High CPU usage

[RR Johnson Jr.]

I have a really terrible problem with my PC and I need help. Even my
computer dealer says it's a Vista problem.

I have a clean install of Windows Home Premium. Once I am booted my CPU
usage is 30-40 percent ALL of the time, even with nothing else running! I
did not have any issues with Windows XP. My specs are as follows:

MS-7125 MSI Motherboard latest BIOs
2 sticks of corsair value memory (2 gigs)
850 watt Master Cooler PSU
Athlon 64 939 pin 4600 CPU
Asus 8800 GTS videocard
1 Sony DVD writer
1 LG DVD writer
1 160 Gig SATA hard drive

I have turned off hard drive indexing, I have removed ALL 3rd party programs
from the startup menu in MSCONFIG.

I have tried to install NVIDIA chipset drivers from the NVIDIA site. I have
enabled and disabled cool and quiet in the bios. I have switched to a
standard VGA driver from Microsoft. Despite all of this my CPU usage stays
too high. Here is the kicker; if I reboot, in about one in every three
reboots the system then begins to behave itself and CPU usage stays under 5
percent with nothing on. If I run the task manager and look up processes
(when the PC is misbehaving itself) I see NOTHING using more than a few
percentage points for the CPU. If I open up the resource monitor and look at
the IMAGE and PID I see NOTHING using more than very small amounts of CPU
strength. I have run the Windows Memory diagnostic with the Windows Home
Premium DVD and that is also OK.

I have even disabled my printer and scanner. Same problem. I have replaced
my keyboard and mouse with a Vista approved Microsoft keyboard and mouse.
OK, I have almost given up. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Kerry Brown]

It sounds like a driver problem. Try Process Explorer to see what is using
the CPU time.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/ProcessExplorer.mspx

Driver problems often show up as high CPU time in Interrupts.

 

[RR Johnson Jr.]

Yes, you're right but I suspected that. Interrupts show in process explorer
as between 30-40 percent of usage. The question is which driver is causing
it since I have most everything that is third party shut off in MSCONFIG.

 

[Kerry Brown]

Drivers aren't in msconfig.

In the Search box on the Start menu start typing Performance Information and
Tools. After you type a few letters it will show up in the list above. Open
it. Click on Advanced Tools. There are many tools and reports in here that
may help you pinpoint which driver is causing the problem. It will take some
detective work.

 

[RR Johnson Jr.]

Whatever conflict I had on my MS-7125 has been permanently remedied by MS
Vista or something else. My motherboard failed or MS Vista along with the
hardware conflict caused it to fail. The dealer has replaced the motherboard
for me with a A8R-MVP asus board with an ATI chipset. Everything is working
normally. My dealer told me that it wias probably the hardware conflict with
MS Vista that caused the failure so I had to pay for another motherboard.

regards
Robert