# [SOLVED] System process using 100% of CPU



## etr54003 (Mar 14, 2011)

Hi guys,

I am currently running Windows XP SP3, and I am having trouble with the "system" process taking up 100% of my cpu. This is not the "system idle process" that should be expected to show CPU usage when the CPU is not in use. Rather, this is the process called simply "system" that controls basic windows drivers and login, etc.

I have looked at the threads in process explorer, and it seems that the cpu is mostly being used by ntoskrnl.exe. I googled this process, and it seems like this is an essential windows process. However, there are multiple threads of ntoskrnl.exe running under the system process, and they all consume approximately 12% of cpu. One other thread listed that is using approximately 10% of cpu is ACPI.sys+0x10b10. 

From threads on other forums, it seems that this problem is sometimes caused by old or faulty drivers. To test this, I unpluged all non-essential peripherals and rebooted the computer in safe mode without networking. However, process explorer still showed the system process using all resources.

It is always possible that this is a hardware problem, but this is a netbook. Therefore, if there is anything major wrong, I'm probably more likely to trash it then bother replacing any hardware. So, hopefully that is not the case 

I have scanned the computer for viruses and malware using Avira and spybot, and nothing out of the ordinary was found. I also ran HijackThis, but I really did not see anything out of the ordinary.

The funny thing is, this whole thing seems to slow down my system a little, but it does not slow it completely as if the entire CPU were really being used. For instance, I can still open a browser within a few seconds or MS Office 2010 in about 6-7 seconds using my measly Atom processor.

So, I'm kind of at a loss about what this is all about. If anyone could offer any suggestions, that would be much appreciated. 

Thanks for your time,

Eric


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## lcollins (Mar 11, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

Sounds like something dodgey to be honest is it's image name system.exe?

I know you have run virus scans with your current tools but I have had sophos and NOD32 AV not pick up on some stuff.

Goto start and type in msconfig. a window will pop up on it you will have "start up" see if you can see a system.exe registered there, if so untick it and reboot as prompted. or if you could note down the entried in that window for me?

Cheers


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## jimmyavr (Mar 13, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

Hello mate,

Ive just been helping on another thread to do with ntoskrnl.exe, as you now know, this process is used by hardware, memory and cache management. So its a vital process, issues can arise with the ntoskrnl.exe if the Boot.INI is corrupt or missing, if the the ntoskrnl.exe is corrupt also.

Have you recently installed any new hardware? RAM, hard drive etc?

Security Task Manager - Windows XP process viewer

I find this bit of software very useful when dealing with suspicious or unknown processes, it allows you to kill the process, like task manager, but also quarantine it, so it wont appear again, while resolving the issue.

What are your system specs?


*Edit: *You say you used HJT, can you attach a logfile of the HJT results? There may be some 3rd party software causing this process to "play up" that you just havent noticed.


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## etr54003 (Mar 14, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

Here is the HJT log. Note that the process in question is simply "system" and not "system.exe" or anything else strange.

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.4
Scan saved at 10:53:33 AM, on 3/14/2011
Platform: Windows XP SP3 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v7.00 (7.00.6000.17095)
Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\COMODO\COMODO Internet Security\cmdagent.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\sched.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Intel\Intel Matrix Storage Manager\iaanotif.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\igfxpers.exe
C:\Program Files\COMODO\COMODO Internet Security\cfp.exe
C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\avgnt.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Java\Java Update\jusched.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\igfxsrvc.exe
C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPEnh.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\WebCam\M3000\M3000Mnt.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\B-Admin\Desktop\Process Explorer.exe
C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\avguard.exe
C:\Program Files\Intel\Intel Matrix Storage Manager\IAANTMon.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jqs.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\avshadow.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\B-Admin\Desktop\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Connection Wizard,ShellNext = iGoogle Redirect
O2 - BHO: URLRedirectionBHO - {B4F3A835-0E21-4959-BA22-42B3008E02FF} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\Office14\URLREDIR.DLL
O2 - BHO: Java(tm) Plug-In 2 SSV Helper - {DBC80044-A445-435b-BC74-9C25C1C588A9} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jp2ssv.dll
O2 - BHO: JQSIEStartDetectorImpl - {E7E6F031-17CE-4C07-BC86-EABFE594F69C} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\lib\deploy\jqs\ie\jqs_plugin.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [IAAnotif] C:\Program Files\Intel\Intel Matrix Storage Manager\iaanotif.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Persistence] C:\WINDOWS\system32\igfxpers.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [M3000Mnt] Rundll32.exe M3000Rmv.dll ,WinMainRmv /StartStillMnt
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [COMODO Internet Security] "C:\Program Files\COMODO\COMODO Internet Security\cfp.exe" -h
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [avgnt] "C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\avgnt.exe" /min
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Java\Java Update\jusched.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SynTPEnh] %ProgramFiles%\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPEnh.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Google Update] "C:\Documents and Settings\B-Admin\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Update\GoogleUpdate.exe" /c
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-18\..\Run: [DWQueuedReporting] "C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\MICROS~1\DW\dwtrig20.exe" -t (User 'SYSTEM')
O4 - HKUS\.DEFAULT\..\Run: [DWQueuedReporting] "C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\MICROS~1\DW\dwtrig20.exe" -t (User 'Default user')
O4 - Global Startup: Shortcut to Process Explorer.lnk = C:\Documents and Settings\B-Admin\Desktop\Process Explorer.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\Office14\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O8 - Extra context menu item: Se&nd to OneNote - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\Office14\ONBttnIE.dll/105
O9 - Extra button: Send to OneNote - {2670000A-7350-4f3c-8081-5663EE0C6C49} - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\ONBttnIE.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Se&nd to OneNote - {2670000A-7350-4f3c-8081-5663EE0C6C49} - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\ONBttnIE.dll
O9 - Extra button: OneNote Lin&ked Notes - {789FE86F-6FC4-46A1-9849-EDE0DB0C95CA} - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\ONBttnIELinkedNotes.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: OneNote Lin&ked Notes - {789FE86F-6FC4-46A1-9849-EDE0DB0C95CA} - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\ONBttnIELinkedNotes.dll
O18 - Filter hijack: text/xml - {807573E5-5146-11D5-A672-00B0D022E945} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE14\MSOXMLMF.DLL
O20 - AppInit_DLLs: C:\WINDOWS\system32\guard32.dll
O22 - SharedTaskScheduler: Browseui preloader - {438755C2-A8BA-11D1-B96B-00A0C90312E1} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\browseui.dll
O22 - SharedTaskScheduler: Component Categories cache daemon - {8C7461EF-2B13-11d2-BE35-3078302C2030} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\browseui.dll
O23 - Service: Avira AntiVir Scheduler (AntiVirSchedulerService) - Avira GmbH - C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\sched.exe
O23 - Service: Avira AntiVir Guard (AntiVirService) - Avira GmbH - C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\avguard.exe
O23 - Service: COMODO Internet Security Helper Service (cmdAgent) - COMODO - C:\Program Files\COMODO\COMODO Internet Security\cmdagent.exe
O23 - Service: Intel(R) Matrix Storage Event Monitor (IAANTMON) - Intel Corporation - C:\Program Files\Intel\Intel Matrix Storage Manager\IAANTMon.exe
O23 - Service: Java Quick Starter (JavaQuickStarterService) - Sun Microsystems, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jqs.exe

--
End of file - 5094 bytes


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## jimmyavr (Mar 13, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

And your system specs?

ACPI is graphical, what is the inbuilt GPU on your netbook?

You can find this out by going to start>run

type: dxdiag

press enter and click on the Display tab, post a screenshot of it here


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## etr54003 (Mar 14, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

Here is the requested screenshot:


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## jimmyavr (Mar 13, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

Ok have you tried upgrading these drivers? do you know how to?

The biggest issue with laptops/netbooks is that there very limited on what hardware can be replaced as it is all pretty much integrated with the system board.

You will find that with the more updates software distributors, i.e. Microsoft, Intel the more memory requirements they have, and eventually the more workload on the machine slows it down.

Do you have an installation CD with it or a recovery hard drive on the netbook? I find sometimes a fresh installation of an OS can clear all problems and get the machine running at a much better speed.


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## etr54003 (Mar 14, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

I checked, and the driver is fully updated. I don't really want to reinstall windows. One thing that I did not yet mention is that the netbook is usually hooked up to an external monitor. However, the monitor was hooked up long before this problem started occuring, so I do not think that is the issue. 

Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks guys.


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## jimmyavr (Mar 13, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

Okay well you mentioned that there are a numerous amount of threads running under ntoskrnl.exe, can you name each one, or at least the ones using the highest cpu usage, do you use the netbook for any sort of gaming, media applications etc?


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## etr54003 (Mar 14, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

I am honestly not sure how to dig further into the process explorer to find out what the process is doing. There are 4 processes constantly running that are each using 10-15% of the CPU. 3 of these are identical and are named: ntoskrnl.exe!Clsqrt+0x19c . The other is named ACPI.sys+0x10b10 . These are constantly changing places in priority with each other and their individual CPU usage ranges from 8-20% within a few seconds.


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## lcollins (Mar 11, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

Start -> Run -> type msconfig -> click the startup tab 

Screen shot it.


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## etr54003 (Mar 14, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

Nothing is checked below where the screenshot cuts off.


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## etr54003 (Mar 14, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

Anybody else have any ideas before I begin the epic pain in the *** that is reinstalling windows? Any suggestions would be much appreciated


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## etr54003 (Mar 14, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

Hi guys,

I have narrowed the problem a bit. I figured out that the system process only runs rampant when I have my external monitor plugged in. I have updated the drivers for both the onboard video (it is a netbook) and for the monitor, but this has not helped.

In light of this new info, any suggestions about how I could go about fixing this? Thanks for your time.


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## lcollins (Mar 11, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

In your msconfig thing I was talking about try uncheck all of them and reboot. You can always turn them back on it wont prevent a reboot and you can then at least rule out all of your aux start up items.


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## etr54003 (Mar 14, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

Thanks for your suggestion, but this did not help the problem.

The problem is narrowed down, but I don't know what to do about it. Here is the issue specifically:

Netbook running xp SP3. While using laptop screen, all processes behave normally. I plug in the vga cable to connect the monitor and power the monitor on, and all processes still work normally. However, as soon I right click the desktop > graphics options > Output to > Monitor, the display properly switches to the external monitor. At this time, the system process skyrockets to using all of my CPU. If I change the option to output back to the netbook screen, the problem goes away instantly.

I do not think that this is a hardware problem because the devices are otherwise working perfectly. It sure seems like a driver problem, but I have updated both the monitor and video drivers (and have tried multiple versions of each including the Windows plug n play version and the manufacturer's versions). I have used a different VGA cable, and this does not change anything. 

This sure seems like a driver problem, but I have no idea what the next step is. Any suggestions?

Thanks for your time.


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## etr54003 (Mar 14, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

I have discovered something very strange. Even though the signal is going to the monitor directly (nothing going to the laptop display)...the system process goes all the way to 100% when the laptop lid is CLOSED. However, when the laptop lid is OPEN, even though there is nothing being sent to the laptop display, the system process behaves normally (goes back to 0 or under 1% cpu usage)!

Can anyone explain such an occurrence? I guess the problem is "fixed", but i don't really want to leave the laptop open all the time. There is a lot higher probability that it will get broken if I do this.

Any ideas?

Thanks


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## lcollins (Mar 11, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

hmmm getting a bit difficult to suggest things now. What Driver is your external monitor using? It could be using the generic windows display adpator, perhaps if you can pick up and install a specific driver for the display? Bit of a long shot but from what your describing its having trouble operating that monitor.

Do you have any other monitors/tvs you could try connect to and see if its just the monitor your using or any external monitor?


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

This is a known problem and there are posts around the internet about Netbooks, external monitors and CPU usage, but I haven't seen a solution.


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## jimmyavr (Mar 13, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

It could quite simply be that your netbook GPU just cant support an external monitor productively.


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## etr54003 (Mar 14, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

The problem is solved to my satisfaction. The netbook actually runs the external monitor wonderfully, so long as the laptop lid is open. So, I have it permanently open on my desk, and this provides no disadvantage aside from the fact that there is a bit higher chance of knocking the computer over by banging the display  

All in all, though, it is working great. CPU is down to around 0 when idle, and total ram usage is around 320k including firewall, anti-virus, various other utilities, etc.

If anyone searches and finds this thread in the future and is facing a similar problem, feel free to contact me by PM. I will do my best to help.

Thanks guys.


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## jimmyavr (Mar 13, 2011)

When you close the lid it tries to put the netbook in a sleep state, but can't because its reading the other monitor.

Hence high CPU usage with lid down.


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## etr54003 (Mar 14, 2011)

*Re: System process using 100% of CPU*

Sorry Jimmy, but that is not the issue. The laptop is configured to "do nothing" when the lid is closed. Whether the monitor is plugged in or not, I can open or close the lid without affecting anything.


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