[Granpuff]

THE PROBLEM:

I noticed that my system was noticably slower. It started taking several minutes both to shut down and boot up. My frame rates in video games went in the crapper and other programs are running slower than ever!

When I opened Windows Task Manager the performance view shows my cpu usage running between 20 and 30% ALL THE TIME even when no programs are running! The processes view shows the system idle process hovering between 97 and 99%. In the past before the slow down occured the performance view would show only 1 or 2% CPU usage when the system was idling. (I've attached screen shots of both views when the CPU usage is at 30%) What in the blazes is using 30% of my CPU power when nothing is running!?!? That 30% CPU power I'm being robbed of is really sending my machine back to the stone age!


SOLUTIONS I'VE TRIED: (the screen shots were taken after the following things were tried)

Used MSCONFIG to end ALL startup programs.
Deleted the contents of Windows TEMP and USERS TEMP folders
Complete virus scan with Norton Anti Virus 2009
Defragged all hard drives
Uninstalled Suspected Programs
Checked Device Manager for any error icons
Double checked and updated all drivers where needed
Ran MIGO Software Registry Repair
Scoured the Tech Support Sites For Possible Solutions
Prayer and fasting...

I'm at my wits end and hope someone in the community can catch the thief who's stealing a 3rd of my CPU cycles! To help in the investigation I've also attached a Hijack this report, a DxDiag report and a Nero InfoTool report. Lots of information to help find a solution.

MY SYSTEM CONFIGURATION:
Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra-939 Motherboard
nForce3 Ultra Chipset
AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 Dual Core Processor @ 2.61 GHz
4GB PC 3200 Dual Channel RAM
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 500 Watt Power Supply
WinXP Professional Service Pack 3
Dell 2507WFP (Digital) Monitor
HIS ATI Radeon HD 3850 AGP 512 MB Video Card
SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Sound Card
On Board ICS 1883 chip (10/100) Mbit Ethernet
Comcast High Speed Digital Internet
4.55 TB Hardrive Space
Logitech 5.1 Surround Speakers
Epson 4490 Scanner
Epson R220 Printer
Cannon S750 Printer
Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard
Microsoft Explorer 4.0 Mouse
Trendnet Bluetooth USB Adapter.

[HCD]

It "Might!" be down to searchindexer which runs in Vista. Try disabling it and see if it makes any difference....


Click Start
Click Conrol Panel
Click System and Maintenance
Click Administrative Tools
Double click Services
If asked, click Continue
Scroll down to and Right Click Windows Search
Select DISABLE

Obviously if that doesn't resolve -reverse process to reinitiate

[Granpuff]

Thanks for the suggestion HCD. I had also wondered if the windows search might be the problem because a couple of years ago I had tried Google Desktop search and it took a lot of resources. I had downloaded and installed Windows Search 4.0 a couple of weeks ago from the Windows Update site and it ran full steam for a couple of hours cataloging my system then just kind of faded into the background.

I saw it was listed in the Task Manager Processes View but wasn't using any CPU cycles. WinXP is slightly different but I followed your instructions and stopped Windows Search but it had no effect on the problem.

I went one step further and Used Add\Remove Programs to uninstall Windows Search 4.0 completely followed by a reboot (very slow as usual) but that also had no effect and I still have a constant 20 to 30% loss of CPU power at complete idle.

The mystery continues...

[HCD]

Looking at original log --- unsure as to what billeo.exe is doing.....? Another solution might be to uninstall SP3 and see if that makes a difference.
Another avenue to look over is ....with 4.5TB hard drive...is it partitioned?
XP Pro will only recognise 3gb RAM....check BIOS settings are not creating a conflict.

Hope this gives some possibles?

[Granpuff]

Thanks for the reply. The billeo.exe program is a utility for track password, filling in forms and keeping track of receipts etc. You can learn all about it at http://www.billeo.com/page/homepage.jsp?sitename=Billeo I've been using it for a long time with no problems and the stolen CPU mystery still goes on wven with Billeo not loaded or running.

I don't have a 4.5 TB hard drive. I have 8 drives with a TOTAL capacity of 4.57 TB. Two USB external 500 GB, Two 160 GB in Raid 0, two internal 500 GB, a 750 GB and a 1.5 TB. Just primary partions on all.

I was assured by the Gurus at MaximumPC magazine that although WinXP only shows 2.5 GB of RAM being addressed that the system actually makes use of all 4 GB. To get DUAL Channel performance my MOBO requires all four slots be filled with matching memory sticks.

I still haven't had any replies from the geniuses who analyze the HiJack this logs and I've received no ather replies besides yours. Oh well, Back to the drawing board!

[Shroomsday]

I stumbled upon this thread while searching the web for a completely different problem, but I'll attempt to offer some insight into this issue of yours.
I noticed your PC has a Radeon HD 3850 AGP card and an nForce3 chipset. This is similar to mine (HD 3650 AGP, nForce3 250.)
I had some very serious problems with my CPU being at 40-60% load at idle, very slow startups, etc like you. (also with Task Manager reporting little to no other CPU usage in the processes.) It happened right after installing a new Radeon HD 3650 card. After a lot of changing drivers, pulling out cards, etc. I finally discovered that it was the HD 3650's High Definition Audio device that was causing the nasty slowdown. Once I disabled the "Microsoft UAA Bus Driver for High Definition Audio" in the System Devices area of Device Manager, the CPU load suddenly dropped to 0%, and everything was fine after that. I didn't need the audio device, anyway.
I don't know if the HD 3850 has this HD Audio device or not, but I'm wondering if the Radeon HD 3xxx AGP cards are predisposed to have more issues with certain chipsets..?
FYI, I am using nForce 5.11 drivers and Catalyst 8.12 hotfix drivers.

I hope that info is useful to you or anyone else, let me know how you get on.

[stephencc]

Clean up your start up entries, also remove any programs you don't use anymore, if there are any. It might help if you end any processes you don't need at the time.