System Process is causing cpu to spike

[Heather]

The system process causes the cpu to spike to 100% for 10-
15 secods at a time when my users are logged into the
network. The system hangs and my users hang also. I am
running a windows 2000 SP4 network and this particular
server is also running citrix metaframe xp FR2.
I am at a loss. I don't have $245 to give to microsoft
and i don't have $400 to give to citrix. Has anyone else
experienced anything like this after installing SP4?

 

[Greg Stigers]

I have not, but I have seen process consume inordinate amounts of CPU on
older systems. Is this system reasonably performant?

I searched the KB on: Windows 2000 system cpu, and got a couple of
interesting hits:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;218266 and
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;259728. The former
addresses issues retrieving data from the registry, addresses by changing
permissions on a registry key, which is quick and easy to try. The second
recommends a service pack and mentions SP1.

Assuming that your employer places some value on your time at work, you may
quickly spend more than $625 worth of time troubleshooting this. I would
suggest you research reverting to SP3, and evaluating those components of
SP4 that you need. Just researching the difference between SP3 and 4, and
rolling back to SP3, is going to take non-trivial amounts of time. And, as
you apply patches, you will need to monitor performance. Building custom
performance monitoring, and using it, will also take time. Researching such
problems on the web will take time. Any way you look at it, it's time versus
money. What resources do you have to work with? Can you set up a lab system,
and on it perform whatever tests and metrics you deem appropriate?