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

 

[ksf18e]

Well, I rebooted, and of course, STMGR.EXE was running again with 4 threads. I waited 6 mminutes (this time it took 6:20, so there goes my 6 minutes exactly theory) and that one thread started sucking up all the CPU. I killed the thread and now all is well, but now what? Will I have to start my task manager and kill that thread every time I boot up my computer, or is there something I can do to make this stop.

 

[garwain]

I'd try to re-extract this file from the install CD, but it's most likely somewhere in a DLL, so I'd say it's now time to either try to overwrite your winME installation, or do a fresh install.

 

[cdogg]

STMGR.EXE is the "State Manager" and is part of WinME System Restore (or PC Health). You can find it here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices

I don't know if taking it out of the startup affects backups or the ability for WinME to monitor protected folders/files. You may want to try garwain's suggestion first before you decide to disable it all together...


~cdogg

 

[ksf18e]

I could not find the program on the CD, but going into the startup and disabling PC Health and State Manager seems to have done the job. I read on a couple of websites that there are patches you can run that will permanently disable the Restore function, so I downloaded one and ran it, but it screwed up my system, so I had to undo it. But anyway, apparently there are quite a few people who really hate that auto back-up feature that you find in Win ME, and give long detailed instructions on how to turn it off (I didn't mess with those, I don't particularly like poking around in the Registry and making changes. So I can't imagine that disabling it could do any harm. Anyway, thanks for all your help everybody. My machine is back up and good as new.