My CPU Usage Suddenly at 100% - What Do I Do?

[Gokul43201]

Suddenly, my system performance indicator shows that my CPU usage is 100% - and this is just after start-up (ie : without starting any programs other than those processes that automatically open and reside in memory)

I only checked this because my computer (an old 750 MHz Dell Dimension, running Win 2K) seems to have slowed the hell down like crazy all of a sudden, and I was worried . I just ran Ad-aware to clear up data miners and other such programs...so I'm at a loss why this suddenly happened.

Also, I can't seem to connect to the internet anymore...is this related ?

HELP ! I'm a total computer ignoramus, so please be gentle.

 

[Math Is Hard]

If you do a control+alt+del and check your task manager, what processes are taking up the most memory? I had a similar problem recently, and I found a suspicious program eating up my resources. Turned out to be a virus. I don't know if that's what's going on with your machine, but I would certainly take a peek at the processes tab in Task Manager and see if anything looks fishy.

 

[NoTime]

I agree with Math Is Hard.
You almost certainly have a virus.
Check the CPU usage in task manager, rather than memory.
Click the CPU column under the "process" tab to sort by usage
Only the "system idle process" should show any significant CPU usage.
Anything else is suspect.

 

[Dilbert]

I use Process Explorer from http://sysinternals.com/ instead of the windows taskmanger. You get more info that way.
You might want to take a look at it and see which "connections" are causing you problems.
Then perhaps you should Run the process called MsConfig, and go to the Autostart section; see which programs there might be viruses or programs of similar agenda and remove them so they do not start again. If you are not sure which the virus is, then post every entry on your list here and i can help you.

 

[Gokul43201]

MiH, I did try that, but I'm not any good at telling if a name is "fishy"...so I really couldn't tell.

And yes, it does look like there's a trojan/virus running around, 'cause when I restarted this morning, my virus shield detected an infected file. Haven't had the time to look into it yet...will do that when I get home tonight.

Also, when I restart and log in under Safe Mode, my CPU usage is down to normal levels, but I still can't connect to the internet (I have a cable modem connection).

Thanks for advice all. Dilbert, I'll check out the Process Explorer tonight and perhaps post the entries tomorrow. The problem with all this is that I can't use the internet at my home computer anymore. Can this really be related ??

 

[PerennialII]

MiH, I did try that, but I'm not any good at telling if a name is "fishy"...so I really couldn't tell.

Or you can just get a screencap or two about the taskman window for the wizs to dwell.

 

[Dilbert]

The problem with all this is that I can't use the internet at my home computer anymore. Can this really be related ??

hmm, i cannot really say.
Gokul, look in the MsConfig list, look for a "avserve.exe". If you have that entry then remove it from autostart.

 

[cdhotfire]

or server.exe, that's usually what most trojans run under.

 

[Major]

MiH, I did try that, but I'm not any good at telling if a name is "fishy"...so I really couldn't tell.

Just type the name of the process in Google for instance. you will find a lot of informations about it, and so you can see if it's a normal windows process or not ...

Good luck ! :)

Major