Explorer eating memory and using bloody CPU!

[alanbloom]

Every so often, Explorer starts using up around 30% of the CPU. I have to quit explorer and then restart it up fresh to fix it.

I can't find any spyware or viruses... where could the problem lie?

Thanks

 

[SirBlack]

What version of IE are you running and what AV & AS apps?

Bob B-)

Remember, if you can't stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them!

 

[alanbloom]

Hiya
Sorry, I didn't say in the original, but I'm talking about Windows Explorer rather than IE. I always avoid IE and use Firefox instead, but Explorer.exe is the problem here

Thanks

 

[Diancecht]

¿Network drives?

Cheers,
Dian

 

[electronicsfreak]

download avg anti spyware and run a scan

http://www.ewido.net

(delete anything it finds)

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[alanbloom]

I've run Anti Virus but without avail...

Dianchecht - how do you mean with network drives?
It's logged onto a domain and has access to a network drive mapped to Z:

 

[SirBlack]

Check the paths of these processes, both are vital to the computer.

C:\WinNT\System32\Svchost.exe or C:\Windows\System32\Svchost.exe.

C:\Windows\Explorer.exe or C:\WinNT\Explorer.exe.

If the path differs, you may have a bug. Not sure still what AV & AS apps you ran but go to:

http://free.grisoft.com/

You can download free their AV, AS and their Anti-Rootkit. Be sure to check for updates before running these apps. You should also download these other free apps:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/processesandthreads/processexplorer.mspx

http://filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

and/or

http://www.diskcleaner.nl/

The 1st site, Process Explorer, gives more details than Windows Task Manager and may be a help in finding out what's gobbling up your CPU. The last 2 will clean cookies, temp files & a lot more junk off your HD.
If it is a bug, disable System Restore before removing it. This will clear all previous restore points. You don't want to re-introduce the pest to your system if you use that option. After you're sure the bug is gone, you can enable System Restore & set a new restore point.
If you want, download HijackThis to its own folder but run Scan only and post the log to this thread.

http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/programs.php

If it's not a bug, then it's probably a corrupt file that's causing the problem.
Hope this helps!

Bob B-)

Remember, if you can't stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them!

 

[alanbloom]

Thanks for your help on that Sir Black - you're great! Thanks for the effort you put into your reply

Cheers