I recently had a massive slowdown of my computer and found the CPU usage at 100% in the task manager window. I supected a virus, so I re-formatted my hardrive and reloaded Windows XP. The problem still existed. Any time I try to run a program the system just locks up and nothing happens. Next, I installed a new power supply with no effect. I then installed a brand new Intel motherboard and re-formatted the hardrive and installed XP again. This time I didn't load ANY programs or drivers, just the default XP stuff was running. The problem is still there. If I bring up the task manager window it states that CPU usage is 0%. But if I drag that window around the screen the CPU usage jumps to 100% and the window moves very slowly. As soon as I stop, the CPU usage drops to 0%. Does anyone have an idea what is happening? I would appreciate any ideas. Thanks.

hmm..i once had that..but it was when i was fooling around inside my computer,i then after learned it was the cable to the fan that went to the pentium 4 chip..the one that went from the fan to the motherboard,you have to push that cable down very tight,make sure all cables are tight,and open up your pc and run it to see if anything wierd is going on,be careful dont electricute your self now.I hope this helps man111!!!

See if anything here helps . There's a bug in XP that can cause your CPU to go to 100% and other operations (such as copying files, network connections or streaming audio/video) to suffer degraded performance when you right click a file or folder. Want to know why it happens and how you can work around it? See KB article 819101 at http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=030923CO-Right_Click http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=819101 ================================= Clicking AVI Files on explorer causing 100% CPU Usage http://www.computerbastion.com/xpfixes.htm Well windows seem to have a REALLY big problem when it comes to reading AVI files. It seems that when you click on an AVI file in explorer, it'll try to read the entire AVI file to determine the width, height, etc. of the AVI file (this is displayed in the Properties window). Now the problem with Windows is that if you have a broken/not fully downloaded AVI file that doesnt contain this info, Windows will scan the entire AVI file trying to figure out all these properties which in the process will probably cause 100% CPU usage and heavy memory usage. To solve this problem all you have to do is the following: 1. Open up regedit 2. Goto HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shellex\PropertyHandler 3. Delete the "Default" value which should be "{87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489-5FE6850DC73E}" Voila! Please not that this will no longer provide you with the windows properties displaying the AVI file information such as width, height, bitrate etc. But its a small price to pay for saving you resources. NOTE: Please use caution when using regedit. Improper usage may cause windows to behave imcorrectly. Also, I cannot be held resposible. Backup your registry first. ======================================== Why is Remote Procedure Call shutting down my computer after 60 seconds? Why is svchost.exe crashing my computer? Why is dllhost.exe taking 100% of my CPU time? http://www.blackviper.com/AskBV/tech10.htm ==================================== Cpu usage high http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=cpu+100%25&sp-a=sp10025107&sp-advanced=1&sp-p=any&sp-w-control=1&sp-w=alike&sp-d=custom&sp-date-range=-1&sp-start-month=0&sp-start-day=0&sp-start-year=&sp-end-month=0&sp-end-day=0&sp-end-year=&sp-x=any&sp-c=10&sp-m=1&sp-s=0&sp-f=UTF-8 http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-i=1&sp-q=cpu+100%25&sp-a=sp10025107&sp-advanced=1&sp-p=any&sp-x=any&sp-w-control=1&sp-w=alike&sp-d=custom&sp-n=11&sp-c=10&sp-f=UTF-8 ================================= Explorer.exe Process Uses Many CPU Cycles When Windows Is Idle http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=317751 To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows XP. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: How to Obtain the Latest Windows XP Service Pack http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;322389 The information in this article applies to: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Microsoft Windows XP Professional ===================================== http://www.windowsxpatoz.com/cgi-bin/performance/index.cgi?answer=1036282972&id=1036282433 "Preview" of the .AVI files may be the cause of explorer.exe high cpu use . Start -> Run -> type in: Regedit & press Enter . Find the > HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shellex\PropertyHandler\ directory and delete the "DEFAULT" key ====================================== High cpu loads in idle condition . http://www.computerbastion.com/xpfixes.htm I have for a long time had problems with "jerky" graphics in some 3d games and 3dmark, and have had relativly high cpu loads in idle condition. The cpu load would pulse from 1-2% up to 10-12%-load with about three-five seconds intervals...(in idle) The jerking has not been due to low perfomance hardware or old drivers and I have had the problems on two seperate systems. If you are connected to a LAN and have similar problems, this might be the solution: 1.RightClick "MyComputer" 2.Select "Manage" 3.Click on "Device Manager" 4.DoubleClick on your NIC under "Network Adapters" 5.In the new window, select the "Advanced" tab 6.Select "Connection Type" and manually set the value of your NIC. (Not "Auto Sense" which is default.) 7.You should reboot... On my systems the "jerking" in 3D games was completely gone, and so was the high idle cpu load. ================================== http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=330512 The Processor Performance State Is Not Restored to the Maximum State If the CPU Runs at 100 Percent This article applies to… This article was previously published under Q330512 SYMPTOMS The processor performance state may not be restored to the maximum state if the CPU runs at 100 percent. This problem occurs if the computer is 100 percent busy when the power policy changes. ================================== Try performing an advanced clean-boot of XP to isolate the problem: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=316434 http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=310353 ================================ There are four services associated with lsass.exe and most users (especially home users) do not need any of them running. They are: IPSEC services Net Logon NT LM Security Support Provider Protected Storage Type "services.msc" in run, and disable them. I suggest you visit the following URL for complete info: http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

Thanks for your responses, but none of these items have worked or apply to my case. After re-loading XP, I haven't right clicked anything and this has happened with two motherboards, which rules out the loose fan wire connection. Also, this is not a temporary effect, but a permanent one. I have had this computer for 16 months and it ran just great. About 2 or 3 months ago it started to slow down and eventually ground to a halt. It hasn't been on or connected to the internet since last February and it ran just fine until around this September. Virus scans didn't show anything nor did hardware scans. I can't run any programs due to the pegged CPU, so I can't get on the net to update XP with serv. pak. 1 et al. Any other recommendations out there? Thanks.

so you can't run any programs at all? Then how can you run Task Manager! (it's a program :) I'm sure you're able to run some programs. But it sounds like you have a problem that is hardware related. I don't think it's related to a corrupted or broken hard drive because your system boots up fine right? So perhaps the system freezes up only when launching really huge programs, or video card intensive programs? You need to narrow down what type of programs freeze and stuff :)

I am having the same problem. My computer is running very very slow and when Microsoft Internet Explorer is clicked it takes almost 2 minutes for a web page to open and then connecting to other pages is extremely slow. I have run two different virus detection programs and have found nothing. My CPU usage is at 100% constantly but the task manager does not show any of the current running processes to be using the cpu. Occasionally a process will use 98 or 99% of the cpu but not for very long and CPU usage is still at 100%. Please help.

Hi, I'm having the same problem It started last week when I noticed my computer works slow then it used to and when I drag a windows it's even slower (btw I have Winodws XP Pro). I scaned for viruses (I don't know if viruses where found and if so what viruses where found cause I went to sleep and then my lil bro used the computer and restarted it) and after the restart windows just kept restarting itself on the "Welcome" screen. I re-installed windows but on a different directory cause I didn't won't to loose any information and this one also worked slow. I saved all my important information on an other hard drive and formated the main one. I reinstalled windows and still slow performance. when I just start windows and open the task manager I can see the CPU is around 5% to 15% but when I drag the window it jupm up to 100%. when I go on the net it just stays on 100%. sometimes it pops up a window that tells me to save my works cause windows is about to shut down (like I ended SVCHOST.EXE). I ran some virus scans. some time I could find viruses and some time not but although I cleaned the viruses that were found there was no speed improve. CPU just keeps use a 100% usage. I will really be thankful if someone can help us with that problem. thanks.