cpu usage 100% then 20% every second

[bill]

cpu usage is varying from 20% to 100% every second.
process doing it is SYSTEM - the one above SYSTEM IDLE PROCESS.

what is happening?

 

[Malke]

cpu usage is varying from 20% to 100% every second.
process doing it is SYSTEM - the one above SYSTEM IDLE PROCESS.

what is happening?

"Idle" means the computer is doing nothing so the System Idle Process is
not the reason your computer is slow. Perhaps that's not what you
meant; your post is quite difficult to follow.

You haven't provided us any information with which to give you focused
troubleshooting. Please see this link for what you need to include in a
newsgroup post:

http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

In the meantime:

The First Question Of Troubleshooting: what changed between the time
things worked and the time they didn't?

The Second Question of Windows Troubleshooting: what is the
malware/virus status of the machine? If you think it is clean, what
programs (and versions) did you use to determine this?

Be sure the computer is clean:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

Malke

 

[JS]

You need to find the specific system process that's taking all (there are
lot of sub-processes tied to the 'System' process) 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 and expand the 'System' process and identify the sub-process
that's using most or all the CPU %.
Click on and Highlight the sub-process of interest, 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, System process 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.

Another tool to look at is named: What's Running
http://www.whatsrunning.net/whatsrunning/main.aspx

JS

 

[bill]

THANKS - That is exactly what I was looking for.
I thought I had something like it but I couldn't find it.
Unfortuneately, I ran Spysweeper and it found three spybots and
eliminated them so I can't tell what it was exactly. But it was one or
all of them.

 

[bill]

I SPOKE TOOOO SOON!
I rebooted and it is back.
On the first graph (process explorer) cpu usage goes from ~2% to 100%
and back in 3 seconds in a sine wave.

I don't see any processes that I don't recognize and none of them go
above about 2%.
When the SYSTEM process goes to 100, I don't see a corresponding
increase in all the other prosesses combined.

????????????

 

[R. McCarty]

Might be worth running the latest RootKit Revealer:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/RootkitRevealer.mspx

 

[Rock]

I SPOKE TOOOO SOON!
I rebooted and it is back.
On the first graph (process explorer) cpu usage goes from ~2% to 100%
and back in 3 seconds in a sine wave.

I don't see any processes that I don't recognize and none of them go
above about 2%.
When the SYSTEM process goes to 100, I don't see a corresponding
increase in all the other prosesses combined.

Sounds like your system is still infected. One anti-malware program can't
catch everything.

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

 

[Phisherman]

Turn off file indexing. That will bog down many machines.

 

[bill]

OK!!!!!!!!!!!!
I FOUND IT!

I looked at the THREADS with PROCESS EXPLORER and saw

"ntoskrnl.exe!ExQueueWorkItem+0x2f" was the thread using the time.

I googled "ntoskrnl.exe!ExQueueWorkItem" and found a thread talking
about an unused LPT1 port that someone else deleted.

Since I had just removed an inoperative printer, I decided to remove
its drivers.
IN THE PROCESS - it said that I had print jobs waiting that had to be
cancelled first!-------->>>> That is what it was!!!!
Windooos was trying to print those jobs and wouldn't tell me it was
having a problem.

THANKS

 

[Bob I]

Good job, thanks for posting back the discovery!

OK!!!!!!!!!!!!
I FOUND IT!

I looked at the THREADS with PROCESS EXPLORER and saw

"ntoskrnl.exe!ExQueueWorkItem+0x2f" was the thread using the time.

I googled "ntoskrnl.exe!ExQueueWorkItem" and found a thread talking
about an unused LPT1 port that someone else deleted.

Since I had just removed an inoperative printer, I decided to remove
its drivers.
IN THE PROCESS - it said that I had print jobs waiting that had to be
cancelled first!-------->>>> That is what it was!!!!
Windooos was trying to print those jobs and wouldn't tell me it was
having a problem.

THANKS

 

[Rock]

OK!!!!!!!!!!!!
I FOUND IT!

I looked at the THREADS with PROCESS EXPLORER and saw

"ntoskrnl.exe!ExQueueWorkItem+0x2f" was the thread using the time.

I googled "ntoskrnl.exe!ExQueueWorkItem" and found a thread talking
about an unused LPT1 port that someone else deleted.

Since I had just removed an inoperative printer, I decided to remove
its drivers.
IN THE PROCESS - it said that I had print jobs waiting that had to be
cancelled first!-------->>>> That is what it was!!!!
Windooos was trying to print those jobs and wouldn't tell me it was
having a problem.

THANKS

Nice detective work Bill.