Freezing and High CPU Usage

[Guest]

Hello!

I had purchased a computer Christmas 2004 after my older one being out of
date, Everything in this new one was working fine untill as of late.

Lately my computer has been freezing, Yes I have cleaned the insides
multiple times and the fan, however I haven't cleaned the power suply fan,
shall I use compressed air to attempt to clean it?

My computer had started freezing randomly at first for example while I was
playing a game, or while I was just listening to music and browsing websites,
but I've noticed lately is the High CPU usage in task manager, it usually
goes up to 50%+ when I open a program, sometimes it even goes up to 100% and
usually then freezing, This also happens in safe mode.

None of my programs are really taking up that much memory, that is why I'm
confused about what's going on.

I don't really know anything else you would wish to know, so I'll be happy
to answer the questions you have about the problem.

Here are my computer specs:

I have 2 hard disks 200gb each, C Drive I use for Programs and just general
stuff and D Drive I use for games,
1024mb RAM
ATi Radeon X800 Pro 256mb Video Card
Intel Pentium 4 HT Processor 3.4Ghz

 

[EAG1945]

Hello Craig,
I assume you have a sound card and you are not using the onboard sound.
Check the BIOS and make sure the onboard audio is set to "disabled" and not
"auto". If that still doesn't do it, try moving your sound card to the slot
farthest away from the graphics card.
EAG1945

 

[Guest]

Youre fan bearings will make noise and/or quit before thier an issue
with the operating system.Taking into account basic xp utilitys have been
run,and the drivers are up to date,as with xp,you may simply run the file
transfer wizard,save to a cd,then reinstall xp from booting to the xp
cd.After
a year or more the os can become corrupted,more speciffically user accounts
do.Create a new account,see how it runs,but id reinstall.

 

[Malke]

Youre fan bearings will make noise and/or quit before thier an issue
with the operating system.Taking into account basic xp utilitys have
been run,and the drivers are up to date,as with xp,you may simply run
the file transfer wizard,save to a cd,then reinstall xp from booting
to the xp
cd.After
a year or more the os can become corrupted,more speciffically user
accounts do.Create a new account,see how it runs,but id reinstall.

Reinstalling Windows without knowing what is causing the issue is a
waste of time, particularly if it turns out to be hardware-related. The
random quality of the lockups indicates a possible hardware failure.
Craig, if you are sure the computer is 100% virus and malware-free*,
then here are some general hardware troubleshooting steps:

1) Open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing). Obviously
you can't do this with a laptop, but you can hear if the fan is running
and feel if the laptop is getting too hot.

2) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org. Obviously, you
have to get the program from a working machine. You will either
download the precompiled Windows binary to make a bootable floppy or
the .iso to make a bootable cd. If you want to use the latter, you'll
need to have third-party burning software on the machine where you
download the file - XP's built-in burning capability won't do the job.
In either case, boot with the media you made. The test will run
immediately. Let the test run for an hour or two - unless errors are
seen immediately. If you get any errors, replace the RAM.

3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr. Download
the file and make a bootable floppy or cd with it. Boot with the media
and do a thorough test. If the drive has physical errors, replace it.

4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
you have in the system. The adequacy issue doesn't really apply to a
laptop, although of course the power supply can be faulty.

5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com. Sometimes this is useful, and sometimes it isn't.

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of BigStoreUSA).

*If you aren't sure about the virus/malware status of the machine, be
sure:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

Malke