Hardware Interrupts using 30% of CPU

[elallen60]

Hello:

I'm running XP with SP3 installed.

Machine is running sluggish (not sure when it started ... before or after
SP3 install).

Sorted tasks in task manager by CPU usage. System Idle process shows 99%.
CPU usage at bottom shows 25% - 35% but no task is identified as using any.

Ran Process Explorer. It showed that 'Hardware Interrupts' are using 25% -
35%.

I checked device manager and no problems identified.

Can anyone help me?

Thanks
Ed

 

[Alec S.]

Sorted tasks in task manager by CPU usage. System Idle process shows 99%.
CPU usage at bottom shows 25% - 35% but no task is identified as using any.

Ran Process Explorer. It showed that 'Hardware Interrupts' are using 25% -
35%.

I checked device manager and no problems identified.

That’s going to be a hardware/driver issue. Check Device Manager to see if
anything’s reporting a problem. Also check the Event Viewer to see if there are
any warnings or errors.

 

[elallen60]

Thanks Alex. I had peviously checked Device Manager and there are no problems
- everything working properly.

I checked the event viewer. Under applications there were a few warnings for
USERENV and Microsoft FAX. Under SYSTEM there were some errors for DCDM and
Service Control Manager and warnings for TCPIP and W32 time. I don't know how
serious any of the warnings and errors are.

However, all warnings and errors occurred after I installed SP3. At this
point I'm stumped and am going to uninstall SP# and see what happens.

Thanks again.
Ed

At this point I

 

[elallen60]

Alex:

This is an update on the problem and solution.

I found the following in a Google search: http://winhlp.com/node/10. It
talks about drives going into PIO mode for a numberof different reasons - all
related to problems.

I checked my primary IDE controller and found that my second hard drive was
running PIO although it was set to run PIO when DMA when available.

I ran the VB script in the above link, whcih tweaks the registry and tries
to get rid of PIO. It detected and changed the setting for my second hard
drive. When I rebooted the 30% CPU using on interrupts was back.

I shut down, removed the questionable hard drive, and rebooted. CPU usage
was back to normal and nothing was being wasted on interrupt handling. This
pretty much pinned the problem to the hard drive.

I checked jumper settings (OK), reinstalled the drive and rebooted. CPU
usage was normal and nothing wasted on interrupt handling.

Just for the heck of it I checked device manager to see how the drive was
running. Much to my surprise it was still in PIO mode ... but the high CPU
usage for interrupt handling was gone.

Apparently removing the drive, booting without it, reinstalling the drive
and rebooting fixed the probem!!

You were right in that it was a hardware issue. It just wasn't obvious in
device manger because everything seemed to be running properly.

I'm smiling again because my machine is humming like it used to!!!!

Thanks again for your help.
Ed

 

[elallen60]

P.S.

Microsoft has a great tool for identifying tasks that don't show up in task
manager.

It's called Process Explorer which you can run online or download free here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

 

[hub cap]

I was having the same problem but the Hardware Interrupts was using 54% most
of the time. I download the .vbs file from winhlp.com/node/10 and ran the
script. I saw no indication that the file was executing, but I rebooted
anyway with the expected results. The System Idle Process is 95% with the CPU
at 5%, so the fix worked. The problem seems to have been with my 2nd WD HD
which I use as backup. Thanks elallen60 for find the file. My computer is now
running fast as before. WinXP Pro SP3.
Fred

 

[elallen60]

Final Solution. Problem came back a day later after I thought it was fixed.
Finally disabled every non-essential device thru device manager and problem
went away. Then enabled devices one at a time. Discovered parallel card was
causing the problem. Bought another one and no more problem.