Hi,
I've opened task manager to try to see why my comp might be slow and the CPU is peaking at 100% and the memory at 225,164K for iexplore seems very high. I seem to have had a few problems since a MS update came thru' last Thurs 10th July

Any help would be greatly appreciated

ChrisB

Hi Chris and Welcome to D-A-L.

Please tell us more about your computer - make, model, amount of RAM, amount of free disk space and the version of Windows you are using.

When you exit Internet Explorer, what happens to CPU usage?

Have you scanned for malware?

Thanks for replying.
CPU usage drops when not using IE but can still have high peaks even though no applications running.
I have Kaspersky AV, I've run Ccleaner and Spybot S&D. My computer was built for me by a local company that's no longer around. If you could tell me how to check for the info you've asked for I'll do it. I'm running Windows XP but I think it's the 'Pro' version, disk space is about 44% (50.8 GB). RAM??
I can find my way round a computer and I'm proficient with applications, just braindead when it comes to technical stuff. Thanks so much for your help.
ChrisB

CPU usage drops when not using IE

That's good.

but can still have high peaks even though no applications running.

Well, understand that when no applications are running and you are idle Windows does some housekeeping and many scanners start doing their thing. If you have "Indexing" or a Desktop search program running, it does it's thing during idle time. That said, it would be good to ensure it is not malware activity either so I recommend you do periodic supplemental anti-malware scans with Malwarebytes's Anti-Malware (MBAM). Update and run your cleaner program first - no need to scan 1000s of temporary files.

What version of IE are you using? Note that BHOs (browser helper objects) or add-ons are common causes of excessive resource use by IE. These include added toolbars and search boxs. If you have both Google Toolbar and Yahoo Toolbar, for example, pick one. If IE7, you can easily manage your BHO through Tools > Manage Add-ons.

You should be able to see in Task Manager what is using those CPU cycles. Alternatively, the below are all enhanced Task Manager type programs that will show you what is running on your computer. Each is nice in its own way. What's Running is probably the easiest, with AutoRuns for the more experienced, and Process Explorer the most popular. With these, for example, you can see what processes are using each of those various svchost.exe images.

AutoRuns for Windows
Process Explorer
What's Running

My computer was built for me by a local company that's no longer around.

Well, as long as the computer is no longer under warranty, that does not really matter. They probably used easily available components - at some point, you will need to know the motherboard make and model, how much RAM you have installed (right click > Properties under My Computer) and if using an add-in graphics card, the make and model of that too. And finally the make and model of the power supply unit (PSU) - or its specs.

Everest will tell you more than you want to know about your computer, except the PSU specs. Including temperatures - Computer > Sensor, then wait for readings. It will also tell you how much RAM - random access memory - you have installed and available.

That's a lot to run though - let us know if you run into an obstacle.

Thanks very much, I have run MBAM and no problems found.
I'm sorry I don't understand 'Indexing' or what a 'Desktop search program' is...(If you have "Indexing" or a Desktop search program running, it does it's thing during idle time.)
I downloaded IE7 a couple of days ago but I don't understand BHOs or add-ons...(Note that BHOs (browser helper objects) or add-ons are common causes of excessive resource use by IE.)
I only have the Google toolbar.
I've downloaded 'Whats Running' but it'll take a day or two to get to grips with it.
Motherboard is: AsRock K7S8X v3
RAM is: 1.25 GHz, 512 MB of RAM
I haven't added a graphics card myself only the one fitted...I think this is the right info...
Chip Type: RADEON 9250/9200 Series AGP (0x5964)
DAC Type: InternalDAC(400 MHz)
Memory Size: 128 MB
Adapter String: RADEON 9200 SERIES
Bios Information: BK-ATI VER008.015.033.000
I've downloaded 'Everest' but again don't really understand it, will keep trying though.
I don't know how to find the info on the PSU yet.
Thank you so much for your time and effort on this.

I'm sorry I don't understand 'Indexing' or what a 'Desktop search program' is...

If you open your search box under Start, depending on the view you have, you should see Indexing Service status. If enabled, it means XP goes through the hard drive and "indexes" keywords so next time you search for something, it can find it faster. There are several 3rd party indexers that do similar things, Google Desktop being one.

This service does speed up searches, but it can affect system performance too. I don't search my hard drive often enough to worry about a search taking an extra 10 - 20 seconds, so mine is disabled.

I downloaded IE7 a couple of days ago but I don't understand BHOs or add-ons...

A couple days ago? Recent changes like that are good to know from the start. Did you have the problem before installing IE7?

I use XPPro SP3 with IE7 and though different than IE6, is much better than IE6 and does not take long to get used to. To see what BHOs are enabled in IE7, look under Tools > Manage Add-ons > Enable or Disable Add-ons and wait for the screen to fill. Let us know if any seem out of place, or better yet, "Reset" Internet Explorer. Click on Tools > Internet Properties > Advanced. See an explanation of what Reset does, then proceed if you want to take that route. You will lose the Google Toolbar, but IMO that is good - don't worry, it's the one I use too.

Then download the latest version and install it again, only this time, make sure you install using the "Custom" install if offered. Do not install any extra stuff they try to slough off on you - opt out of all but the bare necessities.

Yes, Everest does produce a lot to digest. Perhaps checking out CPUz to learn the terminology. It does not provide graphics information so GPU-Z is in the same light for GPUs.

Using graphics card instead of on-board graphics is good as on-boards have their own RAM to use. However, XP does much better in 1 Gb than it does in 512Mb, so that should get into the budget for the next upgrade - upgrading from 512Mb to 1Gb is normally the best bang for the money anyone can do to improve across the board performance.

The only way to determine the "rated" specifications of a power supply is to read the label. You can see the actual voltages in the BIOS Setup Menu and with monitoring programs, but you cannot see current used, so therefore you cannot see how much "power" in watts the PSU is capable of, or delivering.

So you need to look inside for label on power supply. If they played nice, it is mounted so you can read it without removing the supply. When open, I would look at the RAM slots to see how many you have occupied and available, for future reference.