CPU spikes

[Brad Hill]

Windows XP, SP 1
HP machine, Athlon 2400, 512MB

My computer is tormenting me by being unavailable for about two seconds (or
more) out of every 10 or 15 seconds. The mouse cursor moves during these
intervals, but Web pages do not scroll, the cursor does not change to a
pointing finger when hovering over hyperlinks, and typed words do not appear
on-screen.

Checking my CPU usage in the Task Manager, I see regular usage spikes to 100
percent for no apparent reason. Here is a screen shot of the usage graph--

http://www.bradhill.com/cpuusage.jpg

--taken after a fresh boot, with just two programs running (email and
browser).

Any help gratefully received! Thanks in advance,
Brad

 

[Malke]

Windows XP, SP 1
HP machine, Athlon 2400, 512MB

My computer is tormenting me by being unavailable for about two
seconds (or more) out of every 10 or 15 seconds. The mouse cursor
moves during these intervals, but Web pages do not scroll, the cursor
does not change to a pointing finger when hovering over hyperlinks,
and typed words do not appear on-screen.

Checking my CPU usage in the Task Manager, I see regular usage spikes
to 100 percent for no apparent reason. Here is a screen shot of the
usage graph--

http://www.bradhill.com/cpuusage.jpg

--taken after a fresh boot, with just two programs running (email and
browser).

Is your computer 100% spyware and virus-free? If you think so, how did
you determine this?

If you are sure about the above, try doing a clean boot:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=310353 - How to Perform a
Clean Boot in Windows XP

Malke