I’m running Zone Alarm, I’ve run AVG virus scan with new update, Ad Aware with new update, I’ve quit everything marked “User Name” in the processes shown in Task Manager, and still the CPU runs at 100% from the start. I’ve rebooted, I’ve left it off for 15 minutes. I booted to Safe Mode, and it didn’t happen.
That’s all I’ve got. I’ve asked my geekier friends, and I’m left to come here. This other laptop is going burn out at this rate.
I would really appreciate a piece of brilliance on this subject. TIA.
Could choosing a big .bmp as the wallpaper have something to do with it? I have a LOT of RAM, but it was all I could think of, so I changed my wallpaper from a .bmp of about 1MB, deleted the picture, and everything seems fine. I really don’t know why that should matter.
Or could it be that I pulled the battery before the last bootup? Could some wacky program be running even when the Windows is shut down but still has power? Could it boot itself up and not show as a user-task?
Yes, XP. I’ve never seen which process is taking CPU time. It shows the RAM assigned.
Ah, yes, I see the CPU column. What do the numbers mean? System Idle Process is listed at numbers like 80 even though the CPU is at percentages like 20.
The numbers are the percentage of total CPU cycles being used. Click the heading of the CPU column and it’ll sort the list so the highest number is at the top.
There’s a set number of CPU cycles per second - that’s the speed of the processor. The CPU graph shows (not very accurately) the percentage being used by useful functions. The column of numbers shows where all the cycles are going, including ‘system idle’.
Are you having problems with the computer functioning sluggishly? If not, I suspect the problem is merely with task manager not giving very helpful readings.
Well, from IMing a geek-type, it may have been something invisible but remaining from a “K” program that had been properly quit, but may have had something running anyway.
I think it was pulling the battery with no power cord that did the trick. The problem didn’t start when I made the new wallpaper earlier.
There’s no such thing as “something invisible” in Task Manager. Well, technically there are - for keyloggers and such, and sometimes viruses have legitimate sounding names in Task Manager - but I’ve never seen one in 7 years of desktop support. If something’s using 100% of your cycles, it will be listed in Task Manager and killing said process will return your PC to “normal” behaviour.
I’m guessing “K” program is a 5-letter word with more than its fair share of the letter “a” that we’re not supposed to discuss here.
Anyway, no, your wallpaper won’t have anything to do with CPU time except possibly in the nanoseconds it takes for Windows to redraw it when it becomes uncovered (like if you just closed a window). The CPU usage in the bottom status bar of Task Manager is the total usage, while the columns show how much each process is taking up. System Idle Process is just the cycles that aren’t being used, like GorillaMan said, so it’s not added to the total. The numbers really have nothing to do with the heat generated, except in a very indirect way (more usage results in more heat).
Yeah, well, “K” may not be the culprit. Out of nowhere, it’s doing it again, and I SWEAR, I’m looking at it right now, the System process is 87-97% of the used cycles, which are at 100% total. The fan has been on for the past 20 minutes or so. Sometimes even the mouse stalls and won’t move.
‘K’ is a shit program. It eats up your CPU time, doesn’t ever quit properly, and rapidly fragments your hard disk. The latter may well be part of the problem. But ‘K’ can also leave legitimate-sounding programs running. I realise on rereading the thread that you’ve not mentioned Spybot? This somtimes catches things that Adaware misses.
Shut down the computer. Ground yourself (touch a cold water pipe, or something else which will remove all static electricity). Open up the computer. Find out if anything is running hot, by seeing if it feels hot. A very simple way to identify if it really is a CPU-overheat issue.
I’ll try that. It was the “lite beer” version of “K”, if you know what I mean, though, and I’ve not had that problem before.
BTW, just as a justification, I really DO just use it to try out bands and get Angel episodes that I missed (well, I used to miss new episodes. Now I just miss the show in general heartache way). I’ve had too many musician friends, and was raised too law-and-order to rip off the bands.
I already tried to open this laptop to try to find out the video card chip when I thought I couldn’t find the driver, and it totally beat me. I pulled all the screws, the hard drive, the battery, and the CD drive, and found the screw hiding under the drive, but something was still hanging on with determination, and I didn’t push it.