Hey guys! When I start my computer my resources are at 100%..they gradually lower but as soon as one program is opened it sky rockets to 100% again. No registry errors..virus's..spyware/malware. I have no programs set to run on start-up. Is this a memory problem? I've ran Everest home edition to see if it could be overheating but it's not.. I'm totally lost? Can someone offer any help please?

See if any of these help . 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 ===================================== Print Spooler http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/service411.htm http://snakefoot.fateback.com/tweak/winnt/service/pqr.html Try changing the settings for the printer to print directly to the printer rather than spool jobs. To do this, select the Properties for the printer in question, select the Advanced tab, and then choose "Print directly to the printer." ================================= spoolsv.exe hogging 99% of cpu - the fix http://torque.oncloud8.com/archives/000384.html I came into lab to find the printer printing strange ASCII characters, one line per page, and a basically inoperably slow PC. Checking Task Manager, I found the culprit - one spoolsv.exe at 99% cpu which I killed. About 30 seconds later, the cpu was once again clogged by a revived app. Here's the fix. First, get some breathing room - go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services and stop the Print Spooler. Turn off the printer. Now go to C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS and delete the files there. I found '00020.SHD' and '00020.SPL'. Now turn your printer back on and restart the service. Check task manager, spoolsv.exe should be at 00%. Whew! ====================================== Disable Indexing Services http://www.tweakxp.com/tweakxp/display.asp?id=1335 http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/OptimizeXP.html Indexing services is a small program that hogs HUGE amounts of RAM and can often make a computer endlessly loud and noisy . This system process indexing and updates lists of the files on your system, so you can search for them quickly , but it's completley unnecessary . To disable it , go to the Control Panel and click Add or Remove Programs . Click the Add/Remove Window Components . Simply untick the Indexing services and click Next! ==================================== ================================ 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 , press Enter and disable them. I suggest you visit the following URL for complete info: http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm ================================= 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? http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=030923CO-Right_Click http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=819101 ================================= If you are experiencing "random" slowdowns and "high" CPU usage for no reason . http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=xp+cpu+usage+100%25&btnG=Search http://www.blackviper.com/AskBV/XP14.htm http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/supertweaks.htm

Also this Process Tamer http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/proctamer/index.html

CPU/Ram: 121 MB RAM erm that is kinda low for xp, should be at least 256, just a thought

I would start perfmon on another machine to see what is doing it. Some hard drives don't like the cache setting.

Wow...thanks alot guys for your comments and help. I know that ram is lagging for XP.. but the computer originally came out with Windows ME and it just kept coming up with errors..so I decided to put XP on it. The system is fine until a program opens and then is slow and kind of has to catch up...other than that its a well oiled machine lol. I'm going to try all your suggestions and I'll get back with you and let you know how everything went. Thanks again!

IPSEC services Net Logon NT LM Security Support Provider Protected Storage Ok I went to services and disabled all of those..noticed a DRAMATIC speed change!... IE when I minimized a web browser it actually minimized instead of slowly rolling down the screen.. lol. The printer situation wasn't a problem.. I have no printer. The main hog of cpu usage I find is a process in task manager called "system idle process". Now not really knowing anything about it.. I would think it is signifigant based on it's name.. someone have anymore info on it?? Oh and one more thing the program "process taimer" is a wonder..comp is alot smoother and less noisy I also noticed.. when something was closing or opening I would notice a "criingggn" noise lol..well that is no more.