High CPU usage...

[Roy Smith]

I have a 8 year-old PC that has developed a strange problem. When it
first starts up it runs just fine, then after 5-10 minutes a process
called SYSTEM starts up and uses anywhere from 75%-95% of the CPU and
makes using the PC unbearably slow. Right now it's in the process of
applying 2 updates that are less than 5 Mb, and it's been working on
them for the last hour.

This isn't my usual PC for daily use, it's the one my children use. So
exactly what all they have done with is is something I really don't
know. Here are the specifics about the system

HP Pavilion 761c
1.9 Ghz Pentium CPU
2 Gb ram
Windows XP Pro SP3


SO any suggestions as to where to start looking?

 

[Rey Santos]

The Case of the System Process CPU Spikes
http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2008/04/07/3031251.aspx

Process Explorer download:
Windows Sysinternals
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx
The first item on Top 10 Downloads (right pane).

 

[Roy Smith]

The Case of the System Process CPU Spikes
http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2008/04/07/3031251.aspx

Process Explorer download:
Windows Sysinternals
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx
The first item on Top 10 Downloads (right pane).

Thanks Rey, that was just what I needed. Discovered that just like in
the article you referred me to I also had a problem with the network
adapter on that PC. A quick visit to Belkin's website to get a updated
driver cured the problem. At least I hope so as it's bee 2 hours since
updating the driver and the problem hasn't come up yet.