XP Pro SP1 Athlon 1800+ too high processor load

  • Thread starter Thread starter C. Hackenschmidt
  • Start date Start date
C

C. Hackenschmidt

Hi,
I recently installed Win XP SP1 on an Athlon XP 1800+ with 512 DDR-RAM.
Before I had Win 98 and Win 2K running and everything was just fine. I
even tested othe OSes... no prob. But now everytime I start a program
the processor usage goes up to 100%. Watching movies, etc. is a diashow.
I did benchmarking with W2K and XP and it showed under XP that HD, RAM
is perfect but some CPU benchmarks seem to be even slower than some
500 MHz machines. Anyone any idea what this could be? I'm really goin
nuts here with this XP installation.

Thx in advance....

Chris
 
Use "task manager" to view which program/process is utilizing the CPU like
that. Then decide if you really need that process/program. End the process.
See if the system runs better. Remember, there are some processes that are
mandatory for proper operation of the system.

--
Regards:

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard :-)
 
-----Original Message-----
Hi,
I recently installed Win XP SP1 on an Athlon XP 1800+ with 512 DDR-RAM.
Before I had Win 98 and Win 2K running and everything was just fine. I
even tested othe OSes... no prob. But now everytime I start a program
the processor usage goes up to 100%. Watching movies, etc. is a diashow.
I did benchmarking with W2K and XP and it showed under XP that HD, RAM
is perfect but some CPU benchmarks seem to be even slower than some
500 MHz machines. Anyone any idea what this could be? I'm really goin
nuts here with this XP installation.

Thx in advance....

Chris

.
Click to expand...
 
-----Original Message-----
Use "task manager" to view which program/process is utilizing the CPU like
that. Then decide if you really need that
Click to expand...
process/program. End the process.
 
Richard said:
Use "task manager" to view which program/process is utilizing the CPU
like that. Then decide if you really need that process/program. End
the process. See if the system runs better. Remember, there are some
processes that are mandatory for proper operation of the system.
Click to expand...

Well, it's always the program I'm starting using all the CPU power.
Other processes are idle or almost idle.
 
Just a question! Wouldn't you want the program you are currently using to
utilize the lions share of the CPU?

--
Regards:

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard :-)
 
Check your CPU heatsink and fan. Make sure the fan is
spinning properly and that the heatsink isn't plugged up
with dust. Many motherboards will throtle the CPU if it
runs too hot.

Also check your BIOS and make sure your FSB and multiplier
are set correctly. Many boards will default to safe
settings if the PC hangs. This is to ensure that the PC
will boot after wrong settings are applied, so you can go
back and apply the correct settings. It's a safety net.
There are tools that you can install that will tell you
exactly what speed your processor is running at.

Hope this helps.
 
Richard said:
Just a question! Wouldn't you want the program you are currently
using to utilize the lions share of the CPU?
Click to expand...

Sure I would but still I think it's not normal that Media Player uses
100% CPU power and still isn't capable of showing nothing but a diashow.
No, really if it would use that much processor time and would work I
wouldn't care though this isn't normal (playing a movie with W2K Media
Player used about 15%) But it's horribliy slow. In other words: You
can't work with it.
 
Vider said:
Check your CPU heatsink and fan. Make sure the fan is
spinning properly and that the heatsink isn't plugged up
with dust. Many motherboards will throtle the CPU if it
runs too hot.

Also check your BIOS and make sure your FSB and multiplier
are set correctly. Many boards will default to safe
settings if the PC hangs. This is to ensure that the PC
will boot after wrong settings are applied, so you can go
back and apply the correct settings. It's a safety net.
There are tools that you can install that will tell you
exactly what speed your processor is running at.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Good point, I'll check for that but still shouldn't this happen with
W2K, too? I mean since these are BIOS settings.
 
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