really stupid windows question.

[Menokh]

I seem to have a problem.
Windows is using between 60% and 98% of the CPU at any one time. I have no idea why. It wasn't doing this yesterday(it was using between 20 and 50% yesterday), but today it is. I tried rebooting but it still uses that much. Windows using so much of the CPU results in extreme slowdown at times.

Just to make sure it wasn't a hardware problem, I rebooted into Linux and Linux uses about 20% of the CPU, and about 50% when doing alot of things at once.

So back in Windows I checked to see what was running in the background, and there wasn't anything running that wasn't running yeterday. I don't get it.

Does anyone here know what the problem might be?

[Mak-X]

Maybe its a virus?

[Menokh]

Originally posted by Mak-X
Maybe its a virus?

Doubt it.
But it is possible, I suppose. Windows is notorious for virii, and my friend was going nuts on Kazaa yesterday(Monday), so it is possible. I'll have to check for virii.

[vegeta1215]

Wow, your Linux part uses that much of the CPU?!? Mine hasn't used more than 20%, even when I was compiling XFree86 or my kernel, and I only have a K6-2 @ 523mhrtz

Beats me dude :shrug:

[Menokh]

The only reason Linux uses that much CPU is because my CPU is a shitty Celeron. K6-2's are far better than Celerons, and yours doubtlessly outperforms mine.

I guess I can add this recent problem of mine to the very long 'why not to use windows' list.

[Thunderbird]

Windows runs a lot of crap that doesn't show up in the CTRL-ALT-DEL box if that's what you're using. In order to close these extra programs, you'll need a process viewer of some sort. I do not know of any free ones, but you may be able to find one on Google. Norton Systemworks and Visual C++ 5 or better (never had 4 or below) come with their own process viewers.

A word of warning on this approach: be VERY cautious about what you take out. Shutting down some processes will jeopardize the stability of your system. For example, it would be very idiotic to shut down kernel32.dll ;).

There is another way, simply stop the processes from starting up. Start msconfig (use Start..Run if you don't know how) and check the startup tab (I believe it's there for all versions of Windows that use msconfig). You can safely remove all checkmarks from the boxes here and your system stability will not be jeopardized. However, you could be removing important programs from startup (your AV for example).

(EDIT)Almost forgot. I have a couple more things to add about the startup thingy :).

When unchecking programs from your Startup tab, they are not deleted from their respective locations (the Startup menu or the Registry), rather, they are moved to a special location (so you can reactivate the programs if you need to).

Be advised that Windows ME will inform you that you are using the Selective Startup for troubleshooting if you choose to stop programs from starting. When it does this, simply use the checkbox in the dialog to tell it to shut up ;). It will display it again if you make changes though. XP might do this as well, but I have not experimented with this part of it yet, so I have no conclusive information.

(/EDIT)


and my friend was going nuts on Kazaa

Isn't Kazaa known for it's spyware? ;)

(EDIT)
I hope this helps :).
(/EDIT)

(EDIT2)
I must be a slow typer, or I just had a lot to say (judging from the fact that 2 posts appeared while I was replying ;)).

[vegeta1215]

Originally posted by Menokh
The only reason Linux uses that much CPU is because my CPU is a shitty Celeron. K6-2's are far better than Celerons, and yours doubtlessly outperforms mine.

I guess I can add this recent problem of mine to the very long 'why not to use windows' list.

I dunno, mine is pretty shitty too. :(

You know what? Tonight on The Screen Savers on Tech TV they had a little segment on "Getting rid of Windows" where they showed all the free software alternatives you can use on Linux as opposed to Windows apps. It was pretty neat.

You know what was weird? One time, Opera froze for me (on Linux) cause I was trying to access this slow ass site, and I had to kill it with XKill, right? Well, after I did, my CPU usage was still pretty high! Turns out there were still instances of Opera running. I had to use kill 9, killin with extreme prejudice :D But after that, it was fine! I reported the bug, hopefully Opera fixes it.

[goKi]

windows xp only uses 2% of my computer, so that is not normal for sure. maybe you could try increasing the size of your paging file to free up some resources.

[Thunderbird]

I don't think it was made obvious what version of Windows you are actually using (unless I'm just dense). Care to spill that little bit of info? :)

[Menokh]

My paging file is huge as it is(~300megs).

I really wish I could just dump windows. All I need is either a Linux version of Zelda Classic, or a way to use the Windows or DOS version in Linux. Neiter exist at the moment though. :(

I use Windows ME(I like to call it Windows 98 Third edition, because that's what it actually is), and System restore is off. I have 256 megs of ram, a POS 700mhz Celeron, and a GeForce2 MMX200 w/ 32 megs of ram.

[vegeta1215]

Originally posted by Menokh
I really wish I could just dump windows. All I need is either a Linux version of Zelda Classic, or a way to use the Windows or DOS version in Linux. Neiter exist at the moment though. :(

I'm in the exact same boat as you, but instead of torturing myself with Windows, I tortue myself by not playing Zelda Classic, and it's killing me!!! :cry:

[goKi]

well thats not normal... i use windows xp (and its the best operating system ive ever used, and ive used linux) with a celeron 900MHz, 128mb and a 192mb paging file. that only uses 2-3% of my resources... try reinstalling windows.

[AtmaWeapon]

Originally posted by Menokh


I use Windows ME(I like to call it Windows 98 Third edition, because that's what it actually is), and System restore is off. I have 256 megs of ram, a POS 700mhz Celeron, and a GeForce2 MMX200 w/ 32 megs of ram.


Windows ME is the suckiest when it comes to resource management. When I had it, I would constantly run with only 1MB of my 256 MB of RAM available. Now, in WinXP, I have 131MB free, which is pretty average, and my CPU usage has peaked at 4% while typing this. The Celeron sure isn't helping you, though. ;)

[Drunken Tiger]

This is another stupid question... How do you find all of this stuff out???