Computer freezes for .5 seconds every second.

[Trevil]

Greetings,

At this very moment my other PC is chewing up about 40% of the CPU every other second. This causes the mouse and applications to briefly freeze. I have opened "Process Explorer from Sysinternals" and it is showing that the culprit is "Hardware Interrupts" where one paint of screen shows zero cpu usage, next paint shows 36%. However, I have no way of knowing where the interrupt originated. I have closed everything down, went into "Component Services" and stopped just about every service that I can, and am restarting others.

Is there a tool or anybody know where I can get my hands on code that will show the source of the Interrupts?

Or does anyone have a suggestion where to look next?

Problem happened earlier today, rebooted, went away; now several hours later it came back. Wasn't doing anything except listening to music with WinAmp (all media on hard drive).

I have searched the web until I'm blind in one eye and can only type with my toes!

Running Win-XP-Pro w/all updates on HP-Xt958 (within last month, to try and correct this problem, I installed new hard drive, then reinstalled only required software).

I had posted query in Software, but someone suggested posting here as well (Software =

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1079306)

Thank you for your assistance!
Wayne


35+ years of 'progress' -- can't we all just go wire boards again?

 

[micker377]

Sounds like somethig is "phoning home" everything you do! Install a good anti-virus and anti-spyware program (if you don't have one. AVG anti-virus, and the Microsoft AntiSpyware programs (both free), for starters. You could also go online to Trend-Micro housecall, for an online scan.

 

[Trevil]

Thank you for your suggestion. I already have Norton Internet, SpyBot, Microsoft AntiSpyware and Ad-Aware (and have actually run them!) I'm at work now and away from the PC, but I'm suspicious of my CD drive and/or WinAmp. Out of the clear blue, the CD drive popped the door open (there was no CD in it), so I yanked it's power cable and rebooted. Problem departed for over three hours, so put power cable back and rebooted. After a while, opened WinAmp again and problem started again (40% CPU used for Hardware Interrupts). So decided to use Norton and blocked Internet Access for WinAmp. It was running for 30 min. w/o problem when I went to bed. Checked it on the way out the door this morning and it was still OK. Will bang on it with a hammer tonight and see what happens.

Thank you for your suggestion.

35+ years of 'progress' -- can't we all just go wire boards again?

 

[unborn]

You definately have a trojan if your cd drive is popping out.. install

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/avast.html

Avast its free just need to get a new av software that hasnt been compromised. this one also scans your memory its awesome.. if all else fails back up your computer files you need and format... but deffinately dont go anywhere you have to type user/pass into and if you HAVE you better change all the information for them quick.. including if you do online banking you may have just handed someone your account.

good luck hope this helps!

in the begining man created code.
in the end code will create man.
clones are coming only matter of time.
examples?

http://planetsourcecode.com

 

[cdogg]

And just out of curiosity, do you have a wireless internet connection?

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[Trevil]

Thank you unborn and cdogg.

No wireless router -- this is home pc hooked to Linksys router with 3 other PC's (they're all fine).

As I write this, I have downloaded "Avast" virus scanner and it is running.

I have not had the high CPU usage since I disabled WinAmp internet access through Norton Internet, but my CD door always opens when I reboot. The CD issue only started about about 2 days ago. After the scan is finished, I will enable WinAmp again and see if I can force the problem to start again.
Thank you again.
Wayne

Code: Where the vision is often rudely introduced to reality!

 

[garebo]

Sometimes you can find the culprit in run\msinfo\startup, have a look in there for anything unusual.
Other times you can find it in task manager.

Im a big fan of trend-micro, they usually find the culprit and will fix the problem if you let it, im surprised on this one. Suggest you give trend-micro another shot at it.

You can also get a free copy of "stinger" using google. Its owned by Macafee. It searches for trojans.

You can also have your firewall shut all net traffic right down. Maybe allowing a few things back online you might find the culprit there as well. I have done that with zone alarm pro.




Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[garebo]

Another thing, spybot has a new version out v1.6, you might want to give that a try, uninstall old one first of course. Its supposed to be a lot better, but at least it may have updated protection of some sort.



Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[garebo]

Pardon me, i made have made a mistake on the spybot, let me check out which prog i am talking about for sure.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[garebo]

Newest spybot is v1.4, i am only pointing this out as its fairly new and not everyone has updated to this version, and its got more protection.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[Trevil]

OK, here's the latest:
1. I have SpyBot 1.4 and run it every day.
2. I downloaded

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/avast.html

and ran it (nothing found).
3. WinAmp is off the hook -- the problem started again with WinAmp disabled via Norton.
4. It looks an awful lot like Christmas (oops, I mean the CD Drive); Once the problem returned, I again removed the power cable to the CD and so far the problem is gone.
Will keep trying to see if problem returns and will keep you posted.
I really appreciate the feedback everyone has provided!
Wayne


Code: Where the vision is often rudely introduced to reality!

 

[micker377]

I have a program installed to check for any CD's left in the drives. It opens any tray that has a CD in it. Could one of you programs (audio or anti-virus) have a similar feature built in?

 

[Trevil]

Thanks Micker377. No, I think it's a bum drive. When I boot, it would open the door, but when I push the button to close the door, it would close completely, then open about 1/2 inch. I tried putting a CD in it, but it ignored it.

At this point, I have it unplugged and have not had any further problems, so I've got my fingers crossed. Now I just need to fix the other problems I have introduced (iexplore.exe - The instruction at ... The memory could not be read..) -- sigh!

Thank you!

Code: Where the vision is often rudely introduced to reality!

 

[mainegeek]

Trevil,
A failed CD-Rom drive can cause all the symptoms that you have mentioned. Have seen this frequently with Phillips drives.