# [SOLVED] 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3



## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

100% cpu usage in win xp sp3

Hi. Right now I'm getting 100% cpu usage and is kinda making my computer drag, and in some cases shut down.
At first I started noticing this problem when playing Left 4 Dead. All of a sudden my computer would drop to near unplayable frame rates. Then it happened while playing skyrim. I would tab out, look at task manager and see that the system process was using up most of my cpu. 
Odd thing is is that in skyrim, after I lost frame rates sometimes I could quickload a game, and I'd be right back at normal cpu usage and frame rates. Strange. Now, mostly, the frames always drop again minutes later, and I'm back at 100 percent cpu drag. 

System specs: Windows xp sp3
AMD Athlon 7750 Dual-Core Processor 2.70GHz 2.75GB Ram
4GB Ram, but only use 3gb due to xp 32-bit
Nvidia Geforce Gtx 260
mobo - nvidia nforce730a

Here's what I've found about this problem:
-It persisted after a fresh install (reformatting and deleting partitions as well)
-It mostly happens while playing games, sometimes a quick save and quick load would temporarily refresh frame rates. Sometimes this doesnt help and the cpu spikes continue out of game, most of the time persisting for hours. I've seen it spike up out of game as well, but not as much. 
-Using Process Explorer I've seen that in the System Process, a process called Interrupts - Hardware Interrupts and DCPs seems to be the thing that's using up all my cpu power whenever this happens. 
-Cleaned my heatsink and cpu fan, also applied a fresh dab of thermal paste; and the problem still persists.
-Did a virus scan in updated norton, and various spyware progs. No viruses were found; cleaned up spyware but the problem persisted. Scanned with malware bytes, found 1 item but my computer kept shutting down before finishing... was kind of spooky and unsettling (Running it again as I type after fresh OS install... The program just shut down and now it won't restart. Hopefully thats just a bug in the program. trying a scan with MSE)
-Ran CCleaner. Cleaned up registry and drives. Problem still persists.
My IDE drives are not in PIO mode. Heard a lot about that.
-Flashed bios. No change.
-Updated graphics card drivers to older and newer versions, as well as motherboard drivers, no change.

I'm totally stumped. If anyone has solved this problem it would be a relief to hear. Thanks.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

Take a look at the *PSU* label and post the *Make, Model and Wattage*. Sounds like an underpowered PSU


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*



spunk.funk said:


> Take a look at the *PSU* label and post the *Make, Model and Wattage*. Sounds like an underpowered PSU



I've got a cooler master extreme power plus 500w
eXtreme Power Plus 500W - Cooler Master - Leading Provider of Computer Case | Cooler | Power Supply

I also just noticed that my cpu fan is kinda running a little slower than usual... i wonder if a handful of rpms is the problem? but of course this has happened long before the fan started to run slower.

cpu just spiked for about twenty minutes while I was using photoshop :banghead:


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

Boot into Setup (Bios) to PC health. Here report the Fan Speeds and the *+12V* line for the* PSU*. Anything under or over by *.5V* is a failing PSU.


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

thanks for the fast reply. here's everything I saw in pc health

VCC 5V
DIMM(V) 1.89V
5USB 5.08V
*+12V 11.88V*
chipset(V) 1.09V
CPU(V) 1.35V
3USB 3.37V
voltage battery 3.20V
cpu temp 68C
system temp 37C
cpu fan speed 624 rpm
power fan 0
system fan 0

dunno if this matters, but i have a cooler master tower, which was built with a lot of fans around the box that i have unplugged because they got to be insanely noisy... wish there was a fan that didnt get noisy over time.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

Your *PSU* is within the requirements, but is on the low voltage side. I would suspect that your *PSU i*s underpowered for your setup. Especially if the CPU fan is not spinning at full speed. If you have any USB devices or extra HDD etc, you should have at least a 650 Watt *PSU*. IMHO


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

Interesting. Out of curiosity though, how would an underpowered psu make my processor run at 100% usage and slow my computer down? I can understand things getting slow if a graphics card isnt getting enough power... but a 100% cpu usage rise confuses me. 

I did have an extra harddrive plugged in since I built this rig. I got an external harddrive later on, but for most of this comps lifetime i guess. I'm going to remove them and see if it makes a difference. 

Fingers crossed.


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## abhishek2012 (Apr 16, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

New good antivrius with proper updated one


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

Still getting frame drops and cpu spikes. sigh.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

Here is a good guide to the *PSU*: The Power Supply Unit recommendation thread! - PC Buying Advice - TechEnclave
You can also run Process Explorer to see what is taking up the most CPU and disable that program.


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

Thanks I'll make use of that PSU guide.

Process Explorer says that the process that's taking up all the cpu power is "Interrupts: Hardware Interrupts and DPCs"
A Process under the SYSTEM Process. I wish I could disable it, but it wont let me.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

Interrupts mean that there is a driver issue. Update your motherboard drivers and your video driver


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

I wish that was the case. First thing I did was update my mobo and GPU drivers.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

Try Driver Verifier to test your drivers to find out which one is causing the problem.


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## Dwarflord (Dec 13, 2007)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

Look in task manager and tell me what process/process's are eating your
CPU

Thanks


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

@Dwarflored:


> Process Explorer says that the process that's taking up all the cpu power is "Interrupts: Hardware Interrupts and DPCs"
> A Process under the SYSTEM Process. I wish I could disable it, but it wont let me.


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*



spunk.funk said:


> Try Driver Verifier to test your drivers to find out which one is causing the problem.


Hmm... got this. *Wmiacpi.sys (wdm driver error 20e)* [wmiacpi.sys +152f at B859d52f]

If there were more errors would it show all of them? or just the first one it finds?


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

This points to the *ACPI* setting on the motherboard. Since you flashed the Bios, then Load the Bios Defaults, or *Disable ACPI* in the Bios


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*



spunk.funk said:


> This points to the *ACPI* setting on the motherboard. Since you flashed the Bios, then Load the Bios Defaults, or *Disable ACPI* in the Bios


I like how this is being narrowed down (hopefully anyway).

I don't quite understand what you mean though, so I'll throw this info out there just incase. This cpu spike problem has been happening long before I flashed the BIOS. So, I'm guessing theres an error with an ACPI setting? It's been there all along and that has to do with a wmiacpi.sys driver? Trying to figure out what exactly needs to be fixed. 

Thanks for all this info, especially if this is actually whats causing the problem.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

The fix for the ACPI BSOD problem (driver Wmi*acpi.sys ) *is to Flash the Bios to the most recent version (since you have already done this, we will skip this part) Second fix is to set the Bios to* Defaults *if by chance it was set to *Optimized *settings. Third fix is to find the *ACPI *setting and see if you can change it to a different setting or *Disable *it for the last choice.


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*



spunk.funk said:


> The fix for the ACPI BSOD problem (driver Wmi*acpi.sys ) *is to Flash the Bios to the most recent version (since you have already done this, we will skip this part) Second fix is to set the Bios to* Defaults *if by chance it was set to *Optimized *settings. Third fix is to find the *ACPI *setting and see if you can change it to a different setting or *Disable *it for the last choice.


Jeez...

So I flashed my bios again for the hell of it. 

In my bios settings I have 2 default options *Load Fail-safe Defaults*, and *Load Optimized Defaults*... I tried both of them. Fail-Safe made my mouse and keyboard not work in windows, and Load Optimized had no effect on the problem.

Then I checked the ACPI settings. It showed 3 options *S1 & S3*, (it was already set to S1 & S3 when I found it), *S1 *and lastly *S3*. I tried both S1 and S3 and saw no change. Finally I *disabled *ACPI but I windows wouldn't load without it. 

Then I looked as if someone had poured scalding hot metal on my head.


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*



yougetagoldstar said:


> Thanks I'll make use of that PSU guide.
> 
> Process Explorer says that the process that's taking up all the cpu power is "Interrupts: Hardware Interrupts and DPCs"
> A Process under the SYSTEM Process. I wish I could disable it, but it wont let me.


You can't disable Interrupts/ DPC.


If you have time this weekend, try following this thread from MSFN - 
How to get the cause of high CPU usage by DPC (Deferred Procedure Call) and interrupts? - MSFN​
I've never run it myself.

You mentioned different HDDs..? Have you test the OS drive? I worked on an HP XP laptop last year that had >90% CPU consumed by Interrupts/ DPCs. In that one case - the HDD was bad. 

Run SeaTools for DOS, LONG test - http://www.techsupportforum.com/2828431-post7.html

If all OK, at least we know HDD is not the problem.

Additional info on Interrupts/DPCs - https://www.techsupportforum.com/posts/3376561/

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

`


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*



jcgriff2 said:


> You can't disable Interrupts/ DPC.
> 
> 
> If you have time this weekend, try following this thread from MSFN -
> ...


Grrr

My HDD passed the SeaTools for Dos short and LONG tests. 

My cpu is spiking as I type, fired up DPC Latency Checker and everything's in green... *** is going on?


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

Allright latency checker is showing accurately now... its ugly as expected... but i refuse to believe there isnt a fix for this.


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

When did you last reinstall XP?

Are all Windows Updates in including XP SP3?


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

Reinstalled not a week ago to resolve this problem. Yeah I've got all service packs up to SP3

Also the *Wmiacpi.sys error * (above) was never resolved. There was indeed an error revealed by driver verifier. I was given some information to stab with, but nothing worked. Could that even be what's making my cpu spike?

Definitely the most annoying problem I've had computer wise, mostly because this computer build is just a hair over 2 years old.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

One last idea. Boot into Setup (Bios) to the HDD _mode_, is it set to *AHCI *change it *IDE *or *Compatibility Mode. *


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*



spunk.funk said:


> One last idea. Boot into Setup (Bios) to the HDD _mode_, is it set to *AHCI *change it *IDE *or *Compatibility Mode. *


Not sure exctly where youd change a HDD mode.
Hmm found a *SATA operation mode * in *MCP storage config* with the modes u just mentioned. is that how you set a HDD mode. Right now thats set to IDE. gonna try em all though


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

Whoa, on second thought... Where do you change HDD modes? Want to make sure instead of guessing around


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

This might help better understand the problem better, or at least give a better idea of what im seeing. My cpu spikes kinda happen in two ways. The first is gaming. This is the fastest way to create a spike.....

I'll be playing and 5 minutes in (sometimes 20 minutes in if I leave my computer off for a while it seems) my frame rates will drop significantly and task manager will show 100% cpu. Strange thing is, if i continue to "play", my frames may shoot back up, and task manager will show normal cpu usage. It can go down and up like this for a random amount of time before it ultimately spikes cpu usage to 100%, and its game over and browsing over. 

The second, and slower way is just by using the computer for regular non-gaming stuff.. takes longer to spike, but eventualy it does for a random amnt of time.. it also might restabalize. These desktop spikes didnt start happening until the gaming spikes became an infuriatingly common occurence. 

what can make cpu usage not just debilitize, but stabalize again for a time, and then crap out again?


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

Every bios is different, I can't tell you exactly, it might say something about RAID or SATA, or HDD Mode, If it is set to *IDE *(which it should be) then I'm out of ideas.


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*



spunk.funk said:


> Every bios is different, I can't tell you exactly, it might say something about RAID or SATA, or HDD Mode, If it is set to *IDE *(which it should be) then I'm out of ideas.


Allright. Thanks a lot for trying. On the bright side you mentioned a lot of things I didnt know.


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

I'm kinda done with this thread, but I figured what the hell. 

Thought I'd mention that I bought a 80plus certified 600w power supply and im still getting the same problem


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

Problem ******* solved... 

if anyone's interested here's what I just did

I got a new aftermarket heatsink... I'm guessing that my old heatsink had died.. even though temperature measuring software showed normal temperatures. Anyway, after firing up my new heatsink I couldnt help but notice the sound of a fully functioning fan... my old dying heatsink might have been running at a lower rpm.. or maybe I just needed higher caliber sink...

I also pulled my cpu out of the socket for the 50th time to check if one of the pins were bent... I did find two bent pins, but they might have bent while I was cleaning thermal paste... anyway I took the time to straighten any pin that looked bent, put it back in, played some games on high settings for about an hour and a half and finally remembered what it was like to play a game without problems... 

Of course, I'll only believe it's really fixed if I get through at least two weeks without a cpu spike. If I do get another spike I'll post.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

Excellent Work! If all goes well, please mark this thread solved in the Thread Tools at the top.


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

Will do. And thanks again for all the info spunk, learned a lot. 

Second day with no spikes, longest problem free streak ive had in a while.


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## yougetagoldstar (Apr 14, 2012)

*Re: 100% cpu usage in win xp sp3*

Screw 2 weeks, this is obviously solved, still no problems.


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