CPU performance peaks and stalls

[Ian]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

When connected to the internet the mouse pointer frequently judders across
the screen. I don't think it's a mouse issue though because the CPU
performance in task manager jumps to 100% when I experience the problem. I
have recently installed a new driver for my NVIDIA graphics card (from
NVIDIA not MS) and a patch for a game, but I think they're ok (think!?)

I am not very IT Savvy so apologise if this information is limited but will
get you more on request. I hope you can help with this very irritating
issue.

Ian


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.682 / Virus Database: 444 - Release Date: 11/05/2004

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

Ian said in news:Of9bRSAOEHA.2336@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl:
> When connected to the internet the mouse pointer frequently judders
> across the screen. I don't think it's a mouse issue though because
> the CPU performance in task manager jumps to 100% when I experience
> the problem. I have recently installed a new driver for my NVIDIA
> graphics card (from NVIDIA not MS) and a patch for a game, but I
> think they're ok (think!?)
>
> I am not very IT Savvy so apologise if this information is limited
> but will get you more on request. I hope you can help with this very
> irritating issue.
>
> Ian
>
>
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.682 / Virus Database: 444 - Release Date: 11/05/2004

Open Task Manager and watch the processes (sort them by the CPU column
in order from highest to lowest CPU usage). Then connect and watch.
Maybe you'll catch whatever is whacking your system. Several utilities
will run when there is an Internet connection. If you have anti-virus
software, it may be configure to auto-update. Windows Update, if
enabled will check for updates. Some of the Creative Soundblaster
products install phone-home programs (you can disable them if instead
you want to manually check for updates and don't care for their "news").
If you are going online to play games with others, you might also sbe
running a game server to do so, and even when you don't play the game
server loads and others are using it. You'll need to review your
running processes to see what might be using the Internet. Use Task
Manager to see what is loaded. Use msconfig.exe to see what startup
programs are listed.

If opening Task Manager makes the usage disappears, some trojans operate
that way to hide themselves from view. That is, roaches scurry when
there is bright light. This may be running as zombies, programs waiting
for an Internet connection to phone home, tell their master where they
are, and await instructions from master as to when to attack so targeted
site or host (denial of service attack). Run a full scan for viruses
using a recently updated anti-virus product or, at least, use one of the
free online scanners available from Symantec, Trend, and McAfee (they'll
detect but probably don't fix any found nasties). Run Ad-Aware and
Spybot to check for spyware.

Not all programs that reduce their CPU usage when Task Manager is opened
are trojans. Some are configured to reduce their CPU usage when you
start using your system and also have low priority. They are meant to
run but get out of your way when you need to use the system. So leave
Task Manager open to show its Processes tab, sort it so the most used
CPU is at the top, and pause using the computer to see what might
trigger to start using more resources when it detects your system is
idle.

If you still haven't found anything yet, run HijackThis. It doesn't fix
anything but provides a report of the common areas that get infected.
Then post the report for others to review. But do that after the above
effort. The reports often don't get much response, and posting them in
the spyware and security forums probably will get better results.

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