Strange PC Performance

Hello Group
I had a desktop replacement system that had a system information like
this:
Pentium M 780 2.26 Ghz
100 gig Hard Drive
2Gig Ram
256 VRAM
WinXPSp2
DVD+/-RW
Wifi b/g
Symbios version 2.3

Now my question a
1) how come that during the start the CPU is already running at 60%
capacity when I am just opening the internet?
2) The PC tends to hang occasionally for no reason and I could not
think that this could be a malware as it had a good internet security
software installed
3) When It hangs and I want to open the task manager by right clicking
from the bottom so I had to shut it down by pressing the button; but
when I re start the said computer it just don't say that the computer
was shut down improperly so it will do desk checking; UNFORTUNATELY IT
WILL JUST OPEN NORMALLY .
4) Often the CPU is shown in the performance as100% capacity when I am
just using internet in multiple windows from some office apps.
5) Ot takes long time to boot up when the start up programs are only
few.
When this computer ; what I mean is the complete boot up time takes
at least 3 minutes when the listed bootup was supposed to be only 30
seconds?( I am not sure but this is what is listed in boot,ini.

Hoping somebody can enlighten about the peculiarity of this PC
TIA

"Roy" wrote in message
...
Hello Group
I had a desktop replacement system that had a system information like
this:
Pentium M 780 2.26 Ghz
100 gig Hard Drive
2Gig Ram
256 VRAM
WinXPSp2
DVD+/-RW
Wifi b/g
Symbios version 2.3

Now my question a
1) how come that during the start the CPU is already running at 60%
capacity when I am just opening the internet?
2) The PC tends to hang occasionally for no reason and I could not
think that this could be a malware as it had a good internet security
software installed
3) When It hangs and I want to open the task manager by right clicking
from the bottom so I had to shut it down by pressing the button; but
when I re start the said computer it just don't say that the computer
was shut down improperly so it will do desk checking; UNFORTUNATELY IT
WILL JUST OPEN NORMALLY .
4) Often the CPU is shown in the performance as100% capacity when I am
just using internet in multiple windows from some office apps.
5) Ot takes long time to boot up when the start up programs are only
few.
When this computer ; what I mean is the complete boot up time takes
at least 3 minutes when the listed bootup was supposed to be only 30
seconds?( I am not sure but this is what is listed in boot,ini.

First thing to do is check your Event Viewer for errors.
Then check Task manager to see what`s using the CPU.

On Nov 23, 4:54 am, "meerkat" wrote:
"Roy" wrote in message

...



Hello Group
I had a desktop replacement system that had a system information like
this:
Pentium M 780 2.26 Ghz
100 gig Hard Drive
2Gig Ram
256 VRAM
WinXPSp2
DVD+/-RW
Wifi b/g
Symbios version 2.3

Now my question a
1) how come that during the start the CPU is already running at 60%
capacity when I am just opening the internet?
2) The PC tends to hang occasionally for no reason and I could not
think that this could be a malware as it had a good internet security
software installed
3) When It hangs and I want to open the task manager by right clicking
from the bottom so I had to shut it down by pressing the button; but
when I re start the said computer it just don't say that the computer
was shut down improperly so it will do desk checking; UNFORTUNATELY IT
WILL JUST OPEN NORMALLY .
4) Often the CPU is shown in the performance as100% capacity when I am
just using internet in multiple windows from some office apps.
5) Ot takes long time to boot up when the start up programs are only
few.
When this computer ; what I mean is the complete boot up time takes
at least 3 minutes when the listed bootup was supposed to be only 30
seconds?( I am not sure but this is what is listed in boot,ini.

First thing to do is check your Event Viewer for errors.
Then check Task manager to see what`s using the CPU.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks for your reply , but would you give me the specifics for the
Event Viewer..?

On Thu, 22 Nov 2007 12:36:14 -0800 (PST), Roy
wrote:

Hello Group
I had a desktop replacement system that had a system information like
this:
Pentium M 780 2.26 Ghz
100 gig Hard Drive
2Gig Ram
256 VRAM
WinXPSp2
DVD+/-RW
Wifi b/g
Symbios version 2.3

Now my question a
1) how come that during the start the CPU is already running at 60%
capacity when I am just opening the internet?

Maybe you have a virus or other malware, but if this 60% CPU
utilization is only momentary it is due to initialization of
the application and the % should drop very soon thereafter
unless running some page with buggy scripts or lots of
shockwave flash/other animations.


2) The PC tends to hang occasionally for no reason and I could not
think that this could be a malware as it had a good internet security
software installed

Determine exactly when it hangs, what is running at the time
for example and check Event Viewer. While this could be
something like a bad drive data cable, it is more likely a
Windows problem and as such this would not be the best
newsgroup for addressing that... but maybe to distinguish
whether it is hardware or not you might run some benchmarks
to see if system performance is as expected.

If your wireless access, signal level is poor or the
router/access point/etc is instable that might also cause
some lagging.


3) When It hangs and I want to open the task manager by right clicking
from the bottom so I had to shut it down by pressing the button; ...

Can you restate that as it doesn't necessarily make sense.
What if you don't shut down, what if you want a minute or
two, will the system respond again or not? I vaguely recall
someone who did some windows updates and then had their
services.exe (one of the running services) consuming 100%
CPU time periodically, which they saw by leaving "Process
Explorer" running in the background and then when the system
started to lag they checked Process Explorer for CPU %.



...but
when I re start the said computer it just don't say that the computer
was shut down improperly so it will do desk checking; UNFORTUNATELY IT
WILL JUST OPEN NORMALLY .

Ok, not a big deal just scan the drive by right-clicking on
it in My Computer.

4) Often the CPU is shown in the performance as100% capacity when I am
just using internet in multiple windows from some office apps.

Isolate which app is causing this, one way would be to
temporarily use a different browser. For example use
Firefox if it was IE or vice-versa. Avoid using the office
apps for a period (reboot the system and then don't use them
at all for awhile) to see if this CPU utilization problem
occurs without running the office apps. If it does not,
check the office apps startup/plugin/etc folders to see if
anything is loading with them (malware or whatever).

Check the system for memory errors with Memtest86+. If you
find any errors rectify the problem and then reinstall the
misbehaving application(s).


5) Ot takes long time to boot up when the start up programs are only
few.
When this computer ; what I mean is the complete boot up time takes
at least 3 minutes when the listed bootup was supposed to be only 30
seconds?( I am not sure but this is what is listed in boot,ini.

The 30 seconds has nothing to do with total bootup time,
that is just how long the system delays at the OS boot
choice menu, and it won't stop at that menu at all if there
is only one OS installed.

We don't know what "only few" startup programs means, there
could be a lot going on during boot like getting DHCP info,
mapping network shares, lots of background apps for software
printers and such. After you've finished booting then check
Task Manager to see what's running and if some things are
unnecessary, prevent those things from running by
uninstalling the app, deleting the associated registry or
Start Menu - Startup folder contents, or run a scanner like
"Hijack This" and select the things you want to prevent from
running upon each boot.

It would be good to scan the system again for
malware/viri/etc, perhaps using an online scanner instead of
the same you had been using in case it had missed something.
Goggle will find online scanners.



Hoping somebody can enlighten about the peculiarity of this PC
TIA

If all else fails, make a 2nd testbed OS installation to see
if the hardware works properly with this clean OS
installation. Do not let it update itself via windows
update (yet), in case an update caused the problem. Do not
install the thing you had previously again, only install
alternate software in case that caused the problem. You
might try something like a Ubuntu LiveCD instead of Windows
if you dont' want to spend the time reinstalling windows, or
run the last good backup you made of your windows partition
if you have one just prior to the problem.

Basically the key is isolating variables, determining if
hardware or software.

It wouldn't hurt to peek inside the system to make sure
there are not failed capacitors, failed fans, and that dust
buildup isn't excessive.

Somewhere on teh interweb Roy typed:
Hello Group
I had a desktop replacement system that had a system information like
this:
Pentium M 780 2.26 Ghz
100 gig Hard Drive
2Gig Ram
256 VRAM
WinXPSp2
DVD+/-RW
Wifi b/g
Symbios version 2.3

Now my question a
1) how come that during the start the CPU is already running at 60%
capacity when I am just opening the internet?
2) The PC tends to hang occasionally for no reason and I could not
think that this could be a malware as it had a good internet security
software installed
3) When It hangs and I want to open the task manager by right clicking
from the bottom so I had to shut it down by pressing the button; but
when I re start the said computer it just don't say that the computer
was shut down improperly so it will do desk checking; UNFORTUNATELY IT
WILL JUST OPEN NORMALLY .
4) Often the CPU is shown in the performance as100% capacity when I am
just using internet in multiple windows from some office apps.
5) Ot takes long time to boot up when the start up programs are only
few.
When this computer ; what I mean is the complete boot up time takes
at least 3 minutes when the listed bootup was supposed to be only 30
seconds?( I am not sure but this is what is listed in boot,ini.

Hoping somebody can enlighten about the peculiarity of this PC
TIA

Do you have Norton antivirus or internet security installed?
--
TTFN,

Shaun.

On Nov 23, 6:58 am, "~misfit~" wrote:
Somewhere on teh interweb Roy typed:





Hello Group
I had a desktop replacement system that had a system information like
this:
Pentium M 780 2.26 Ghz
100 gig Hard Drive
2Gig Ram
256 VRAM
WinXPSp2
DVD+/-RW
Wifi b/g
Symbios version 2.3

Now my question a
1) how come that during the start the CPU is already running at 60%
capacity when I am just opening the internet?
2) The PC tends to hang occasionally for no reason and I could not
think that this could be a malware as it had a good internet security
software installed
3) When It hangs and I want to open the task manager by right clicking
from the bottom so I had to shut it down by pressing the button; but
when I re start the said computer it just don't say that the computer
was shut down improperly so it will do desk checking; UNFORTUNATELY IT
WILL JUST OPEN NORMALLY .
4) Often the CPU is shown in the performance as100% capacity when I am
just using internet in multiple windows from some office apps.
5) Ot takes long time to boot up when the start up programs are only
few.
When this computer ; what I mean is the complete boot up time takes
at least 3 minutes when the listed bootup was supposed to be only 30
seconds?( I am not sure but this is what is listed in boot,ini.

Hoping somebody can enlighten about the peculiarity of this PC
TIA

Do you have Norton antivirus or internet security installed?
--
TTFN,

Shaun.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yeah I have installed Norton Internet Security and its regularly
scanning my PC for Malware.

Kony wrote:
Maybe you have a virus or other malware, but if this 60% CPU
utilization is only momentary it is due to initialization of
the application and the % should drop very soon thereafter
unless running some page with buggy scripts or lots of
shockwave flash/other animations.
2) The PC tends to hang occasionally for no reason and I could not
think that this could be a malware as it had a good internet security
software installed

I just noticed that now that it was only momentary

Determine exactly when it hangs, what is running at the time
for example and check Event Viewer. While this could be
something like a bad drive data cable, it is more likely a
Windows problem and as such this would not be the best
newsgroup for addressing that... but maybe to distinguish
whether it is hardware or not you might run some benchmarks
to see if system performance is as expected.
It hangs after some time when I am in the thick of combined applications and internet

3) When It hangs and I want to open the task manager by right clicking
from the bottom so I had to shut it down by pressing the button; ...
Can you restate that as it doesn't necessarily make sense.
What if you don't shut down, what if you want a minute or
two, will the system respond again or not? I vaguely recall
someone who did some windows updates and then had their
services.exe (one of the running services) consuming 100%
CPU time periodically, which they saw by leaving "Process
Explorer" running in the background and then when the system
started to lag they checked Process Explorer for CPU %.

When I right click the task bar in the system tray when these hanging
occurs it simply don't respond;either are the CTRL/ALT/DEL or CTRL/
SHIFT/ESC would.
So when the system freezes I just have to push the power button to
shut down the PC and then restart it again in the normal way but I am
worried that this might be damaging to the machine if done frequently.


...but

Ok, not a big deal just scan the drive by right-clicking on
it in My Computer.

4) Often the CPU is shown in the performance as100% capacity when I am
just using internet in multiple windows from some office apps.
Isolate which app is causing this, one way would be to
temporarily use a different browser. Avoid using the office
apps for a period (reboot the system and then don't use them
at all for awhile) to see if this CPU utilization problem
occurs without running the office apps. If it does not,
check the office apps startup/plugin/etc folders to see if
anything is loading with them (malware or whatever).

I noticed that when my browser hangs in some parts the CPU performance
would shot up to 100% and it hangs it says Errors Please Send Report.


Check the system for memory errors with Memtest86+. If you
find any errors rectify the problem and then reinstall the
misbehaving application(s).
How do I access this Memtest86+?
It would be good to scan the system again for
malware/viri/etc, perhaps using an online scanner instead of
the same you had been using in case it had missed something.
Goggle will find online scanners.

I will try that one soon.....

Basically the key is isolating variables, determining if
hardware or software.
It wouldn't hurt to peek inside the system to make sure
there are not failed capacitors, failed fans, and that dust
buildup isn't excessive.

Well I have blown canned compressed air recently to the vents to shake
it accumulated dust

thanks for your replies

On Fri, 23 Nov 2007 04:56:56 -0800 (PST), Roy
wrote:



I just noticed that now that it was only momentary

snip

When I right click the task bar in the system tray when these hanging
occurs it simply don't respond;either are the CTRL/ALT/DEL or CTRL/
SHIFT/ESC would.
So when the system freezes I just have to push the power button to
shut down the PC and then restart it again in the normal way but I am
worried that this might be damaging to the machine if done frequently.

If it only freezes momentarily, why are you shutting down
then restarting? You aren't being clear about exactly what
is happening.



I noticed that when my browser hangs in some parts the CPU performance
would shot up to 100% and it hangs it says Errors Please Send Report.


Scan the system for malware, check for BHOs.
Try repairing or reinstalling the browser.

Check the system for memory errors with Memtest86+. If you
find any errors rectify the problem and then reinstall the
misbehaving application(s).
How do I access this Memtest86+?

Google search for a download.


It would be good to scan the system again for
malware/viri/etc, perhaps using an online scanner instead of
the same you had been using in case it had missed something.
Goggle will find online scanners.

I will try that one soon.....

Basically the key is isolating variables, determining if
hardware or software.
It wouldn't hurt to peek inside the system to make sure
there are not failed capacitors, failed fans, and that dust
buildup isn't excessive.

Well I have blown canned compressed air recently to the vents to shake
it accumulated dust

thanks for your replies


Vents? I mean open the system and look at the heatsinks,
the PSU intake, etc.

On Fri, 23 Nov 2007 04:47:34 -0800 (PST), Roy
wrote:

Yeah I have installed Norton Internet Security and its regularly
scanning my PC for Malware.


Uninstall that bloatware.
Get another scanner and only scan when you need to, choose
to. Adaware, Spybot Search & Destroy, Hijack This, are
examples. Google will find more.

I would try Hijack This first, then note what it finds and
investigate any listings that you can't identify. If it is
only hanging when the browser runs, focus on cleaning it's
plugins and reinstalling it.

Somewhere on teh interweb Roy typed:
On Nov 23, 6:58 am, "~misfit~" wrote:
Hoping somebody can enlighten about the peculiarity of this PC
TIA

Do you have Norton antivirus or internet security installed?

Yeah I have installed Norton Internet Security and its regularly
scanning my PC for Malware.

Get rid of it. That's probably most of your problem right there.
--
TTFN,

Shaun.