XP Crash - CPU usage: 100%

[Guest]

Have Dell Dimension 4600 /XP SP-2

Basic: CPU usage peaked at 100%, crashing XP after a program I was using
crashed.

I was running a program called Psycle1.8 (open-source music creation
software) Crashes are common with certain actions preformed by Psycle.
Often crashes are caused by using software with this host program that is
supported but not fully compatible or hog RAM. Usually when Psycle crashes,
closing out the program and restarting it will correct the problem. *

The last time I used Psycle, the program crashed, then the entire system
crashed (aka CPU usage spiked to 100% for several minutes before it dropped
low enough so I could tell the computer to restart.)

*I have heard of "memory leakage" – I suspect may be a factor with Psycle,
and maybe the cause of the system crash. If this is the case, what can be
done?

 

[Admiral Q]

If it is indeed a memory leak in the software, you need to talk to the
programmer of the software and have him/her correct the memory leak and
release a new version of the software. Since the software is open source,
it may be the programmer is not even aware of what constitutes a memory leak
and thus unable to fix it, but then again most open source is free, so
you've got what you've paid for.

 

[Guest]

I probably should have worded my question a little differently… I don’t
have the technical knowledge to diagnose the crash as being the result of a
memory leak or not. I had read about it somewhere and guessed that could be
possibly be related to the problem I have been having with the Psycle
program.

Perhaps the question should have been:
How do I troubleshoot to find-out why the system crashed & how to stop it
from happening?
It might help to add here that I have experienced system crashes with IE6
(often when used simultaneously as Windows Media Player.)

 

[Rock]

Have Dell Dimension 4600 /XP SP-2

Basic: CPU usage peaked at 100%, crashing XP after a program I was using
crashed.

I was running a program called Psycle1.8 (open-source music creation
software) Crashes are common with certain actions preformed by Psycle.
Often crashes are caused by using software with this host program that is
supported but not fully compatible or hog RAM. Usually when Psycle crashes,
closing out the program and restarting it will correct the problem. *

The last time I used Psycle, the program crashed, then the entire system
crashed (aka CPU usage spiked to 100% for several minutes before it dropped
low enough so I could tell the computer to restart.)

*I have heard of "memory leakage" – I suspect may be a factor with Psycle,
and maybe the cause of the system crash. If this is the case, what can be
done?

Contact the program vendor for help.

 

[Guest]

I found that this problem occurs when I install new software, the indexing
service goes out of control for a few days and then returns to normal.

I had forgotten this until I read this post.
Just turn off indexing service in the service console until you are ready to
have it to run. If you are trying to do something and it is running it will
crash everything.