System (not System Idle) constantly @ 50%

[morrissanford]

I have an HP Media Center pc 2.8Ghz 800mhz FSB, 1 gig Ram, running
XP/Media Center SP2.
Intel Proc


In taskmgr, "System" is always @ 50% CPU Utilization, System Idle is @
50%, or less depending on other process activity. The "System" process
rarely falls below 50% regardless of activity. It seems like "system"
is holding on to those cpu cycles, where system idle process reports
accurately the remaining cpu cycles as other applications are started.
At idle, the CPU utilization shows a constant 50% (the graph in task
mgr)

Other Details:

Fresh reinstall of OS, Reapply all service packs.

This problem goes away when booting in safe mode, but utilizing
MSCONFIG, I've tried starting up with the "diagnostic" mode, with all
but essential processes running, and get the same cpu utilization
information.

I've got a couple of laptops running XP Pro, and another desktop
running XP Pro (not media center edition), and I don't even see
"system" in the process list. Is this something to do with media
center edition?

 

[ElGinch]

Hi, I have XPHome SP2. I had the problem with cpu usage at or above
50%. Kernel usage was most of the cpu usage. Read post to indicate that
it was a chipaudio or chipmodem problem. Has somthing todo with legasy
audio and modems such as ADSL. I went into the bios and set it to load
with safe configurations. No more problems. Processor (cpu) levels back
to 2-3% or less when idle. Not sure exactly what particular item/s in
bios was changed when loaded with safe settings. But it worked for me.
Hope this helped Larry C.

 

[mo]

Hi, I have XPHome SP2. I had the problem with cpu usage at or above
50%. Kernel usage was most of the cpu usage. Read post to indicate that
it was a chipaudio or chipmodem problem. Has somthing todo with legasy
audio and modems such as ADSL. I went into the bios and set it to load
with safe configurations. No more problems. Processor (cpu) levels back
to 2-3% or less when idle. Not sure exactly what particular item/s in
bios was changed when loaded with safe settings. But it worked for me.
Hope this helped Larry C.

I tried disabling PNP, onboard audio, etc, no success. My bios does
not have a safe mode. Disabled modem (not in use anyway) in device
manager. Only thing that stops it is booting in safe mode. Thanks for
the response though.