CPU going to 100% Suspect network driver from windows update

[Peter Nolan]

Hi All,
I hope someone can help or point me to the correct place....

I have seen 4 other people with exactly the same symptoms as
me....some with extremely closely managed PCs in that the software
placed on the PCs is closely controlled by admins.

About 4-6 weeks ago I started to have infrequent occurrences where the
CPU usage goes to 100% and stays there and the machine needs to be
rebooted.

From observing when exactly this happens I suspect some kind of

network driver problem. The problem always starts when something is
actively retrieving someone from the internet...not just retrieving
something from the network. For example the CPU usage might shoot up
to 100% when I fetch email.....it might shoot up to 100% when I read a
web page........it does not happen all the time.....about 3-4 times a
day which leaves me rebooting 3-4 times a day....I have noticed if i
run my internet explorer with add-ons turned off that I can sometimes
get the laptop to run for 4-5 hours without crashing like this........

I have seen this problem on a PC with IE 6 as well as mine on IE 7.

When the machine is rebooted one by one processes will leap up to 100%
usage and then the box will pop up to say end process and I end the
processes.....usually there are 20-30 processes to kill this way
before the PC will boot....and all the processes I have to kill look
like processes that talk to the network.....ones that don't talk to
the network do not seem to need to be killed.

Most of the other people I have seen this happen to have had to
completely reebuild their PCs from scratch to get rid of the
problem...which would seem to me to be a bit mutch.

One friend said 'I deleted and reinstalled sometihng to do with
network drivers and that seemed to ease the problems....' but she
could not remember exactly what she did.

I cannot imagine there are only 5 of us out here who have seen this
happen over the last 4 weeks or so.....my guess is that there was an
update with a piece of bad code in it and my laptop is not
reinstalling or fixing that piece of code...

I am running
Dell 8600
2Ghz Pentium M
1GB memory
100GB HDD
Windows XP Pro SP 2 with all mandatory patches.

I have scanned for spyware, viruses, you name it....found nothing...I
am certain that at least one of the laptops that I have seen this on
would be extremely unlikely to have become infected with any virus/
shareware as it is locked down so tight....

I take very good care of changes I apply and software I install and
the only thing I put onto the machine before this started was the IE 7
upgrade and the normal windows updates....


Has anyone else seen this? Can anyone provide a pointer?

Thanks in Advance for any assistance you can point me to...

Peter
www.peternolan.com

 

[Curt Christianson]

Hi Peter,

That sounds really frustrating.
My first instinct was to advise checking for malware, but you say you have.
If there is a question whether you did that thoroughly enough, please see
here for excellent advice:

Malware Removal
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

THE PARASITE FIGHT
Finding, Removing & Protecting Yourself From Scumware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm

Richard Harper's Guide to Cleaning Pests
http://rgharper.mvps.org/cleanit.htm

My second thought is rolling back to IE6, but that might be a little
drastic. *If* IE7 could be the problem, you might want to post in their
newsgroup for help: microsoft.public.internetexplorer.general

Sorry I can't offer more, but perhaps one of the experts here might stop by.

--
HTH,
Curt

Windows Support Center
http://aumha.org/

 

[JS]

You need to find the specific process or processes that's taking all
the CPU resources and slowing down your PC.

To do this try Process Explorer:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/SystemInformation/ProcessExplorer.mspx

Once you have Process Explorer installed and running:
In the taskbar select View and check 'Show Process Tree' and 'Show Lower
Pane' options.
(This will provide the detailed info you need)
Next click on the CPU column to sort processes by %CPU usage.
Then click on the process that's using most or all the CPU %,
once it's highlighted, right click and from the options listed select:
google
This should display what out there on the web about that process.

Note: some entries like Explorer and svchost may need to be expanded to show
the detail,
(sub processes), in this case click on the + located to the left on the
entry.

Still another tool is What's Running
http://www.whatsrunning.net/whatsrunning/main.aspx

JS

 

[PA Bear]

Try deleting the contents of this folder (or the folder itself) & reboot:

C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore

If no joy, try deleting the contents of this folder (or the folder itself) &
reboot:

C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution
===============
Hotfix: When you run Windows Update to scan for updates that use Windows
Installer, including Office updates, CPU utilization may reach 100 percent
for prolonged periods (Prerequisite: msi.exe v3.1.4000.2435)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916089

Hotfix: The Automatic Updates service may stop responding (msi.exe
v3.1.4000.2648)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/914810/en-us

Hotfix: You receive an access violation when you try to install an update
from Windows Update after you apply hotfix package 916089 (WinXP: msi.exe
v3.1.4000.4003) (24 Jan-07)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927891
--
Windows Update-specific newsgroup:
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windowsupdate (where this
problem has been under discussion for eons)

~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)

 

[Curt Christianson]

Hi Bear,

What are these folders used for? I take it they are not needed for an
extended period?

--
TIA,
Curt

Windows Support Center
http://aumha.org/

 

[PA Bear]

They're kinda/sorta the place where all sorts of stuff are downloaded to
prior to installation. (C:\WUTemp is sorta obsolete but "If it ain't broke,
don't fix it." Ditto for the folders I mentioned in my first reply.)

 

[Curt Christianson]

Thank you, that's what I needed to know.

--
HTH,
Curt

Windows Support Center
http://aumha.org/

 

[Peter Nolan]

Hi All,
thanks very much, I will give these a go tonight and see if I can make
it work....

I have seen exactly the same problem start occuring within a few days
of mine on exactly the same model laptop where no IE7 update was done
so I would rule out IE 7 as the culprit....

Thanks

Peter
www.peternolan.com

 

[Peter Nolan]

Hi All,
just to let you know....all efforts to date have failed....I have
disables add ons in IE7 and I have stopped as many things as possible
from connecting to the web......reinstalled drivers for ethernet and
wireless....has my tech support guys go over 'whats running' etc. etc.
etc.....no luck..

I have heard of more colleagues having this problem and each time the
tech support person goes with 'rebuilt the operating system from
scratch' as the answer......sigh......

If anyone has any more suggestions I am very willing to try
anything....I will probably have to 'bite the bullet' and do a
reinstall......there goes my easter!!...I am also trying to be re-
united with a backup of my OS I took before Christmas.......but it's
1500 kms away.....

Best Regards

Peter

 

[JS]

Un-install IE7 and go back to IE6.

JS

Hi All,
just to let you know....all efforts to date have failed....I have
disables add ons in IE7 and I have stopped as many things as possible
from connecting to the web......reinstalled drivers for ethernet and
wireless....has my tech support guys go over 'whats running' etc. etc.
etc.....no luck..

I have heard of more colleagues having this problem and each time the
tech support person goes with 'rebuilt the operating system from
scratch' as the answer......sigh......

If anyone has any more suggestions I am very willing to try
anything....I will probably have to 'bite the bullet' and do a
reinstall......there goes my easter!!...I am also trying to be re-
united with a backup of my OS I took before Christmas.......but it's
1500 kms away.....

Best Regards

Peter

 

[Peter Nolan]

Un-install IE7 and go back to IE6.

JS









- Show quoted text -

Hi JS,
just FYI....tried this and not luck there either...sigh...

Thanks for the tip though....I was hopeful it would work.

Best Regards
Peter
www.peternolan.com