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I recently reformatted and reinstalled Win2K on this machine. Even before installing any software I noticed my CPU usage was averaging between 40-60%. It does not do this if running in safe mode. It stays down there around 1-2% as it should. There has been a new board, a new CPU & heat sink installed. But with it not doing this in safe mode I am at a loss of anything to do. There is virus software installed and the virus definitions are kept up to date and the machine has been scanned for viruses and came up clean. I am at a complete loss or understanding of why my CPU is getting hit so hard. When I go to processes the system idle on average is taking about 99%. This is the strangest thing I have ever encountered. I would really appreciate some help on this one. Thanks a lot!
The system idle process is using 99% because your not doing anything at the time, you're sitting there looking at the task manager. This is normal on all computers running windows 2000 and XP. On the other hand, the CPU being 40% busy would bother me slightly, but if you havnt noticed decreased performance, I wouldnt worry about it.
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If the idle process is 99%, how do you know the CPU is running at 40%? Where are you reading that info? NU perhaps?
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Peggy:
This sounds really strange. The CPU usage plus System Idle Process usage should roughly equal 100 percent. System Idle Process usage is by definition is how much percentage of the CPU time is not being used.
An example from the system I am currently using:
System Idle Process usage (from the processes tab of Task Manager) = 97-99 percent
CPU usage (from the Performance tab of Task manager) = 1-3 percent
Add the two together and you get roughly 100 percent.
If from the Performance tab of Task Manager you are getting a CPU usage of 40-60 percent and if from the processes tab of Task Manager you are getting a System Idle Process usage of 99 percent, something is definitely messed up.
I would suggest reapplying Service Pack 3. I say Service Pack 3 because Service Pack 4 has only been out a short time and it takse a while for known problems with a Service Pack to be found. If you recently installed Service Pack 4, hopefully you set the install to backup previous files. If so, then I suggest you try uninstalling Service Pack 4.
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I have reinstalled service pack 3. This machine other than the video card and NIC card is practically brand new. I have never ran across a problem such as this one. This machine has been re-partitioned, reformatted and Operating system reinstalled at least 10 times. I have searched the Internet everywhere I can think of and still to no avail have come up empty handed on how to solve this problem. There has to be a solution but nobody seems to know what it is. With the amount of time I have spent on this machine I could have bought a new one. In response to Brenden this is the only machine I have installed Win2K on that has had this problem. In response to Ray the way I am checking this is to right click on my task bar to bring up task manager. Task manager has 3 tabs. Performance, Processes, and Applications. Under the Processes tab is where it shows me the System Idle is running at roughly 1-3%. Under the Performance tab is where I am seeing my CPU usage being eat up with nothing installed but the operating system and Service Pack 3. I sure would appreciate any help I can get on this matter or I may have to accidently drop this machine in the dumpster or get in it myself. Thanks Guys!
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I must have everyone stumped on this one. I thought I would get a lot of responses of recommendations on a fix to this problem. Come on guys. I know someone out there has a solution for this problem. Thank You!
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This may seem a little off the wall, but have you tried using another NIC card?
Could be that it's trying to maintain the network connection all the time and the card's processor is failing.
Larry
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Probably a BIOS setting, check your interrupt rate under Performance, should be 1-200. Mine was 40,000 until I turned off several BIOS options on my ASUS P4C800. Not sure which one did it.
Had a similar problem on a Gigabyte Dual PIII Mobo until they fixed the BIOS. ACPI related if I remember right.
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I've come across the same problem as you did. When all the applications are closed my Task Manager indicates 25-30% of CPU under Performance tab while the System Idle Process takes 99% under Processes tab. I noticed that when there was at least one program running (for example, WinAmp), the CPU usage drops to 4-5%. I asked people around. It seems, that nobody knows the possible cause of the problem. The newest version of Virus Scan (VirusScan Enterprise 7.0.0) can't find any viruses as well. So, you are not along here ))
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Ran into a really exotic fix for this and not guarenteed to do it for you but we had a client who brought in a machine with the same problem and by trial and error, we wound up disconnecting the FRONT usb ports from the motherboard and it worked.
Seems they were not working with with that particular case.
Strange, but true!
Larry
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Just guessing, off the top of my head... If you're seeing low / standard CPU usage while running in safe mode, and the high usage during standard mode, I would check your hardware and drivers. It sounds like your CPU is having problems communicating with a hardware device during normal operation that it does not work with during safe mode. (Network cards are common for this problem).
Probably the easiest way to test this is to boot in normal mode, go to your device manager and disable your hardware devices one at a time and monitor your CPU performance. (Suggest starting with the NIC).
If this does isolate the problem be sure to check for the most current drivers before pulling out the hammer, or opening the 2nd floor window.
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