Near 100% CPU Usage

[Paul Calcagno]

My wife's got a Dell laptop running XP SP3 with 1.2 GB of RAM and 15 GB free
space left on the hard drive. In the past week or so, the computer started
running really slowly, especially when trying to open new programs. I'm
talking minutes to open routine apps like WLM, Word, Add/Remove pgms, etc.

A quick check with Task Manager shows about 500 MB of free memory available,
but on the Performance tab it shows nearly 100% CPU usage, with occasionally
downwards spikes to a few tens of %. Memory caching seems be low at around
50 MB but frankly, I'm not sure what that means.

I'm running CA (Road Runner) Security suite, plus Super
Antispyware-Professional, plus CCleaner , plus Ad-Aware 2009 all of which I
run about once a week. I used to also have Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware, but I
had to un-install it when the computer slowed down because I was waiting at
least 10 minutes for it to open and then it wouldn't open at all. In my
most recent run of all the A/V programs I only see a few instances of
tracking cookies showing up which I've either deleted or quarantined.

I've never used a Registry cleaner on this machine as I know they can cause
more damage than good. The Internet browsing with Firefox is just fine in
terms of speed. And I routinely delete my Temporary Internet files and
cookies even though we never use IE.

Other strange behavior includes intermittent requests for a password when
opening WLM. Normally WLM shows itself signing in to Windows Live, but even
with that sometimes a password window pops up (with saved User ID and save
PW) and all I have to do is click ok and WLM opens just fine. The computer
acts as if there's a resource problem.

Can someone advise if such high CPU usage is normal, or if not, what would
be causing that much CPU %. Seems like either something's running the back
ground or I've got a virus that my scanners are not catching.

Last, there was an apparent CPU cooling issue about a month ago as the CPU
shut down a few times. Turns out the fan was very dirty so it was cleaned.
Then I made something to prop up the laptop to get more air underneath it.
Was the CPU actually damaged from this overheating and that's why it's
running slow?

Any help would be greatly appreciated............................Paul C.

 

[Lem]

My wife's got a Dell laptop running XP SP3 with 1.2 GB of RAM and 15 GB
free space left on the hard drive. In the past week or so, the
computer started running really slowly, especially when trying to open
new programs. I'm talking minutes to open routine apps like WLM, Word,
Add/Remove pgms, etc.

A quick check with Task Manager shows about 500 MB of free memory
available, but on the Performance tab it shows nearly 100% CPU usage,
with occasionally downwards spikes to a few tens of %. Memory caching
seems be low at around 50 MB but frankly, I'm not sure what that means.

I'm running CA (Road Runner) Security suite, plus Super
Antispyware-Professional, plus CCleaner , plus Ad-Aware 2009 all of
which I run about once a week. I used to also have
Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware, but I had to un-install it when the computer
slowed down because I was waiting at least 10 minutes for it to open and
then it wouldn't open at all. In my most recent run of all the A/V
programs I only see a few instances of tracking cookies showing up which
I've either deleted or quarantined.

I've never used a Registry cleaner on this machine as I know they can
cause more damage than good. The Internet browsing with Firefox is just
fine in terms of speed. And I routinely delete my Temporary Internet
files and cookies even though we never use IE.

Other strange behavior includes intermittent requests for a password
when opening WLM. Normally WLM shows itself signing in to Windows Live,
but even with that sometimes a password window pops up (with saved User
ID and save PW) and all I have to do is click ok and WLM opens just
fine. The computer acts as if there's a resource problem.

Can someone advise if such high CPU usage is normal, or if not, what
would be causing that much CPU %. Seems like either something's running
the back ground or I've got a virus that my scanners are not catching.

Last, there was an apparent CPU cooling issue about a month ago as the
CPU shut down a few times. Turns out the fan was very dirty so it was
cleaned. Then I made something to prop up the laptop to get more air
underneath it. Was the CPU actually damaged from this overheating and
that's why it's running slow?

Any help would be greatly appreciated............................Paul C.

Did you read any of the 7 responses to your original post?

 

[Daave]

My wife's got a Dell laptop running XP SP3 with 1.2 GB of RAM and 15
GB free space left on the hard drive. In the past week or so, the
computer started running really slowly, especially when trying to
open new programs. I'm talking minutes to open routine apps like WLM,
Word, Add/Remove pgms, etc.
A quick check with Task Manager shows about 500 MB of free memory
available, but on the Performance tab it shows nearly 100% CPU usage,
with occasionally downwards spikes to a few tens of %. Memory
caching seems be low at around 50 MB but frankly, I'm not sure what
that means.
I'm running CA (Road Runner) Security suite, plus Super
Antispyware-Professional, plus CCleaner , plus Ad-Aware 2009 all of
which I run about once a week. I used to also have
Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware, but I had to un-install it when the
computer slowed down because I was waiting at least 10 minutes for it
to open and then it wouldn't open at all. In my most recent run of
all the A/V programs I only see a few instances of tracking cookies
showing up which I've either deleted or quarantined.
I've never used a Registry cleaner on this machine as I know they can
cause more damage than good. The Internet browsing with Firefox is
just fine in terms of speed. And I routinely delete my Temporary
Internet files and cookies even though we never use IE.

Other strange behavior includes intermittent requests for a password
when opening WLM. Normally WLM shows itself signing in to Windows
Live, but even with that sometimes a password window pops up (with
saved User ID and save PW) and all I have to do is click ok and WLM
opens just fine. The computer acts as if there's a resource problem.

Can someone advise if such high CPU usage is normal, or if not, what
would be causing that much CPU %. Seems like either something's
running the back ground or I've got a virus that my scanners are not
catching.
Last, there was an apparent CPU cooling issue about a month ago as
the CPU shut down a few times. Turns out the fan was very dirty so it
was cleaned. Then I made something to prop up the laptop to get more
air underneath it. Was the CPU actually damaged from this overheating
and that's why it's running slow?

Any help would be greatly appreciated............................Paul

Please don't start a new thread, Paul. The post you make at 12:15 PM has
*already* received a number of replies. If you have something to add,
you should go back to the thread you started to keep everything
together!

 

[Paul Calcagno]

Lem, I apologize about the posts. What happened was I posted once, but when
I did a sync to have it show up on the list, all of a sudden my post showed
up with the title struck through and then it disappeared. Weird. Don't know
why this happed. So I proceed to re-post. As soon as my new post posted my
old post showed up. Weird................Paul C.

 

[Paul Calcagno]

Daave, see my most recent post to LEM explaining why I had to post
twice............Paul C

 

[Paul]

My wife's got a Dell laptop running XP SP3 with 1.2 GB of RAM and 15 GB
free space left on the hard drive. In the past week or so, the
computer started running really slowly, especially when trying to open
new programs. I'm talking minutes to open routine apps like WLM, Word,
Add/Remove pgms, etc.

A quick check with Task Manager shows about 500 MB of free memory
available, but on the Performance tab it shows nearly 100% CPU usage,
with occasionally downwards spikes to a few tens of %. Memory caching
seems be low at around 50 MB but frankly, I'm not sure what that means.

I'm running CA (Road Runner) Security suite, plus Super
Antispyware-Professional, plus CCleaner , plus Ad-Aware 2009 all of
which I run about once a week. I used to also have
Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware, but I had to un-install it when the computer
slowed down because I was waiting at least 10 minutes for it to open and
then it wouldn't open at all. In my most recent run of all the A/V
programs I only see a few instances of tracking cookies showing up which
I've either deleted or quarantined.

I've never used a Registry cleaner on this machine as I know they can
cause more damage than good. The Internet browsing with Firefox is just
fine in terms of speed. And I routinely delete my Temporary Internet
files and cookies even though we never use IE.

Other strange behavior includes intermittent requests for a password
when opening WLM. Normally WLM shows itself signing in to Windows Live,
but even with that sometimes a password window pops up (with saved User
ID and save PW) and all I have to do is click ok and WLM opens just
fine. The computer acts as if there's a resource problem.

Can someone advise if such high CPU usage is normal, or if not, what
would be causing that much CPU %. Seems like either something's running
the back ground or I've got a virus that my scanners are not catching.

Last, there was an apparent CPU cooling issue about a month ago as the
CPU shut down a few times. Turns out the fan was very dirty so it was
cleaned. Then I made something to prop up the laptop to get more air
underneath it. Was the CPU actually damaged from this overheating and
that's why it's running slow?

Any help would be greatly appreciated............................Paul C.

It's a Dell. While malware is likely the cause of the symptoms, one
other recently documented issue is called "Throttlegate". It causes
the CPU speed to be reduced drastically on some Dell laptop models,
so your Dell is effectively operating at 100MHz when it gets a bit
warm. The effect changes slowly with time, and takes forever to recover.
It's worth at least checking your model number of Dell, to see if it is affected.
By keeping the internal temperature low, they hope to delay any *potential*
failure of the computer, until it is outside the warranty period. One Dell
user fully documented the issue, and prepared a 25MB PDF document
"throttlegate.pdf". I managed to get a copy of it. Fun stuff.
Dell has since issued a fix, as "damage control" for their reputation.
Basically, the fix should modify the response of the computer to heat.

And no, your CPU was not damaged. CPUs are protected by THERMTRIP. If
the CPU hits the THERMTRIP temp, the computer is switched off. It
would only be damaged if THERMTRIP didn't work for some reason.
And the other throttling mechanisms provide other means to control
the temperature. There are lots of features to protect the CPU.

And considering the overall reliability of laptops, the laptop is
likely to die soon after the warranty has expired anyway. Even if
there was a thermal component to CPU life, other components in
the laptop would croak, before your CPU would be anywhere near
its statistical lifetime. With so many things in a laptop being
expensive to repair, once the warranty is gone, it's living on
borrowed time. For many consumers, they'd sooner buy a new one,
than try to get the old one fixed. Especially when a shop wants
$200, just to "look at it".

The last CPU with a croaking problem, was the early Athlon. It
wasn't protected in a bulletproof way, against cooling failure.
Later motherboard designs used other means, to give better
protection. And now, both Intel and AMD have the internally
generated THERMTRIP signal, to indicate when the machine is
too hot, and the computer should be shut off instantly in
response, by its digital logic. You'll get no warning, it'll
just go off.

Paul

 

[Paul Calcagno]

Paul, thanks again for all your informative comments about CPU heating and
such. Sounds like my CPU may be ok, however, I'd sure like to learn of a
method to determine what speed my CPU is really running at. Paul C.