WINXP Pro excess cpu usage, no programs open

[solderjockey]

Hopefully someone out there can help me out on this one. I recently installed XP Pro on my work machine, and it just seemed kind of sluggish. I noticed that it was using anywhere from 40 - 65% cpu even with no programs open. The funny thing is, what the processes tab reports does not line up with what the performance tab reports. I.E., processes reports system idle process at 97%, and explorer at 3%. Then I click over to the performance tab, and it reports something like 55% processor usage. I have run a thorough virus & trojan scan, and both came back clean. I was under the impression that with no programs open, it was supposed to vary between 2 and 10%. When I ran Sysinternals Process Explorer, it reorted System Idle Process and Interrupt request alternating between 45 and 55%. Needless to say, I am stumped. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[bcastner]

In Performance under Task Manager, View, click to enable 'Kernel times'

The red graph shows XPs use of the processor. The green shows total processor utilitzation.

Processes will allways add to 100; your CPU utilization can vary. Of the occupied cycles of the processor the kernel should be around 10-20%.

Some things can be done to improve matters for your system:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q308417

In addition, you can create your own system monitors. Control Panel, Administrative Tasks, Performance. Above the graph display there is a toolbar. Hit the '+' symbol to add new counters. You can seperate the services use of the processor from other activity, for example.

 

[linney]

If you have just installed XP your drive may need to be Defragged. Running the Disk Cleanup tool will help too.


Type MSCONFIG in the Run Box to see what is loading at start up.

Try disabling any unrequired services that are running in background.

http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

Computer Speed and Performance May Decrease (Q310419)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q310/4/19.asp

HOW TO: Set Performance Options (Q308417)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q308/4/17.asp

Why it takes years to display right-click drop down menu?
thread779-277803



Spybot

http://security.kolla.de/

Ad-aware

http://www.lavasoft.nu

The last two will check your computer for spyware and adware.

 

[bcastner]

I would certainly check to see if one of the processes was msblast.exe.

 

[solderjockey]

Thanks, bcastner. I enabled kernel times in the task manager, and it shows the kernel times to be roughly 75% of the total processor usage. I also enabled more counters in the performance monitor, namely interrupts/second, and it shows around 135000 to 138000 interrupts per second. That seems really high to me, but I'm no expert on these things. I've gone over the things at the Microsoft address, I've checked the settings and Processor usage and memory Usage are both set to programs. I upgraded to WinXP from Win2k (clean install), and I can't recall having this happen in Win2k. BTW, my system consists of the following: MSI MS6330 mainboard, AMD Athlon 1.333Ghz CPU, 128MB PC133 RAM, Samsung 160GB ATA100 HDD, Sony CRX1611 CD-RW, 40X CDROM, Netgear fa310tx ethernet card, and a cheapo Nvidia Riva tnt 64 videl card. I ran Sysinternals Process Explorer on a known good Win2k machine, and it said the hardware interrupts were very low, from 1 to 10% CPU usage. I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what is causing all these interrupts. Maybe the NIC card?

 

[bcastner]

135,000 interrupts/second! I average 200.

Something is clearly wrong. If you use Device Manager and 'uninstall' the network adapter (it will automaticly re-install on next boot) what does the interrupts/second read while it is uninstalled?

 

[solderjockey]

Thank you all for your time & tips! I think I have found the problem. I got to thinking about the hardware thing. I went into the bios and started disabling things that didn't seem necessary-serial ports, usb keyboard & mouse (don't have either) and when I disabled the "legacy onboard audio" the problem disappeared! The normal audio seems to work fine. Then I went back and re-enabled things one at a time and rebooting, and the only thing I found that caused the problem was the legacy audio. Must have been a conflict somewhere, but if it doesn't need it, I'll just leave it disabled. Thaks again to all for your tips and time-

solderjockey