100% CPU use - one possible solution?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bill
  • Start date Start date
B

Bill

I have been experiencing XP system hangs for varying periods of time
from a couple of minutes to 15 minutes. When I take a look in Task
Manager, the System is using all the CPU. Mem usage is around 220K.
There is no apparent HD or Network activity. After a length of time,
System activity goes back to zero and the PC resumes normal
operation. This happens whether or not I am on line. The mouse
becomes almost impossible to use and the system slows to a vitrual
crawl.

Using Google to try and find a solution, I have seen large numbers of
users having the same problem.

By chance I moved my optical mouse off my desk surface onto an old
mouse pad that I had not used for weeks. The system hangs
dissappeared. It then occurred to me that my desk surface was shiny
oak and had alternating light and dark veins. I have an idea that the
optical mouse was confused with the reflections off the desk and
somehow went into a loop eventually causing all the CPU to be used.

Maybe this is too soon to see if the hangs have completely resolved,
but I have had none since using the pad.

I don't know the theory behind optical mice and I ask any of the gurus
out there to comment on this finding.
 
Never saw that exact problem, but I have noticed that "shiny" surfaces
and mouse pads will cause an optical mouse to be erratic and affect
the precision.

The proof, though, will be in time. If you added the mouse pad and
the system hangs stop completly, and remove the pad and the system
hangs return, you have found the solution to your problem.

Good Luck...

GLCrews,MCP
 
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