why is my CPU usage always +90% ?

Question

my cpu is 3.0 ghz intel. there are no tasks\applications running.
Processes 44 cpu usage:96% commit charge 404M\2461M

well, actually, when my windows media player is running\playing(not ripping) it's 100% but i noticed now that when i close it. then cpu usage will be less than 10%.
so it's like when i run programs my cpu usage will be +90%!
why?

Answer 1

resons:

1. viruses - use memory

2. Bckground application - check task manager

3. Compress and decompress video/audio/zip files - use 100% memory

5. Disk space(have at least 12% of free space) - small disk space for swap file, so there will be lots of writing and deleting task to the disk making high in cpu usage.

6. Fan/cooling system - make sure they work, if the system hot the cpu tend running in high cos there temp detector inside that can sense changing in ambient and use cpu up to make it cooler

7. Software - make sure you did not install any new software recently, some software use lots of cpu resource...uninstall themm.

8. If not work just use safe mode(F8 while restarting) and restore your computer the safe time when the problem did not occur!

Answer 2

Well it seems you already have the Task manager open. (If not, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc or right click on the Taskbar and choose Task Manager).

Now klick on the "Process" tab and order the column "CPU Usage" in ascending order.

All processes beside the idle process are the cause your CPU usage is so high.

In your updated question you say the media player causes 100%. Do you use a visualisation plugin to get funky graphics while listening to the music?
Or do you view HD-Videos? Both use a lot of processing power, especcially if you modified the rendering effects of the visualization plugin while listening to music.

Maybe, if you're listening to music from your CD or DVD drive, you could check in the device manager, if your drive uses DMA or PIO Mode.
If PIO Mode is activated, the drive will use the processor to move all data. In DMA Mode, the drive can talk to the memory itself without using the processor.
In case your drive uses PIO, check the site below.

Answer 3

Here's how to find the culprit :

- open "Task Manager"
- choose the "processes" tab
- sort the processes by "CPU" threads
- go to the process which has the highest number of threads
- do a search on you hard drive for that particular process (file)

The root directory of that file will tell you which program is chewing up your CPU usage.

regards,
Philip T

Answer 4

The main culprit is usually anti-virus protection software, it's always a resource hog. However, there are other applications that could be hogging you resources. Take a look at the resource manager to see which application is consuming the most, and try to identify what it pertains to.

Answer 5

If you are sure no applications are running, are you running a screensaver and/or wallpaper? These are usually filled with graphics, which make for very large files, and consume memory. After playing with the Windows slideshow for a while, I reset my wallpaper and screensaver to none. Check it out and see if it helps.

Answer 6

its a possible virus. look for anti-virus or spyware softwares and try to clean it, else goto ctrl+alt+del > processes > click on CPU tab, look at what's eating up your cpu usage.

Answer 7

locate out whats operating in heritage from the startup menu. now and again undercover agent ware will drag equipment speed down yet you could't locate it because it really is proper to valid software. Use selective startup to work out what's slowing it down the most.

Answer 8

Maybe your computer is infected by worm or spyware. Use Spybot Search & Dostroy to scan your computer. Get it from download.com

Answer 9

This is very nornal. Dont worry about it.

Answer 10

FDISK!!!!!