[Help] - 100% cpu on new install of XP

[dellboy]

Having trouble with my PC which insists on running at 100% most of the time, even when at idle with no apps running it jumps between 10 & 25% - normal system should run @ 1 or 2 %.

I've re-installed XP Pro on the PC a couple of times now, as soon as its installed though i get the same problem as above. Ive also completely erased the drive using Diskscrubber before the last install just in case anything was left behind.

The PC is a little old with a 500mhz AMD proc, 184mb & a 10GB HD although i also have a similar spec machine (with just 128mb) which runs just fine (even with XP & Win 98 dual boot!) which makes me suspect that its not just the age of the PC.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Dellboy

Title Edited - Please follow new posting rules from now on.

--Zxian

[Zxian]

Have you installed all the drivers for your hardware?

Also, you might want to check what data transfer mode your hard drive is running in. Check under Device Manager->IDE Controllers to see if any devices are running in PIO mode. If they are, then that's the cause of your problems. You'll probably want to find updated chipset or IDE controller drivers to solve your problem.

[WolfX2]

make sure you install all the drivers that came with your computer, they may be some that manage the system resources

[cluberti]

In cases like these I always recommend process explorer (http://www.sysinternals.com) to determine what is using the CPU - you can break it down by process, thread, and even modules within threads if you so need to.