100% CPU usage when using Excel

[Guest]

I'm not sure if this is an OS problem, or an Office problem, so please excuse
this if it's in the wrong group. I'm having a problem with Office 2003,
specifically Excel, on an XP SP2 machine that I've never seen, and can find
very little info on.

When Excel is open, the csrss.exe and spoolsv.exe processes both go into
very high use totaling 100% CPU usage between the two. This causes the
typical jerkiness, slow performance, lagging, etc. that you'd expect from
something maxing out the CPU. Excel doesn't even have to be the active
application, it just has to be displayed on the screen for the problem to
show itself. If left idle long enough the CPU cycles will drop down, but
come back up as soon as another windows is dragged in front of Excel, or any
work in Excel is done. If the program is minimized, the problem goes away.

I found something online mentioning the possibility of a corrupt user
profile. I deleted the user's profile, and created her a new one. This
fixed the problem for a couple of days, and then came back. I then tried
doing a complete uninstall and reinstall of Office 2003. This again fixed
the problem for a couple of days, and then came back.

When logging on with my account, which has administrative privileges to the
machine, this does not happen. Everything else on the machine appears to be
functioning properly, and there don't appear to be any unexpected/unusual
processing running. We've got a good number of other PCs with the same
Office and OS versions, all at the same patch levels, and they are fine.

Has anyone experienced this? I'm out of ideas. I'm open to any suggestions
on how to fix this or what to try next to determine what the cause might be.

Thanks.

 

[Ron Martell]

I'm not sure if this is an OS problem, or an Office problem, so please excuse
this if it's in the wrong group. I'm having a problem with Office 2003,
specifically Excel, on an XP SP2 machine that I've never seen, and can find
very little info on.

When Excel is open, the csrss.exe and spoolsv.exe processes both go into
very high use totaling 100% CPU usage between the two. This causes the
typical jerkiness, slow performance, lagging, etc. that you'd expect from
something maxing out the CPU. Excel doesn't even have to be the active
application, it just has to be displayed on the screen for the problem to
show itself. If left idle long enough the CPU cycles will drop down, but
come back up as soon as another windows is dragged in front of Excel, or any
work in Excel is done. If the program is minimized, the problem goes away.

I found something online mentioning the possibility of a corrupt user
profile. I deleted the user's profile, and created her a new one. This
fixed the problem for a couple of days, and then came back. I then tried
doing a complete uninstall and reinstall of Office 2003. This again fixed
the problem for a couple of days, and then came back.

When logging on with my account, which has administrative privileges to the
machine, this does not happen. Everything else on the machine appears to be
functioning properly, and there don't appear to be any unexpected/unusual
processing running. We've got a good number of other PCs with the same
Office and OS versions, all at the same patch levels, and they are fine.

Has anyone experienced this? I'm out of ideas. I'm open to any suggestions
on how to fix this or what to try next to determine what the cause might be.

Thanks.

Open Task Manager and go to the Processes tab. Click twice on the CPU
column header to sort the list into descending order based on CPU
usage.

Then try something in Excel and see which processes are using the most
CPU time. That should be a clue as to the underlying cause of the
problem.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Guest]

I've already done this. That's how I know these two processes are using 100%
CPU usage. They both bounce around quite a bit, but csrss seems to use a bit
more than spoolsv most of the time, but not always. I'm still no closer to
fixing this.

 

[Ron Martell]

I've already done this. That's how I know these two processes are using 100%
CPU usage. They both bounce around quite a bit, but csrss seems to use a bit
more than spoolsv most of the time, but not always. I'm still no closer to
fixing this.

I found one reference to a similar problem involving the Logitech
Setpoint 2.6 mouse software. Any possible connection there?

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Guest]

Maybe. I'll have to check Monday morning when I get in. The user has a USB
trackball. I don't recall the make offhand, or if there was any software
installed for it.

 

[Guest]

I just checked it out. It's using the default Microsoft drivers. No
Logitech, or other vendor specific software/drivers.