[Tbird24]

I absolutely cannot stand this anymore. I got my computer about a year ago.It is a Dell XPS. Very top of the line. Ever since i can remember, my CPU usage would go through occasional spikes. IT would jump into the 50% range, and stay there. This would cause my computer to lag to the point where i couldnt even move my mouse. I would then shut off my computer, wait 10 minutes, and start up again. This happened i would say at least once a day. Well, starting about a month ago, i began to get popups, well long story short, i was badly infected. My computer crashed, and i brought it in for repair. The computer guy (very smart) tried everything, and finally just reinstalled XP. He was able to transfer over everything in My Documents. So, i got a new computer basically. well, i thought i did. turns out, i still have this damn CPU problem. He said that the CPU spike in the past was because i had malware running on my computer, etc. Well, im fairly certain i have no malware running now, because my computer was just cleaned, as stated above. i have quite a few virus softwares running automatically. He didnt teach me how to like use the interface, but they are apparently set to automatic. here is what i got now:Lavasoft Ad Aware CE PlusSymantec Client SecurityWindows DefenderNOW, i know what you guys are thinking. Just look at your processes tab and tell us which one is causing the spike. Well, NONE! EVERY single process is down at 0%, 1%, or 2%. nothing ever above that. The system idle process is up at around 97%. (all %'s are fluctuating, obviously.)Oh, and since i got my basically new computer back, the only things ive downloaded are AIM 6.0, Firefox 2.0, and AOL VR. but i recently uninstalled AOL completely, (i think completely.)Please help me out, and ask any questions that might be necessary to solve this problem. you can also look at this example picture of a CPU Spike: apparently i can't post a link yet. but ill get 4 posts soon and post it.

[mphenterprises]

[quote name='Tbird24']He said that the CPU spike in the past was because i had malware running on my computer, etc.Hi Tbird. Okay, obviously you know your computer better than anyone. I think the technician was only trying to tell you what you wanted to hear. Unfortunately, that should not have happened. Your problems stems from either a faulty Power Supply or hardware component.The first thing I, and everyone on here, need to know is the specifics of your computer. Primarily, the Operating System, the processor speed, the memory, the Power Supply wattage, and how long this problem has been going on.I DO NOT believe this is a virus problem; however, it definitely can not be ruled out. But first thing first. Can you please post the specs of your computer.

[Tbird24]

haha well, i wish i knew alot about computers, but i dont.i will try to do my best though. It is a Dell XPS 600, i got in i think like march of last year. I remember it being like a 1 GB hard drive, and i am currently using almost half of that, i have like 52% free space.i am getting all of the following info from Device Manager. i dont even know if thats the right place to get this info:it says ACPI Multiprocessor PCNVidia GForce 6800 (i think thats the graphics card)Network adapters: NVidia Nforce networking controllerProcessors: Intel® Pentium ® D CPU 2.8 GHz. that one is listed twice for some reason. maybe i have two?i think those are everything you would need as far as specs go. let me know if you need more, but tell me where to get the information.OH, and the OS is XP SP2. power supply wattage i have no idea!This problem has honestly been going on for as long as i can remember.

[mphenterprises]

Okay, first of all....WOW... that is a beast of a system!! Overclocked CPU to 4.28Ghz. Oh, and you have two (2) 160GB Hard Drives and a separate 400GB Hard Drive. Anyway, now that I have wiped the drool off my mouth, the only thing that I could see that could cause a high surge in usage is a faulty Power Supply or a bad hardware component.Since you are not sure of the Power Supply wattage, let's start there. According to my research, Dell uses a 650W Power Supply for your system. I would hope so with so much power going through your system.The easiest way to check for faulty hardware is to get a replacement component. Since your system is on the high end, that may be difficult. Depending on how often you notice the usage spikes, you may have to monitor your system during each check. Here are the first few steps:- The one thing you did not mention is how much memory you have. The Dell website states that your computer SHOULD have 2GBs of memory. If your computer has any less than that, I would highly suggest upgrading your memory to at least 2GBs, maybe 3GBs. If after you upgrade the memory you still get spikes...- Get a basic graphics card and install it into your system. If you do not get system usage spike within a day or so, you may have found your problem. I know any basic graphic card will not be as powerful as the one you have now but you are only doing a test. If the graphics card is failing, you can just get another card. If you still get a spike in usage...- Get another Power Supply. For this, I would suggest going to www.newegg.com. I got a 630W Power Supply for $30 from this site. I recommend this site as much as possible. Install the Power Supply and test the system. If you do not get a usage spike within a day or so, you are good. If you still get usage spikes...- Check Dell's website to see if there may be a BIOS update. This is a long shot but I do not think you will get down to this step.If, after all that, you still get spikes, then we can talk about more in-depth virus scans.

[Tbird24]

how do you know some of that stuff without me telling you it like having 2 160GB hard drives... haha whatever. I am definetely gonna try this stuff, thanks alot. this is the only good help ive gotten from any forum.and im pretty sure i did say how much memory i have. i said i have 1GB, but a little less than half of it is used. so i should probably get more.ill let you know how this works out, thanks alot.

[SpiritWind]

Post Deleted; apparently Tbird found no useful info .

[mphenterprises]

No problem Tbird. Yeah, you did mention the 1GB but for some reason I thought you were referring to the hard drive space :oops:I went straight to Dell's website and typed in your model number. Seriously, I am very impressed. Post as to your progress. :-)

[spike]

This may be as easy as a chipset fan thats gone bad, or a fan controler.

[mphenterprises]

Good point, spike. I believe it is some sort of hardware gone bad....

[Tbird24]

the cpu problem is happening right now. often times, when i try to watch a video either embedded or in a new window of WMP, it causes my computer to jump into the 50%'s. sometimes when i X out of the website/WMP player, it recovers back to 0%. other times it doesn. this is one of the times it doesnt. so im going to go restart.

[mphenterprises]

Have you tried any of the suggestions mentioned earlier?

[Tbird24]

no not yet, i would have to do that starting tuesday, because today is memorial day.

[mphenterprises]

Okay, not too sound paranoid, but I would highly advise you not to use your computer today until you troubleshoot your situation. Whatever is going on now could be a precursor to a worse situation.

[Tbird24]

OK. I just got off the phone with a dell technician. He took complete control of my computer with DellConnect, and went through a bunch of stuff and everything. He also ran diagnostic tests to find out if any hardware is bad. The turnout: NOTHING. everything checked out perfectly fine. Software, hardware, etc. EVERYTHING is fine. He said that my graphics card cannot be the cause because i do not do anything graphic intensive, like playing a computer game. My computer will spike even when just AIM is running, and AIM is certainly not graphic intensive. Next he said a bad power supply in no way can effect the CPU usage. And finally, he said I COULD upgrade to 2GB, but he doubts that that is the culprit, but it wont hurt. Finally, he ran an online virus scan. Nothing came up.so right now i have no idea what to do. He suggested i reinstall windows again... I doubt it will work. Damn. What do i do now?

[mcbarker]

Hope you guys don't mind me interrupting... :)Tbird24, just for the hell of it, do you know if XP's Indexing Service is running? It's a service that indexes the files on your hard drive so that the system does faster file searches when using the Search utility. As it is only supposed to index your files when the system isn't busy, it may not be the problem, but it's one more possibility to eliminate. To check, click on Start, then Run... and type services.msc. Look down the list in the Name column until you see Indexing Service, and check its Status and Startup Type. It will probably be set to Started and Automatic. If so, right-click on it, and click on Properties. Change Startup Type: to Disabled, and click on the Stop button in Service Status:. See if that helps any. If not, you can always change the Startup Type: back to Automatic again if you want to.

[Tbird24]

the startup type is set to manual, and for the status, its blank.

[mphenterprises]

TBird, I beg to differ with the Dell tech. A faulty Power Supply can indeed cause negative reactions, including spike in the CPU usage. If the Power Supply is failing, it does not work as efficiently as it should. The less efficient one component works the harder everything else has to work to maintain order.Reinstalling Windows is not going to do anything, except force you to reinstall your programs and such. I still think you should try some of the suggestions set force instead of just wondering. Even something as basic as increasing your memory may work for you. Unfortunately, if this is a hardware problem, you will not know for sure until something fails completely. Once that happens, then you have to worry about what else could have potentially been damaged.

[Tbird24]

Thanks, and trust me i will definately look into what you have suggested MPH. now, i just got off the phone with Dell again, because they said to call back when the CPU spiked. i was thankfully able to open up dell connect, and they were once again able to take control of my computer. the first thing he said was, WOW. GOSH. and then did some searching. midway through the search an application popped up called SysFader. and then it quickly ended. He saw that, and did some searching to find that people have been having problems with this. then he gave me some crap about how i was not under a software warantee, only hardware, and he couldnt help me, but what i should do is download SysInternals, http://www.microsoft...ssExplorer.mspx, and then figure out exactly what this application is and the like. I dont really know if i should do that though. it sounds complicated (for me) and seems like a shot in the dark. What do you think? He finally suggested that I back up all the data i wish to save, and then call him back when i am ready to reinstall windows XP HOME, and not PROFESSIONAL, because then he will be able to help me with software problems.any suggestions?

[mphenterprises]

My one suggestion as of right now, DO NOT REINSTALL WINDOWS. Dell and other manufacturers are so quick to dismiss a customer once he or she is past warranty. If what you have is a virus, malware, or worse, there are plenty of programs that can remove it.Here is a cleaner link for you....same as in your post:http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/ProcessExplorer.mspxSpiritWind is the resident Virus Guru up in this forum, at least as much as I have seen. If I had this situation, I would run my "Tier 2" programs:- Dr. Web Cure It - http://download.drwe.../drweb+cureit/- Rootkit Revealer - http://www.microsoft...tRevealer.mspx- SuperAntiSpyware Remover - http://www.superanti...PYWAREDepending on how much hard drive space you have, this will take a while. However, I know if you have anything malicious in your computer, one of these three will find it. If you need any help with these programs, let me know.

[mcbarker]

SysFader info HERE. It controls XP's animation effects.