When I look at the CPU usage chart (or the little task manager CPU usage indicator in the system tray), the usage is way high. Close to 100% almost all of the time. Looking at the CPU usage chart on the performance tab of the Task Manager, I see that the CPU is often maxed out, and rarely (if ever) drops below 70%. This makes sense, as the general response of the computer is sluggish and way slower than it used to be. When I look at the 'Processes' tab of the Task Manager, however, it tells a different story. Here's a common glimpse into the CPU usage rates that I see (for example, as I type this message):
System Idle Process: 80-99%
taskmgr.exe 0-17%
explorer: 0-20%
CCAPP.EXE: 0%
zlclient.exe: 0%
etc.
And lots of others that never get above 0%
To me, given these numbers, I would think that the usage chart would read differently, and my computer would actually respond promptly! But this is not the case.
I've run a virus scan, I always have my firewall up (Zone Alarm), I ran a few different Spy/Adware scanners -- they all turned up nothing.
The only software I've installed recently was Norton Antivirus. I was using AVG before. The thing is, I don't know if it's Norton or not. I don't see any of its processes show up high in the list of CPU usages, and the software worked very well for the first couple of months that I used it. So, why now?
Anyway, if anyone has some suggestions on what might be going on, how I can further diagnose the probem, or what actions I can take to fix the problem, please share. Thank you!