100% CPU Usage After Computer sits idle

[dbj]

I'm using Windows 2000 Pro. Yesterday Norton Antivirus
deleted a couple of infected files and repaired a couple
of others. Repeated scans show no further virus. But now
when my computer sits idle for a while, even with no
programs running, it suddenly shoots to "100% CPU Usage."
That's what Task Manager tells me when I cntrl-alt-delete
to see what's freezing the machine up. The only thing
that gets it going again is a restart.

Something is kicking in while the computer is idle and
gobbling up all my memory. I've searched for a solution
thru Google but found nothing that makes sense to me.
Anybody got a sure-fire solution?

 

[djb]

-----Original Message-----
I'm using Windows 2000 Pro. Yesterday Norton Antivirus
deleted a couple of infected files and repaired a couple
of others. Repeated scans show no further virus. But now
when my computer sits idle for a while, even with no
programs running, it suddenly shoots to "100% CPU Usage."
That's what Task Manager tells me when I cntrl-alt-delete
to see what's freezing the machine up. The only thing
that gets it going again is a restart.

Something is kicking in while the computer is idle and
gobbling up all my memory. I've searched for a solution
thru Google but found nothing that makes sense to me.
Anybody got a sure-fire solution?

By the way, I've upgraded all the way thru SP4 months ago
and have all the latest Microsoft patches installed
already.

 

[Guest]

Do you have latest Norton virus definitions? You may have a virus Norton can not detect under current definitions.

If you have:

1. Check task manager: check processes. try to eliminate all the processes that don't say "This is a critical process"

2. Spyware is sometimes a culprit. google for spybot.

3. Try running an Online Virus Scan. Google for 'Online Virus Scan'

 

[dbj]

-----Original Message-----
Do you have latest Norton virus definitions? You may have

a virus Norton can not detect under current definitions.

If you have:

1. Check task manager: check processes. try to eliminate

all the processes that don't say "This is a critical
process"

2. Spyware is sometimes a culprit. google for spybot.

3. Try running an Online Virus Scan. Google for 'Online Virus Scan'

.
I do have Norton AV w/ all the latest definitions. I've

run Spybot and HijackThis. I ran an online check from
Symantec and it showed 2 infected files. But I was unable
to locate those files myself, and when I run Norton AV
they don't show up. Are you telling me they could still
be embedded? If so, how do I delete them?

Also, can I safely shut down anything showing in TManager
that DOESN'T say "critical process?"

dbj