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High cpu usage in Win98SE

Discussion in 'Legacy Windows' started by JobsWorth, 2008/10/22.

  1. 2008/10/22
    JobsWorth

    JobsWorth Inactive Thread Starter

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    I have 3 (or 4!) machines, all dual-booting Win98SE/XP.

    All is well on all but one. This is my most recent machine which is built round a Foxconn (ugh!) mobo with AMD Sempron LE-1200 cpu and SIS chipset.

    (There is a saga with this configuration but that is not relevant to this post).

    I became aware that the sluggish performance under Win98SE was related to every process using cpu resources at a factor of 100 times normal. In particular Explorer.exe was hogging 50%-70% and Wzcsldr2.exe (for D-Link usb WiFi) 20%-30%.

    Though I applied several illimination strategies to isolate the problem, I could find no solution.

    Then something very strange happened.

    Although this is not something that would normally happen (through my settings), I went away for a while and came back to find the system had switched itself off! I cursed, pressed the power button and Windows came back up. Everything was running perfectly with system idle process hovering around 99%!

    So I restarted to see if the problem had been resolved. But no - back to the usual high loads.

    OK, I thought. Deliberately chose Stand-by, pressed the power button and again all was well.

    Can anyone suggest what is causing this anomaly and a solution?
     
  2. 2008/10/23
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    You may have a malware problem. If you only run "standard" virus/spyware/trojan checks, do some online checks, look at the stickies in the Malware and Virus Removal forum.
    Post a log there if you think it is required.

    Overheating of the CPU by constant 100% usage will cause the shutdown.

    You may just have one program that wants to carry out a task, but cannot do so. Look at what might be running in the background. Try Startup CPL
    http://www.majorgeeks.com/Startup_CPL_d619.html.

    Is a security program blocking another program?

    Matt
    PS It might be due to a badly written program eg. a free screensaver.
     

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  4. 2008/10/23
    JobsWorth

    JobsWorth Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks for your reponse Mattman.

    I agree that the BIOS probably pre-emptively invoked stand-by to protect the cpu from overheating.

    However, I have more-or-less identical configurations - start-up apps, desktop, screensaver, protection (AVG & ZA) etc - on the other two machines. The main difference is the WiFi and the D-Link drivers (eg the aforementioned Wzcsldr.exe - which I don't know why needs to run as a continuous process rather than once only. Anyway killing it makes no difference) are known to be buggy. But I've performed various illiminations (using CodeStuff Starter) down to a bare minimum at start-up yet the problem persists.

    I have run the obvious Spybot, Ad-Aware, CCleaner, HiJackThis etc but none report anything untoward.

    Why does the system normalize after stand-by? The same processes (Process Explorer) seem to be running. There may, perhaps, be a rogue or conflicting mutex or thread that is released but I don't enough about them to be able to isolate a culprit that way.
     
    Last edited: 2008/10/23
  5. 2008/10/23
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    Try running Scandisk (from memory, Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools) put checks in the boxes. Boot into Safe Mode if you find any problems running it. While in Safe Mode (I know you were going to go there anyway :D), look in Device Manager and check for any long lists of the same device, that means Windows is having problems with (installing) the drivers and they may not be the correct ones. You can/should delete any multiple listings and run the Add New Hardware wizard after you find out why the original drivers were not the "exact" correct ones.

    Check in Add/Remove Programs. If there is software associated with that "different" hardware, you may need to uninstall and reinstall it or look for updated versions at the manufacturer's website. (Has it only started "playing up" since you installed that hardware?)

    Matt
     
  6. 2008/10/25
    JobsWorth

    JobsWorth Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks, Matt.

    As previously intimated, I have tried most elimination strategies.

    The Bootlog shows no anomalies - except fail to load ndis2sup.vxd and sdvxd (but research states that this is normal when third-party altrnatives are loaded) and several fonts (which, again, research indicates often occurs - and investigation shows that 298 fonts (where do they all come from?!) are actually loaded, including the "failed" ones!).

    Device Manager shows several duplicate entries under PCI and Usb - but then it always does and it can be very difficult to determine which refers to what, especially when I have no PCI cards installed yet! The on-board graphics, audio and usb probably account for most of it through "bridging" but recognizing what refers to what and is correct can be problamatical - DM is not very helpful in this respect.

    The only other concern is the use of dual (and single) fifo which does not occur on the other machines.

    Nevertheless, I remain convinced that the clue lies in that the system purrs after invoking stand-by and then restarting.

    In the meantime, since fortunately the bios/mobo/psu conform to ACPI G1/S3, I'll stick with this new nirvana of almost instant shutdown and restart (which requires minimal power sufficient only to maintain ram)!

    JobsWorth (aka Chris)
     
    Last edited: 2008/10/25
  7. 2008/10/25
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    Let us know what you have tried because we may go over old ground.

    Fonts...there will be a Fonts listing in Control Panel where you can uninstall any that are problematic. Different programs can install them, printer programs are one. Some fonts are designed for say, Apple computers, so would investigate them.

    I expect ndis2sup.vxd is an nVidia graphics file. Consider those.

    When I think I have tried most "fixes" and can't see any more, I start going back through them again. Maybe the first attempt was not succesful.

    I don't mind "ripping and gouging" out drivers if I know I have a good set to replace them with. I will boot into Safe Mode and uninstall drivers and any associated programs in Add/Remove Programs.

    Look at the power saving system. Actually, after almost always having problems using Standby on a desktop computer, I never use it. I make power settings in Control Panel, I end up usually setting the "Turn off HDDs" to Never.

    Check the Foxxcon website for BIOS upgrades. Read about what they change. If you think it is a power saving problem, check if there is an upgrade for that.

    Is that CPU model you mention listed as compatible with the motherboard?

    Matt
     

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