CPU Performace Spikes

G

GeoffTKnight

Ok, i apoligize in advance for the book, but i want to make sure i
cover everything as it will be most helpful to know what has been done.
So here it goes: have an HP Omnibook xe4400s laptop that i recieved and
although everything else works with it, when i look at the Task Manager
in the Performance tab, it shows my CPU spiking from about 3% up to
usually 24% constantly. during the peak of 24% it causes my mouse
pointer to stop until it goes to the bottom of the spike which is
usually about every 2-3 seconds. the computer also wont accept any
keystrokes during that time it spikes which is about 1 second. So every
2-3 seconds for a duration of 1 sec. i cant input anything or move the
mouse accuratly. This is a common laptop that we have at my work so i
did some digging and tried another hard drive that we had available
from the same model laptop that did not have the problem. i also,
swapped the RAM using the same process (RAM that works fine on another
Omnibook xe4400s) and also ran a memory test which came back fine. i
had another 'bad' omnibook that i could take the processor out of and
swapped it and it made no difference. i could not test the mobo because
the mobo from the bad laptop had no video output (thats why it was
bad). i also eliminated the DVD drive and floppy. From what i've
eliminated i could only guess the mobo is bad, but would like to find
out if anyone else has seen an issue like this and could shed some
light. here's the kicker: I called HP's tech support and they were
baffled by it but did give me a suggestion that i did not think of.
there's a button on the bottom of the laptop to reset the BIOS to
factory settings. If i hold this down for 15 sec and boot the computer
back up, viola, problem fixed. if i reboot the pc again and do not hold
the button down to reset the BIOS, the problem comes right back. i also
tried flashing the BIOS through windows that i got from HP's website
and it fixed the problem, but as before, as soon as i reboot the
problem comes back. there is also a bootable floppy method which i
tried and that too had the same results. can ANYONE help me out or at
least give me something to try. This is an excellent notebook as it is
a P4 1.8, but to me, its horrible to have to retype your password over
and over just logging into windows because during the spikes it doesnt
register keystrokes, hence, i am missing letters from my password. This
is realy becoming a problem and would love to find a resolution.
ANYONE???? Thanks in advance
 
G

Guest

I had something similar and I admit the problem has not gone away fully, but
it has been reduced dramatically (very occasionally this happens). Does the
fan in the notebook get really load and run at high revs for long periods?
Have you had any instances of the machine shutting itself off or going
incredibly slowly?
By chance when investigating the problem, I looked at the HP site for my
machine (EVO N1020v) and under trouble shooting and maintenance there was an
article about cleaning the dust out of the case every 2/3 months with
compressed air thro' the vents - been a differnet machine since I did it.

As I found this was a cumulative series of issues with the above making the
single biggest improvement, if you use an external mouse and not the built-in
mouse pad, you may find by upgrading to the lastest software for that might
help.
 

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