Explorer uses 100% of CPU

When I start Windows 2000 the Task Manager shows CPU usage at 100% and the process that is getting 99-100% of the CPU is explorer.exe. Naturally, this makes my system kind of slow.

I don't think this is the normal activity of the boot process. I do wait a sufficient time for all of my startup programs/tasks to be loaded. I have very few of these, actually. The main ones are: Norton Anti-Virus, AIM, Hmonitor (hardware sensor), Zone Alarm Pro, Palm Hotsync Manager.

I have been dealing with this by killing explorer.exe and then running it again via Task Manager. Is this bad practice?

I rarely reboot my machine, (usually just put it on Stand By) so I don't actually know when this started happening or if it happens all the time (I think it does).

I'd be grateful for any ideas or approaches. Thanks!

Steve
Cambridge, MA
USA

I'm running:
Windows 2000 SP4
Compaq Deskpro PIII 866
512 MB RAM, HD1: 13 GB, HD2: 120 GB (2 60 GB partitions)

All critical MS patches are applied
Sasser-free as reported by MS Sasser check
Virus-free as reported by Norton AntiVirus, current virus definitions

 

Arie -

Thanks for the link. If I understand correctly, you think that applying the latest MS security updates caused this problem. This is possible, from the timing.

The article states that some drivers are not loading properly, but I don't think I am running any of the drivers that are listed. Rather than apply a patch, I'd like to find what is not loading properly on my system and go back to the manufacturer for an update.

How do I find which drivers are failing to load on my system?

Thanks,
Steve

 

These will probably be drivers associated with some of the startup applications you will find in the Task Manager/Processes tab.
You could look in the Administrative Tools/Event Viewer for clues (if any?)
But suggest it will probably be a lot quicker just to apply the hotfix. Depending of course how much spare time you have.