blonde poker forum

Once in a while, or to be precise, every now and then, my cpu, she go crazy!!!

It runs at 100% and everything just locks up. The only thing I can do is hold the power switch down until the computer switches off.

 :dontask:

When it happens hit ctrl+alt+del which opens taskmanager, look down the list of processes and see which is hogging the system.
Can't really advise until we know what's doing it.

Can't load task manager, everything locks up.

I had a similar issue with a work PC a while back.  I loaded task manager immediately on first booting it to overcome this problem and waited for the problem to occur.  It turned out to be a program called svchost.exe hogging the CPU.  If I used task manager to end it, it fixed the issue.

Your problem might be different, but keeping task manager running in the background should get around your problem of finding out what's causing it to grind to a halt.

Its just a program hanging or taking an extraordinary amount of time to do what it is trying to do.  Do the ctrl alt delete thing and wait a while task manager might eventually pop up (sry if u have already tried this). 

Also sometimes you'll hear the fan going like the clappers as the wretched machine is building up to a tantrum, so if you get task mngr up at that time you might be able to see what is going on. 

Other than that just keep a note of what is running when it happens and try and work out what prog is doing it. 

I did have a weird thing on processes (can't remember what it was now) that was causing problems and everything still worked ok when I closed it down, so I altered the start-up register using a programme called hijack this to stop it running when I started my pc and everything ok.

This may be useful for svchost.exe
http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/svchost/

Tom, stop any unwanted programs from running on startup by using this site :

http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php

It may not solve your problem, but it will help your PC's speed - you get the details by hitting "start" "run" then typing "msconfig" , then click on the "startup" tab . Take note of the "command" column as well as some nasties will clone a normal startup item

I am assuming you are running XP.

If you also get the task manager up BEFORE the problem occurs, and double click on the "cpu" tab, this will show you what programs are using up your CPU in order. This will enable you to see what program is running at 100%.

Poker Tracker can do this if you have a large number of hands importing into a large database.
Anti virus programs are a good cause of 100% cpu useage aswell.

Yes I think I had the virus version once - it starts up with the pc and almost immediately tries to contact the internet.  So you have to remove it from the start registry and then kill it.  The windows version is I think in a windows directory and associated with various bona fide programs,

It should open up eventually but as others said just get it up beforehand.
Can you try something?

click start>run and type   msconfig  and hit enter

click on the startup tab and post screenshots of the list of programs.

It happened again. I had task manager open and ready.

svchost.exe is running several times, but showing zero cpu use. it is however using some memory.

svchost is a part of windows don't mess with it!

Ordepends where it is located - many viruses use "svchost" as a name.

The website I posted up will tell you

Ok. This is a screenshot taken while my cpu is being hijacked

errrr I think the problem thingy must be hidden at the top of the list...................

Ah yes. Missed 5 from the top. Have to get em next time.

Is your AVG set to automatically do a daily scan Tom ?

Also, click the CPU column name and the list will sort highest to lowest and vice versa

Dougie.

Once a week Eco.

Will sort next time.

You have a few unecessary programs loading, can you do the above and we'll stop them loading.

Do you need the tom tom software running?
Is macafee your only firewall?
If i recall you use AOL?

given that all the programs we can see aren't causing the problem, does it matter?

Probably not but it wouldn't hurt would it?
Besides there could be a conflict with one of these, i had a problem once with graphics software and norton.

It could hurt, would rather see what is causing the problem first... I think I've had more problems with Norton on its own than conflicting with other programs ;)

How?

Hmm, sounds familiar.

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=14893.0 (http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=14893.0)

This file was definitely the problem though. Can't remember how I fixed it, I think I found a solution online by Googling it.

lol, srsly?

lol, yes!
considering that everything in the list is additional how can stopping something hurt?

.

When did you last update Firefox, and what add-ons are you using?

.

Couple of things to try:

Firstly IE7 is a perfectly good alternate for firefox.
If you prefer firefox though then create a new profile, this has the effect of running it as new or clean.
It will at least pinpoint the problem to an addon or plugin and is pretty straighforward.

Found a link rather than going through it myself:

http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/09/firefox-runs-slow-speed-memory-fast.html

I had this problem before I used firefox. I changed to ff a couple of weeks ago to try and cure it.

Ok, you have a LOT of pointless programs loading with windows, does it take ages to bootup?

I typically have 4 or 5 items, msn, antivirus, antispyware, firewall but little else is needed.

From the bottom you have:

adobe - unnecessary can untick
ms office - ditto
ususpm - windows installer updater, not needed but leave it as might be doing something
googletoolbar - unnecessary can untick
AOL - i assume you use (it's crap but leave it)
qttask- is quicktime untick
homerunner - is tomtom software, if you use it leave it
avgcc - is your antivirus, leave it
apdproxy - is adobe again, untick
jusched - java updater, untick cuz windows does this automatically
realplay - is similar, untick
dumprep - is to report errors to microsoft, not needed, untick
datalayer - is nokia software for pcsuite, if you use it often leave it, up to you
mpftray - is macafee security suite, leave it
AOLdial - self explanatory, leave if you use aol
fts - is for your broadband, leave it
qtzgacer - is acers config utility, not necessary but leave it
atiptaxx -is the ati logo in your systray, untick
tintsetp - is used for translating in ms programs, chinese etc in word etc. untick both
imscinst - as above
imjpmig - again for inputting/translating asian characters, untick
pdvdserv - is for a usb remote control for powerdvd, if you have one leave if not untick
syntpenh - is for the touchpad, leave it
syntplpr - as above
alaunch - diagnostics bundle for acer lappies, leave it

You can try these changes if you wish, they will not do any harm, they may not help your particular problem either though but it will bootup a lot quicker at least.
When you are done close th window click to reboot, then when rebooted click "do not show this message blah blah".
I notice no spyware program, i'd get one if i were you.

What websites did you have open at the time?

Can't remember.

Download opera. www.opera.com.

Firefox sucks anyhow LOL

Firefox 3 rocks and is, whisper it quietly, probably quicker than Opera.

And what Bongo said - if Firefox is going loopy it's probably a badly made website screwing things up.

Is v3 still beta?

Yes - I'm using Beta 4 and have noticed no problems (apart from the usual one of add-ons not working on a beta version). Beta 5 is due out later in the week.

IE8 beta is pretty smooth, i have to use it because FF sucks big time on certain websites.

You mean the websites suck at complying with the standards? (which are flagrantly pissed all over by Microsoft...)

Here's a (surprisingly accurate) graph of the time spent on certain task when making a website:

(http://humor.beecy.net/geeks/web-design/web-design.gif)

Thankfully I have no trouble with the 25% in the bottom left, but just means I get to spend a higher proportion of my time swearing at Internet Explorer.

I use FireFox 3 on my Mac and it's great, still on 2 on the PC though as there are certain extensions that I can't work without, so won't upgrade until they are available! (Same reason I could never switch to Opera).

I find it's usually (i presume badly made) flash that can cause 100% cpu. Partcularly in ad banners.

It doesn't really matter why, the fact is IE works better on more of the sites i visit than FF.
I have no preference for IE but i want something that works.
If i go to www.ninjavideo.net FF locks up and shuts down, IE works fine.