I have a P4 2.0ghz Windows XP Service Pack 2 small form factor PC with 1 gb ram installed. Everything was running good until I tried to install 'The SIMS' from an old disk. Needless to say the game did not install and 'hung' requiring me to reboot. After reboot everything went sooo sloooow. I thought maybe a program was corrupted so I uninstalled a few recent ones and still the problem existed. I tried disk check etc and nothing helped. I then opened the task manager and no programs seem to be running over 17,000kb (the highest of any program). BUT the CPU usage spikes up to 100% as soon as I try and do anything including just refreshing the page. Can anyone explain this and more to the point how do I fix it?. I cannot re-install as the original disks did not come with the PC as it was a gift. Please help.
You need to isolate the program or task running the cpu usage up. Keep task manager on top of all screens and set the order of tasks to display by most usage. Then try something and see what task appears on top of the list.
You receive an access violation error and the system may appear to become unresponsive when you try to install an update from Windows Update or from Microsoft Update
927891
Note The hotfix that this article describes supersedes the hotfix that includes the updates that are listed in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 916089.
Note This article discusses the MSI component fixes only. This fix is one component of a two-part fix that includes a Windows Update client software update. These updates will be deployed automatically using Windows Update in May 2007 and June 2007. However, some customers may select to manually install these updates. To fully address the unresponsive system issue, both this fix for MSI must be installed and the Windows Update client must be updated to version 3.0. When you install the MSI fix and the new client, process-monitoring tools may still show CPU usage at near 100 percent. However, the system should still be responsive and should not lock up. If another task requires CPU cycles, they will be shared. However, if the system is idle, MSI will use the full cycles that are available to complete in the shortest time. If another task is running at the same time as MSI, the system may run slightly more slowly. However, the computer should still be responsive. Remember that you must install the MSI fix and the new client to address unresponsive or locked systems. It is expected that process-monitoring tools may still show CPU usage at near 100 percent, but computer unresponsiveness is expected. If you watch the process monitor, you may still see CPU usage at near 100 percent during some scans if the computer is otherwise idle. This is expected behavior. Important Many instances of the Svchost.exe process may be running on a Windows-based computer. These Svchost.exe processes control certain tasks. The software update that is described in this article is only designed to address the problem that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section. Other problems that you experience with Svchost.exe may require alternative resolutions or troubleshooting steps.
