes and the process that was running my CPU thru the roof is STMGR.EXE. So what exactly is that, and how do I modify it so it stops doing this? It showed 4 threads running, and only one is eating up the CPU, so I killed it (the thread, not the whole process), and my CPU usage went back to normal. I waited another 6 minutes, and everything seems fine. Now of course, I am going to reboot and see if this happens again. Be right back......