Dear CNET members,
Happy Friday! This week's topic is all about Patrick's Windows XP computer system's CPU frequently hitting the 100 percent mark of usage, to the point of bringing it to a nonuseful condition. I'm sure many of you have experienced this at one point or another, but when it becomes a frequent occurrence, then it is a real pain.
If you read through this week's recommendations from our members, you'll probably be surprised at how many different solutions were offered. Though the problem could stem from hardware-related issues (possibly not enough RAM), most members suggested that the culprit might be software-related, with too many programs running all at once. Members also suggested that the computer has been compromised by a virus or spyware. So how do you determine where the source of the problem is?
Your best bet is through the process of elimination, starting with the basics. And as most members suggested, one good place to start is to open your Windows Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) when your PC starts to act up, and look for any process that is sucking the life out of your CPU. Then, figure out what it is and eliminate it if it proves to be ill willed. As many members mentioned, if some of the process names look foreign to you, simply search the term on the Internet to get a better understanding of what it does. Remember, this is just a start--nothing proves that this is the root of the problem.
So, to begin, I'll give you a few selected answers to get you going in the Q&A section. There are many possible suggested solutions, so I recommend that you read them all before diving in. Good luck! Thanks everyone for taking the time to help Patrick out. You all rock! Have a fantastic weekend.
Cheers!
- Lee
Got suggestions? Send me an e-mail: messageboards@cnet.com |
I run Windows XP (Home Edition) on my system and frequently find that the number of processes running can be as high as 63, with the CPU usage rising to 100 percent and a commit charge of 943M/2313M. I should add that this happens with only two or three windows open but minimized.
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