XP Pro install and 100% CPU usage

[Tom M]

My son's PC incountered a BSOD, afterwhich it was running
extremely slow... the 100% CPU usage problem. After
failing to find the problem I decided to reformat his HD.
The reload of XP took 14 hrs and the 100% CPU problem
returned. I then checked the MBR for problems and it
appears OK. I am in the process of trying to reformat and
reload XP but it is taking so long the PC keeps shutting
down. The CPU is overheating. I have not found any
information that would point me in the correct direction.
Do I have a bad HD or CPU?

 

[Mike]

Sounds definitely like a hardware problem. Try this.
Open the case and jumper the bios to completely clear out
any settings the bios has stored. Boot and go back into
the bios and do the basic settings like time and
date...and if available set the bios to use "default"
or "setup" performance settings. Change the bootup
sequence to look for your CD drive first, exit and try
reinstalling. I do XP installs routinely and have
*never* heard of a setup taking 14 hours! More like 2.5
max and that was on a machine being migrated from Win98Se
to XP Pro. You didn't indicate what type system it was
or speed, so without knowing that it makes most of what I
said speculative. But 14 hours! Geez!

Mike