Task Manager reports 100% cpu usage all the time

[bobbybobbertson]

I am running Win2k. Lately my computer has been quite slow. I noticed that from the moment I boot up, and for the rest of the time that I am running, my cpu usage is at 100%. This is reported by the task manager's performance tab.

However, when I go to the processes tab, nothing reports that it is taking up 100% cpu usage. "system idle process" will every once in a while report 99% usage, but for the most part every process (including "system idle process) is reporting zero.

On my brother's computer, running the same OS, his Performance tab of the task manager reports very low cpu usage and "system idle process" continually reports 99% usage.

Any Ideas what could cause my performance to show 100% usage, while nothing in the processes tab shows any usage? Can someone suggest some tools to help me search this problem?

Is it possible that I have a virus. Can a virus use 100% cpu without task manager showing its process?

 

[darranagl]

The first thing to do is, go into your Event Viewer (Control Panel, System Tools, Event Viewer) and see if there are any error messages. The error are usually marked with a red icon. Check all three logs (Application, System, Security).

If you have any errors please post them and we can work from there. New Zealand, a great place to visit.

http://www.southland.org.nz

 

[bobbybobbertson]

I checked those logs and there aren't many errors. My last error was about 20 days ago and was a "sytem" error by source Dhcp. The Security log is empty and the Application log does not have any errors.

What next?


thanks

 

[darranagl]

Do you have a network card in the PC?

I had the exact same thing last week, my network card was going out to the DHCP to get a network address but I didn't have the network card plugged in to a network.

I went into the network card and gave it an IP Address and all was well. New Zealand, a great place to visit.

http://www.southland.org.nz

 

[bobbybobbertson]

I do have a network card. But it is hooked up to a cable modem and works fine. So, in other words, it does have an IP address specified.

Anything else to try?

 

[Guest_imported]

Definately check to see if you AV protection is up to date and run a scan, worms that are busying themselves sending out email to everyone in your address book can eat up a lot of CPU time.

 

[petroffp]

I had this problem on my Sony Win2kPro laptop. Tracked it to a "support" program that came installed. The offender = "C:\Program Files\support.com\client\bin\tgcmd /server /nosystray"
The program loads at startup based on a registry setting. Even if this is not your problem, try using regedit to look at
HKey_local_machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. Try eliminating these "start-up" programs 1-by-1 until you find the offender. (suggest exporting the registry key before starting, so you can put things back together correctly, if necessary)

-Paul

 

[netwalker1]

I think this will give a great help petroffp ..
Eng.Mohamed Farid
Cisco Certified Network Associated ,,
Building Cisco Remote Access Network Certified ,,
Routing Cisoc Networks Certified ,,
Switching Networks Cisco Certified ,,

 

[bobbybobbertson]

freakflag, how do I "check to see if you AV protection is up to date and run a scan"?


I will check out that run registry and see if it helps.

thanks to all for the replies.

 

[darranagl]

In you original post you said the System Idle Process is quite often sitting at 0% in the Task Manager.

What is the highest percentage process?

That should point to what is using up your CPU, at least its a starting point. New Zealand, a great place to visit.

http://www.southland.org.nz

 

[bobbybobbertson]

thats the funny thing!! the performance tab is continually reading 99-100% cpu usage. however, when i go to the processes tab to see what is using the cpu time, every process reports 0%!!! (except every once in a while when system idle will pop in a 99%)

 

[darranagl]

See if any of these help

http://search.support.microsoft.com...dType=ALL&Titles=false&numDays=&maxResults=25

New Zealand, a great place to visit.

http://www.southland.org.nz

 

[bobbybobbertson]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am trying many things and nothing has yet to work.

I'll let eveyone know if I come up with a solution. Thanks again for all the pointers.