on several programs my cpu usage is extremely high (ms works for 1)when opening usage goes to 99% for 39 sec. when closing it hangs until i kill the process. Anyone have any ideas? could it be a cpu or memory problem? Thanks Bill

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 ================================= 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 ====================================== 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

99% 0r exen 100% is not unusual when the computer is doing something like running a programme. High CPU usage only become a problem when there is no apparent reason for. If you have to kill the programme when closing it, its more likely to be a software problem than hardware. How long do you wait to kill the programme? Some programmes can take a while to close, anything up to two minutes. They have a lot of work to do to tidy up after them so give it chance. If it still hangs then the mostly likely cause is an error in the software. What preogramme are we talking about? Stuart

Stuart, This is something that has just started. ms works is 1 program that causes this. It also happens when i try to reinstall the program. the install program takes all of the processor. I have let it set for 5 min. Bill