XP very sluggish...100% cpu usage.. system idle process not working?

[boogerboots]

Hi folks, hope somebody's got an answer for this one. I've got a problem with XP pro. It's intermittently hanging up shortly after bootup, roughly 50-60% of the time.
System specs are as follows:

P4 Northwood 1.6 ghz
768 mb DDR pc-2100 266mhz ram(3x256)checked w/memtest86 OK
msi ge force4 mx440 w/64 mb ddr ram new driver installed
asus p4s333wa motherboard- new bios flashed

When the hang up occurs I CTRL-ALT-DEL to bring up the system resources window. It shows one or two processes(never the same ones allways random)using all the CPU resources and the system really bogs down. The system idle process is at 0%. Is this process malfunctioning? Or is there something else I've missed. I've tried altering settings in the BIOS but with no luck.
I believe I've tried all that I could think of along with some input from others but I'm still stuck with this problem. Hope that somebody can help me with my enigma
machine. Tks.

 

[yahoo]

have u checked for viruses with an updated virus checker?

 

[gambler1621]

BoogerBoots,
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.

 

[linney]

Here is a good site to check out to see if you can disable any unnecessary services you are running in the background.

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

What virus software are you running?

You may have a Trojan on your system causing this problem. Have a look at any of the Exe programs listed in the Task Manager. Any you don't recognise check out at this site to see if they are known trojans etc.

http://www.greatis.com/regrun3appdatabase.htm

 

[boogerboots]

Tks all,
I'll give the links a try. As far as this being a trojan... well this problem was happening even before I got online. This thing started right from a fresh install so from your recommendations it looks like it maybe a resource conflict of some sort.
All I have installed is a 56k soft fax modem and the video card. WIN XP said it didn't certify the video driver but I couldn't find one that did on their site either.
As far as the task manager goes, theres only processes running and no applications when the problem arises, but I will try to eliminate as many of them as possible.
In the meantime I've been using the hibernate mode as a quick fix. The problem surfaces usually from boot up or restart so the hibernate mode gets around this situation for now. Tks again for the suggestions .

 

[linney]

These links will help you troubleshoot any conflicts.

http://service2.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001053014402339

http://www2.cajun.net/~theriots/blk/xp_conflicts.htm

 

[Guest_imported]

hi, I'm no expert but I had similar problems which turned out to be associated with the voice recognition software which comes as part of the XP Office suite? Have deactivated it & had no problems since. Not sure if you have Office XP as well?

 

[boogerboots]

Hi again,
Tks for the input. I haven't installed Office XP yet. However this morning I tried something different. I went into the msconfig menu and deactivated all but the necessary system files required to do a "clean boot".
I got online after it booted properly, but then, about half an hour later,the symptoms arose again and the pc got very sluggish. After much diliberation and elimination I'm hoping that this problem is related to the "el-cheapo" 56k Voice fax modem that I have installed.
It's a conexant chip set and I downloaded the driver from the conexant site because the manufacturer "Phanta Link" don't have a web site. The modem also has a speaker and mic jack built in( maybe conflicting with the onboard audio card in the motherboard? ).
I'm really starting to grasp at straws here and on the verge of going back to 98se. Hope somebody got some suggestions....Tks.

 

[TheOldMan346]

Since you are on XP Pro, go into Admin Tools and start up the Performance Monitor. Try to determine if the drain is coming from memory usage, disk queueing, etc. Once you get a better idea, you can start tracing processes to determine which one os the culprit.

Hope that helps.
The Old Man

 

[Guest_imported]

Try installing "ad-aware" and it will clean out all the spyware or hidden advertising programs on your computer. They are being added by Web sites you visit. You can find the free program at download.com.

 

[boogerboots]

Good news,
I removed the suspect phanta link 56k soft modem and it's drivers and the system appears to be much more stable. I guess I gotta get a more reputable modem cause the one I replaced it with is another 56k soft modem ( a T-Rex )but without the built in mic and speaker jacks. Right now I'm getting only 9.6 k bps so it's extremely slow.
Any recommendations for a suitable modem that runs well with XP? Tks...

 

[TheOldMan346]

If you can, stay away from the soft modems. As you've already experienced, they use the cpu cycles to control the modem functions. A hardware modem will do all the functions on its own without taxing the cpu.

The US Robotics 2977 is an excellent and cheap modem.

Hope that helps.
The Old Man