XP issue at startup..100% cpu usage...extremely slow...ACK ! 1

[boogerboots]

Hope somebody has an explaination for my situation. Got a P4-1.6 Ghz with 768 megs o'DDR ram. Also got a GSI GeForce 4 440MX 64mb Video card.
Recently installed XP pro and it works about 50% of the time. However the other 50%, the machine pitches a loaf and bogs down very quickly after boot up. Even hitting the START button takes about 20 seconds for the start menu to appear. I had the patience to wait and look at the system resources monitor and it shows 100% cpu usage.
I've tried swapping RAM and even have the problem at 256MB. So I don't think it's damaged RAM. I suspect possible overheating.( I don't have any cooling fans other than CPU and power supply ) Is this intermittent sluggishness a symptom of too much heat? Or is it within the XP software itself. Or could it be something else?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Tks Folks.

 

[christheprogrammer]

If this were an Athelon, I would suspect overheating. But, it is a P4, so I would rule that out. I have found that most of these problems with XP stem from incorrect BIOS settings. Check all your BIOS settings and make sure you know what they all do (especially video settings), and set them accordingly. This will take you a long time, but you'll be glad you did it in the end. Sounds like a smokin' machine you got there...
Chris says: "It's time for a beer."

 

[boogerboots]

Tks Chris for the help.
Unfortunately my machine is smokin for all the wrong reasons... HA HA! But I will thoroughly look through my BIOS settings. Of note, I downloaded an update of the bios for the ASUS P4S333 motherboard from their site, but wasn't sure how to install it. When I click on the file XP says that it can't open it. I can't recall what file format it's in cause ...I'm at work. Is there a standard format to updating the BIOS program? Would updating the BIOS program be of help in this case? tks for any input.

 

[christheprogrammer]

You need to get AFLASH.EXE from somewhere on their site. When you find this, the directions on use will be nearby. What you basically have to do is create a boot disk (win98 boot disk) and then have another floppy with AFLASH.EXE and the BIOS file you downloaded on it. Then, you make sure to backup your BIOS (the option to do this is inside the AFLASH program). Now, you re-flash your BIOS with the new BIOS software (it is a menu option inside the AFLASH program). It is really very easy, but make sure you have the right BIOS for your motherboard!!!. If you don't - its off to the manufacturer with your board...
But don't worry - I've done it many times without a hitch.
Cheers Chris says: "It's time for a beer."

 

[gambler1621]

Go to

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

and get rid of all of the services you can. Then determine if you still have the problem. If you do, then try to figure out what is using your resources out of what is left.

 

[CTR]

I don't understand the issue here, but in a similar concern while using Win 2000, I have an HP OfficeJet (multifunction machine) that I found an update on the Microsoft site for. Microsoft claimed there would be a 100% CPU usage problem spefically with that type of printer. I did notice I had the same trouble and installed the fix for my 2000, I wonder if the same problem is in XP? I'd presume they fixed it, silly me. _____________

Cliff

 

[mikecx]

I had the same thing happen before when i had text-to-speech enabled. At start-up i would have absolutly no resources left and it remained that way. By chance i noticed the process for it was taking up almost 95% of the available resources. If its enabled, disable it.

 

[boogerboots]

Tks all again for the tips,
My printer is a Deskjet 600C, it picked up automatically and as far as I can tell it's running fine.
But I was wondering where this text-to-speech option was? That may be a possibility.
For further clarification, when I get these massive CPU usage problems ... well when I check my Task Manager the SYSTEM process is usually using all the CPU resources(98% - 100%) while the SYSTEM IDLE is at zero. I thought of the possibility that the SYSTEM IDLE process was somehow malfunctioning.
Me not wise in the ways of XP. If you got more insight please drop a line. Tks

 

[Kicket]

HD partition in what format?

ff

 

[boogerboots]

This situation has occurred in both NTFS and FAT-32. I have reformatted about half a dozen times, but I didn't partion it. The HD is a 20GB maxtor 7200 rpm 8.5 ms.

 

[Kicket]

hey man..i had exactly same problem last time
first thing i did was change the hd partition to NTFS
then i figured out it's my mouse sends some static signal to my computer. after i changed my mouse.
every thing works perfectly fine

what kind of mouse u r using
in this case
might not be ur mouse.
but u can check some of ur hardware cfig

wait
how can u didn't partition?

ff

 

[boogerboots]

Sorry Kicket, I meant that it only has one partition for 20 gig. I didn't divide it any further than that.