windows xp - XP 100% CPU on Login, by random processes

06
2013-08
  • Ro.

    I have a serious issue on my Windexs XP machine.

    When I start it up it takes ages to login, then when I bring up task manager I find that its running at 100% CPU However, the process taking the CU are random (and there are usualy about 4 of them). They change a bit, but the CPU never drops below 100% at all.

    I have to hit the reset button and try boot again to resolve the issue, usually it takes two or three times to get a login without the problem, and then I just put the machine in standby mode when I'm not using it.

    I can't remember when this started happening, but its deffo more than a year ago.

    I know its not a virus ... What could it be ? Driver issue ?

    Any suggested paths for resolution would be appreciated.

    Cheers, Ro

    • Answers
  • Grizly

    http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2010/01/13/3305263.aspx

    The case of the slow logons.. fascinating article btw.

    Basically, he logs the entire boot with process monitor and checks for large gaps.

  • Dmitry Trukhanov

    Hard to say without knowing more about the offending processes. Find out the names of the processes and then search the system for their location (directory). Where they are located will often tell you which application they belong to (were installed by).

    If they aren't windows system or services related you may wish to disable them from starting automatically on startup/login. Check the startup folder within the users subdirectory as well as msconfig and the registry startup listings.

    Lastly, this isn't a serverfault.com related Q. ;)

  • Area 51

    Sounds to me (from your mention of NetMeter or TaskbarShuffle) that you might have a lot of add-ons, toolbars or other evil little whatnots installed that are playing tango for your CPU following a startup. Use something like SysInternals Autoruns to identify what's happening when you start up, and selectively disable until things return to normal.

    This may also be AV software at work. I've seen recent versions of AVG, for example, consuming 100% CPU for about 5 minutes following a cold startup. And speaking of AV, you definitely shouldn't discount a virus.

    And yeah, this is really more appropriate for SU.


    • Related Question

    windows xp - Task Manager shows 100% CPU utilization, but nothing in process list does
  • nathan

    I'm using WinXP, and I notice that in the Task Manager, on the Performance tab my CPU usage is 100%. But When I go to the Processes tab, and sort by CPU System Idle Process is taking up 90%. I've double checked that things like AVG anti-virus isn't actively scanning, and that jkdefrag is not defragging. But I know something is taking CPU cycles, because the machine is very slow. How do I determine which process is hammering the CPU if it doesn't show in the Process List?


    • Related Answers
  • Greg Hewgill

    Process Explorer is a much better tool for inspecting processes than the built-in Task Manager. While it might not answer your question completely, it may give you more insight into the problem.

  • heavyd

    Make sure that the "Show processes from all users" checkbox is checked at the bottom of the process list in Task Manager, so that all processes are show.

  • Paul Woodward

    I was having a similar problem a couple of days ago and it turned out the machine was infected with a Rootkit. Since removal things seemed to have calmed down.