Vista, IE7 and cpu activity

[Mac]

I've noticed for weeks now that every few seconds my cpu usage jumps from
near zero to over 50%, sometimes up to 100%. This is when the machine is
otherwise idle.

After a little experimenting it seems that IE7 is related to this frequent
cpu usage. When IE7 is closed down the behavior stops. Also, the more tabs
open in IE7 the larger the regular cpu spike seems to be.

Is this a known IE7 issue? If so, what is it doing and is there a solution?

 

[PA Bear]

=> Does this behavior persist if you start IE7 in No Add-ons mode? To start
IE7 in No Add-ons mode:

1. Right-click on the blue IE desktop icon and select Start without Add-ons;

2. Start > (All) Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Internet Explorer
(No add-ons).

More:

Troubleshooting and Internet Explorer's (No Add-ons) Mode:
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/07/25/678113.aspx

=> Does the problem persist if you Reset IE7 Settings (RIES)?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923737 <= Read before using!

 

[Mac]

No Add-ons mode seems to resolve the behavior, however I think I want to use
the add-ons I have... will read the other links you suggest and report
back - thanks...

 

[Mac]

Search and defrag are not related to this issue... I had checked for these
and other processes...

Also the cpu spike doesn't just occur when I open a new tab, it keeps
spiking every few seconds and won't stop....

Seems the behavior is related to the add-ons I have loading in IE7... as
suggested by PA Bear - so need to investigate more.

Thanks anyway...

 

[PA Bear]

You'll need to identify the Add-on(s) that was causing the problem, Mac.
See http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/07/25/678113.aspx

 

[Mac]

Hi again, well I've systematically went through the add-ons disabling them
to no avail. Seems my initial test with the No Add-On mode was not thorough
enough. However I have identified the source of the problem ;-)

My IE7 default tabs (3) include my live spaces page which has a photo
gallery slide show... yup, you've guessed it - each time the photo changes
the cpu spikes... why this is seems crazy (the photo files are in memory
surely, can't think why it needs to use so much cpu...)

So the solution is to pause the slideshow or close my live spaces tab...
bear in mind this cpu activity was triggering the cpu fan excessively and on
this laptop it's quite noisy, hence my desire to figure this out. The cpu
activity also seemed to be interfering with normal screen blanking after the
set period.

Anyway thanks again for the help...

 

[Paul Randall]

Thanks for the detailed update. It helps diagnose other people's problems.

-Paul Randall