[Meta300]

What's going on everyone?


I'm sure this topic has been brought up before. And there are many different reasons why a persons CPU usage shows 100%.


In my case I run a Micro Client Pro Custom built Desktop on Windows XP Home Intel R, Pentium 4, CPU 2.40GHz, 760MB of RAM.



I used my system strictly for music. I run M-Audio Pro Tools 7.1 with M-Audio Delta 1010 drivers, & Digi Design Command 8.


The other day I was in a recording session and out of no where I get this error where Pro Tools can no longer locate my audio files on my C (Audio Drive). And I was like what??? I use a Seagate 80gb for my secondary drive and have plenty of room. I looked at my Audio Waves & there gone. So I close Pro Tools and go to open up my Digi Design file & my computer was not showing my C Drive. And I was like okay. So I thought possible loose ribbon cable. So I had shut everything down & check the inside of the sys, no problems. I reboot the sys & go back to Pro Tools. As soon as I hit play I hear clipping / scratching in the audio & it's dragging slow, then I get a error message from Pro Tools saying CPU Usage is at 100% use less plugins.


The only problem is I had no plugins running to take up any CPU!


I open my Task Manger and sure enough see the Meter sky rocking to 100%. NOW keep in mind I do not use the internet at all on this sys, and don't even have the net connected to the sys, its only for music. I ran my bios, the temp checks out fine, the IDE configuration seems fine. So I then removed my audio drivers & uninstalled Pro Tools. And I am still getting the 100% disk usage and I notice the Meter is flashing in the Red with Green! Is that even normal???? I also notice the sys is trying to locate a Multimedia Audio Controller but I disconnected my Command 8 and removed the driver. So what's that about?



I'm really clueless at this point. I'm not a huge Windows tech, but know enough with what I work with but this has me stomped and I need some advice and direction with the cause I stated above.


Look forward to any help offered, thanks in advance.

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What does Task Manager, Process tab show you. What is using all the CPU?

You can get to Task Manager by right clicking on the TaskBar and selecting Task Manager or press Ctrl+Alt+Del on your keyboard. Select the Process tab at the top. Click on the CPU column heading twice and that should sort the display by CPU usage descending.

If that doesn't help identify the problem, how does it behave if you boot to Safe Mode with Networking? If better then something is starting at boot that is causing the problem. Try the following:

Click on Start then Run, type msconfig and press Enter.
Click on the Startup tab and disable everything (I mean everything).
Do a regular boot, see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable several items at a time till you find the culprit.

If no, click on the Services tab. Check the Hide All Microsoft Services box then disable what's left (all of it).
Again, do a regular boot, see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable services till you find the culprit.

Once you've found the culprit, uninstall it or find out how to eliminate it from your system. Simply disabling it in msconfig is a temporary fix at best.

[Ztruker]

What does Task Manager, Process tab show you. What is using all the CPU?

You can get to Task Manager by right clicking on the TaskBar and selecting Task Manager or press Ctrl+Alt+Del on your keyboard. Select the Process tab at the top. Click on the CPU column heading twice and that should sort the display by CPU usage descending.

If that doesn't help identify the problem, how does it behave if you boot to Safe Mode with Networking? If better then something is starting at boot that is causing the problem. Try the following:

Click on Start then Run, type msconfig and press Enter.
Click on the Startup tab and disable everything (I mean everything).
Do a regular boot, see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable several items at a time till you find the culprit.

If no, click on the Services tab. Check the Hide All Microsoft Services box then disable what's left (all of it).
Again, do a regular boot, see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable services till you find the culprit.

Once you've found the culprit, uninstall it or find out how to eliminate it from your system. Simply disabling it in msconfig is a temporary fix at best.

[Meta300]

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately after trying you advice I am still being shown red in my CPU usage meter and the meter is pushing at 100%.



Any other ideas?

[Ztruker]

I suspect you have a hardware problem, audio perhaps but try using System Restore to a date before this started happening, see if that helps.