CPU usage climbing to 100% on new, dual core machine

[Guest]

I just purchased a new, state of the art computer, with an Intel DP965LT
motherboard, Intel Core 2 CPU 6700 (2.66 GHz) and 4GB of RAM. This machine
was custom built to run Cakewalk Sonar by a company that specializes in it.
Sonar shows CPU usage on the status bar. Files that normally use from 3-6% of
the CPU, suddenly spike to 100% without warning fairly frequently. The rest
of the time, they're fine. I can be working for hours without a problem then,
the same file will start to spike. (I am autosaving every 5 minutes.) If I
run Task Manager, I am never seeing memory usage at more than 1 GB.

The same behavior occurs REGARDLESS of the application I am running. If I am
running Internet Explorer, it happens there. If I am trying to install a
program from a CD-ROM, it happens then. If I am copying a file in Windows
Explorer, this is the application that will grind to a halt and lock up.

- Task Manager & Process Explorer show no suspicious services. (I am pasting
my Process Explorer log pasted at the end of this message.)

- Whatever application I am working is the one that shows the spike in CPU
usage. (If I am running Sonar, Sonar shows very high CPU usage and the
remaining entries show zero or single digit figures. If I am running Internet
Explorer, then Internet Explorer is the one that has a high figure for CPU
usage, etc.)

- I have scoured this system with two antivirus programs and three
antispyware applications. I have found no viruses, spyware, malware, etc. I
had my HiJack This log analyzed and there is nothing suspcious.

- Though I never allowed more than one resident antivirus screener and one
real time antispyware app, I took this pc off line and uninstalled all
protection, on the theory that a resident program might be hogging resources.
This had absolutely not effect. I am now back to one antivirus program (with
real time screener) and no antispyware apps in memory (except that I have
"immunized" the system with Spybot S&D).

Any ideas about why the newest and most expenisve pc I own is periodically
grind to a state that is slower than my oldest machine? This is happening so
frequently that it is impossible to get any real work done.

 

[Guest]

Process Explorer log:

Process PID CPU Description Company Name
System Idle Process 0 98.44
Interrupts n/a Hardware Interrupts
DPCs n/a Deferred Procedure Calls
System 4
smss.exe 656 Windows NT Session Manager Microsoft Corporation
csrss.exe 704 Client Server Runtime Process Microsoft Corporation
winlogon.exe 728 Windows NT Logon Application Microsoft Corporation
services.exe 772 Services and Controller app Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 984 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft
Corporation
svchost.exe 1068 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft
Corporation
svchost.exe 1264 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft
Corporation
wscntfy.exe 2344 Windows Security Center Notification App Microsoft
Corporation
svchost.exe 1288 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft
Corporation
svchost.exe 1404 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft
Corporation
ATKKBService.exe 196 ASUS Keyboard Service ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
avgamsvr.exe 220 AVG Alert Manager GRISOFT, s.r.o.
avgupsvc.exe 248 AVG Update Service GRISOFT, s.r.o.
LSSrvc.exe 332 Hewlett-Packard Company
nvsvc32.exe 404 NVIDIA Driver Helper Service, Version 81.98 NVIDIA
Corporation
retrorun.exe 524 Retrospect Dantz Development Corporation
Tablet.exe 676 WacomService Wacom Technology, Corp.
alg.exe 1740 Application Layer Gateway Service Microsoft Corporation
lsass.exe 784 LSA Shell (Export Version) Microsoft Corporation
explorer.exe 1544 Windows Explorer Microsoft Corporation
rundll32.exe 1860 Run a DLL as an App Microsoft Corporation
shwicon2k.exe 1888 Sunkist Alcor Micro, Corp.
OneTouch.exe 1916 Maxtor OneTouch Detection Maxtor
MXOALDR.EXE 1936 Maxtor MXO Auto Loader Application Cypress Semiconductor
msssort.exe 2012 msssort Maxtor
avgcc.exe 140 AVG Control Center GRISOFT, s.r.o.
ctfmon.exe 184 CTF Loader Microsoft Corporation
TabUserW.exe 496 TABUSERW Wacom Technology, Corp.
procexp.exe 2944 1.56 Sysinternals Process Explorer Sysinternals

 

[Guest]

More info:

I have two other computers running XP Professional as well. (All are updated
to SP2 and all the critical updates and hotfixes as of this writing.) The
other two are a PIV and an AMD notebook computer. They have NEVER had an
issue like the one that I am seeing on the new machine (which has the dual
core intel processor).

I don't use McAffee or Symantec software. I develop databases and I know so
many clients who have had nightmares with products by both companies that I
will not have them on my machines.

I'm a little disturbed by some of the posts that I am seeing in response to
users who have had similar problems. Just saying you don't see it on your
machine isn't much help to these people. I have two computers with
essentially the same computing environment, but some different applications.
So, just replicating the environment (control pannel settings, av and
antispyware programs, software options) etc. isn't going to resolve it. The
problem comes and goes. So, you could change something or remove software
that you might otherwise like to have and think you've resolved the issue --
only to have it crop up again.

In my case, I have seen whatever app I happen to be using spike at nearly
100% CPU usage. If I happen to be copying a file in Explorer, I am certainly
not going to delete it to make the problem go away -- no matter how much of
the CPU time it is hogging.

I think we need someone from MS and Intel, who really know what they are
doing, to take a serious look at this problem and come up with a fix. I, for
one, am not buying any more dual core processors -- and I am warning my
clients against using them. I didn't pay top dollar for the newest technology
to have it run slower and with less stability than a pc that I bought 3 years
ago.

 

[Guest]

MORE:

I was sent an MS patch from the computer manufacturer:
WinXPDualCoreHotfix.exe. Installing it did not resolve the problem. If
anything, it has made it worse. Now, just loading an application (even
opening Control Panel or Explorer) can cause it to use nearly 100% of the CPU
for as long as 10 minutes at a time.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Allegro

I don't have a quick solution for your problem, but I believe the issue is described, in detail, in the following article. This article explains how to obtain the hotfix for the problem, free of charge. It appears that there was an update for this hotfix from version 3 to version 3.1 sometime in June '06. You might want to check and make sure that the version you installed is the latest. The article has details on the system files that are updated and what versions they should be after the update.

This hotfix does fix the issues with XP, however, there can still be problems with other programs that are not compliant with the dual core standards. These programs (especially if they are the type that run in the background) can cause system wide issues such as you are experiencing. If you Google for "dual core problems" you will see a couple of thousand pages full of people who are experiencing the same type of issues.

Computers that are running Windows XP Service Pack 2 and that are equipped with multiple processors that support processor power management features may experience decreased performance:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=896256

Sorry I could not be of more help. Let us know what you find.

 

[Guest]

Thank you. I have obtained the latest version from MS. The company that made
the computer is closed now, so I have no idea which version of the patch they
gave me earlier. I have installed the new patch and I will test it tonight.
Sometimes I can work on my system for a couple of hours without a problem.
Other times (like yesterday) I can spend the whole day and not be able to do
anything.

The only applications that I am using on this machine are Cakewalk Sonar and
Sony Vegas, both of which are designed for dual core (or two) processors. But
it is important to note that parts of Windows XP Pro itself are having the
same problems. On start up, as each Windows service loads, if it is in its
CPU hogging state, each one of them can take ten minutes to load. If I open
task manager, I can see that nearly 100% of both cores are being used to just
to open each service in turn. If I start Sonar after that, the CPU meter is
pegged into the red zone (over 75% usage) an everything locks up.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Allegro

I see. The randomness of the problem just makes it that much harder to pin down.

Here are a couple of standard troubleshooting steps that you can perform.

Check the Event Viewer for possible information. Go to start/Run and type eventvwr and press OK. Click the Application menu item on the left and look for any "X" error messages that coincide with the time that you last saw this behavior. If any are found, double click the error entry to see the details, click the Copy Icon on the right side of the details dialog screen (looks like 2 pages of text) and paste the error details in a reply to this message. You only need to post the text starting with Event Type: and ending with the Description:. You can omit the Data section.

ie:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: <source>
Event Category: <category>
Event ID: <ID #>
Date: <date>
Time: <time>
User: <user name>
Computer: <computer name>
Description:
Application <program>, <version>, <address>

Next,
Go to Start/Run and type msinfo32 and press OK. Click Components/Problem Devices to check for possible hardware device problems. If anything is visible in this window, copy the information. (Press CTRL+A to select all, then CTRL+C to copy, paste the results in a reply here).

 

[Guest]

Way ahead of you. No problem devices listed. It never leaves a log entry or a
minidump when it fails. It doesn't crash it just devotes 100% of the CPU to
whatever task it happens to be doing at the time. It happens more frequently
immediately after booting Windows. It often happens as Windows itself is
loading. As each individual service is started, each one takes close to 100%
of the CPU cycles. Everything else grinds to a halt and I have to wait (up to
10 minutes for each service to load.) Two days ago, I spent an entire day
just trying to start Windows.

This computer was designed and built two run two applications (Cakewalk
Sonar and Sony Vegas) which support dual processors or a dual core processor.
But the CPU usage anomoly effects whatever app I am using. For example, when
I ran msinfo32 nothing happened for about 10 minutes. I opened Task Manager
and saw that 99% of my cpu was being used. When I looked at the Processes and
sorted by "CPU" it pretty much stayed pinned on the service on which this app
relies, occassionally momentarily flickering back to system idle, but
rappidly grabbing up all available cycles as soon as they were freed.

I installed the patch you mentioned (251321_ENU_i386_zip.exe) but, like the
other two, it has had absolutely no effect on resolving this problem. The
computer maker says that every machine they are shipping is identical
hardware-wise and they are setting them up exactly the same way. I actually
sent them my license keys and they installed and tested the software, too.
They say that they have had several machines that have done this, but they
literally have no idea why some of them are failing and they don't know what
to do to resolve this problem. MS is not responding to their inquiries about
it.

Not to get on your case about this, but if MS has certified this hardware
for Windows XP Pro and there are thousands of unexplained and un-understood
failures, then your company's certification is worthless and ought not to be
believed in the future. I am in the process of upgrading all my machine to
dual core processors. I upgraded one Mac without problems. This is the first
PC with an intel Core Duo chip. The upgrades will end here if I can't get
this to work. No more pc sales for MS partners. No more copies of Windows.
And I tell all my clients not to buy new machines (except Macs) until further
notice. It's hard to see how your company's failure to resolve this problem
benefits anyone. You ought to be finding out everything you can from computer
makers to determine what is causing the problem and coming up with whatever
patch Windows need to make it work. It is absurd to spend over $3k on a new
machine with a dual core processor and 4GB of RAM and have it run slower than
DOS on a 286 -- and with much less stability.

 

[Guest]

In reading the documentation for this hotfix, it seems to be intended for
laptops, to address a battery use issue -- rather than for desktops. such as
mine, where the issue is that Windows is using all CPU cycles for tasks that
typically take 2-3% of the CPU in normal usage on this system. I can sit here
at another computer (with a single core chip and 1/4 the RAM) and compare the
cycles used and I never see it spike like this on the other machine.

 

[Guest]

I am not getting any assistance from MS on this. I have asked that they
develop a new hot fix that actually solves the problem that I (and apparently
many other users are seeing). Apparently the people who answer the phone are
not allowed to do anything but send you existing hot fixes. There doesn't
appear to be any system to evaluate and remedy reports that a hot fix doesn't
resolve the problem. No wonder that we are still having problems with dual
core processors so long after they came on the market. If you ignor user
feedback the problems never get solved.