100% CPU usage

[John]

I'm running Windows XP Professional (service pack 1) on a
pentium 4 (3.2 GHz). The Microsoft critical updates have
been installed up to 04/15/2004. After power on, task
manager reports 100% CPU usage. Usually, svchost.exe and
SYSTEM are using the hightest percentage. Memeory usage
is around 100 MB. There is very little (or no disk
activity). There are NO applications running at this
time. The external DSL modem is OFF. There are NO USB
devices attached. If I attempt to launch windows
explorer, it takes 15 to 30 seconds. The machine is about
2 weeks old and came with the OS pre-installed. Similar
conditions on a Windows 2000 OS show 2% to 5% CPU usage.
I've spent the past week attempting to find a utiltiy to
help me troubleshoot the problem (with absolutely NO luck).
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
John

 

[AJ]

The same happened with me on the last critical update. AFter looking for a
solution with no luck, I booted from the CD, performed repair (NOT thru the
repair console) and all is okay. Good luck,
-aj-