System Process Consuming Over 50% of CPU Resource

[Guest]

I have a dell laptop (latitude) running XP Pro w/ 256 M Ram. I noticed the
last time I used it that everything was slower than normal. I did the
defrag, virus checks, spyware/malware checks, etc. with no improvement. Then
I discovered that a process called "System" is taking over 50% of the CPU and
it stays there. A comparison to other laptops shows that System typically
doesn't consume anything. Has anyone ever seen this before? Thanks for any
help.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have a dell laptop (latitude) running XP Pro w/ 256 M Ram. I
noticed the last time I used it that everything was slower than
normal. I did the defrag, virus checks, spyware/malware checks, etc.
with no improvement. Then I discovered that a process called
"System" is taking over 50% of the CPU and it stays there. A
comparison to other laptops shows that System typically doesn't
consume anything. Has anyone ever seen this before? Thanks for any
help.

It's very likely malware of one type or another. I recommend that you go to
Malke's Malware Removal site at
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware and follow
the instructions there.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, Ken - I'll give this a try and let you know the outcome.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks, Ken - I'll give this a try and let you know the outcome.

You're welcome. Glad to help.