Computer guys, please help.

OK, I'm forced to be running a windows machine and it's PAINFULLY slow but I don't know enough to figure it out. One thing I notice is that either the fan or the hard drive is almost always spinning. Surfing the web is almost as slow as the old 56K days. Now, the machine isn't new but it's been worked on at a very reputable shop by a guy who does a great job. I just don't want to have to take it to him AGAIN.
I looked at my Task Manager and my cpu usage is almost always above 65%, spiking to 100% often, rarely dropping below 35%. Here's a screen shot of my task manager.

I'm going to clear out the history and the cache but we don't go to any sites that I would expect to be questionable. This is one of only 2 forums I visit (the other being frybrid.com) so I don't think any of "those" types of sites are the issue.
Can anyone help me?

How much memory do you have in that box?

...and is it a P4 running XP SP3?

It sure seems like Microsoft engineered SP3 to be able to completely bog down P4 machines.

I'll find out those answers guys. I'm currently cleaning up the drives......

Usually when I run into the problems like that..... i watch the TM. There's always gonna be one or two processes that will spike the hell out of it. Poorly designed sites tend to be giant resource hogs, and can be a major culprit. I've had BS flash sites ping my rocket to the max before. In any event, watch it. Anything that pings, google what the process does. If it's non essential, kill it. Will speed it right up.

High CPU utilization and constant fan speed sounds like it could be an overheating issue. Is this a laptop?

Try running this program: http://www.cpuid.com/downloads/cpu-z/1.56-32bits-en.zip and see what it shows for the "core speed" on your processor. If the core speed is very low, the BIOS is probably thermal-throttling the CPU to keep it from cooking. That would indicate a clogged up heatsink (dust) or possibly a problem with the heatpipe (think bad radiator on a car).

compressed air + open it up a little bit and spray away (making sure to not breathe that stuff in or you'll be sneezy.)
dust makes a BIG difference, and is usually not monitored at all. If that doesn't do anythign then it may not be an overheating problem
there a programs out there to monitor operating temps, cant think of any now though

I'll just leave this here:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/tech-tips/73/

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/ to monitor your CPU temp

Open regedit and search for run under HKEY_local_machine and remove entries for things you don't want to run.

Export the registry beforehand in vase you screw up and need to go back.

Jqs.exe, applemobiledevice.exe, adobearm.exe, HP-related processes, Etc can all be killed and set to not start automatically via disabling their service in computer manager or if they have an entry in the run key. Again, if you make a mistake, or need to sync your iOS device, then you'll need to go back and re-enable some of those services.

CCCleaner is a handy utility for cleaning up old files and registry issues.

Regular defragmentation can help a bit as well.

BTW, If you don't know what a process does, google it:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5097823_remove-ezsppxexe.html

Thanks guys! I'll do that stuff when I get home.

Some Googling seems to indicate that this problem may be related to CPU overheating. In that case, a can of compressed air to the internals of the computer (if it's a desktop) would be a great help. If you've got a laptop, try putting it up on a stand, or getting one of those USB-powered fans for the underside of the computer.

Another potential cause I found was Windows not working with power management correctly - so pulling the battery or uninterruptible power supply and then rebooting would fix the symptoms, with a Windows hotfix that addresses the root cause. However, this should have been fixed with SP3, so if you've already got SP3 then ignore this paragraph.

Grtechguy wrote: I'll just leave this here: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/tech-tips/73/

Good advice there. I cleaned up the formatting just a bit, too.

Thanks Tom.

I'll just leave this here:

http://www.apple.com/mac/

Having a similar situation on my old laptop, I bailed and got a new one.

When I re-formatted it a few years ago, I was pretty stunned to see that MOST of the HD space was taken up by XP updates. I can't imagine all of that running at once is quick.

But before I get rid of that old laptop, I'll try the changes, and blow out the cooler. (I don't think it's that, unless the processor is dead- it's slow while it's cold- and once all of the "processes" run, it seems to speed up)

pinchvalve wrote: I'll just leave this here: http://www.apple.com/mac/

Good idea! Let's argue Ford vs. Chevy again!

I see "AvastUI.exe" (down near the bottom). Please get rid of that. I used to advocate Avast or AVG for free antivirus, but both have turned into resource pigs and nagware.

Now, I'm not normally a MS fanboi, but I've been really happy with Microsoft Security Essentials on my Windows 7 machine. I have since put it on my XP laptop.

If you want to see if Avast is the problem before uninstalling it, try turning it off completely, or disable the "scan every file every time I access it" option. I can't remember exactly where that setting lives.

My SIL's laptop was painfully slow - hanging just browsing the internet - removing Avast and installing MSE worked wonders.

No matter what AntiVirus program you use, you have to tune it to balance performance and security. Instead of scanning every file as it is accessed, maybe see if you can set it to scan as the file is changed or schedule a regular full scan to run to catch any critters. If you practice safe surfing (firefox with the noscript and adblock extensions and Window firewall enabled + patching) you shouldn't have too many problems.

CCCleaner will remove the old uninstall directories and temporary files left behind from MS Patching.

Paying attention to what is starting when Windows starts and what is running the background will help immensely.

On some systems, mostly laptops, Intel provided a way to save power by turning down the processor. The problem is that if you don't have their Intel Speedstep app installed, the processor will default to the slower setting. You can either install the app or turn this capability off in the system's BIOS. A quick way to check is if you right click on My Computer and select properties, what does it say for processor speed? Does the speed match what is listed in the system according to the manufacturer? Or is it say, half the speed?

If you only ever use wireless on the system, turn off the network port and any other ports you don't use (IR, serial, parallel, etc.)

Make sure all of drivers in the system are up to date, especially the video and chipset drivers as that can effect performance quite a bit.

If the harddrive is fairly old, an upgrade to a Solid State Disk (SSD) or a drive with a faster spindle speed can help improve performance a bit. Most laptops came with 3500 or 5400RPM drives. Upping the RPM to 7200 will reduce read/write time.

Ideally, you could build the system with enough RAM to place the system's paging file in RAM (which is one of the main causes of slow performance) on a RAM drive. However most laptops don't allow enough memory to make this possible.

pinchvalve wrote: I'll just leave this here: http://www.apple.com/mac/

Funny you posted this. I wasn't going to bring up Mac for fear this thread would fall apart. But my wife just informed me that she is planning on getting me a mac book pro for our 14th in a month!!!

See if you can hackintosh that system. Then you both can enjoy the joy of Mac OSX. If you need to run Windows, install VirtualBox and run Windows XP whenever you need it, within OSX.

You Windows users put up with a lot of crap.

Xceler8x wrote:

pinchvalve wrote: I'll just leave this here: http://www.apple.com/mac/

Good idea! Let's argue Ford vs. Chevy again!

Wait... so where does that put us Linux guys? Are we Locosts?

Tim Baxter wrote: You Windows users put up with a lot of crap.

I thought about it, long and hard. But the key part:

$Apple = 2*$Dell.

And since I got 7 years out of the previous dell, I would need 14 out of the apple.

So many things I want to want. It's just hard to pull the trigger sometimes.

Now I haven't done the math in a long time but the last time I spec'd out a mac vs. PC the price difference was only about 10%. Sure the mac is expensive but it usually comes with some very nice software and hardware. But for me the issue is this: I just don't have time to deal with a windows machine. When I click on a program I want it to open now, not 2 minutes from now. If I'm burining a DVD I might want to be able to surf the net and d'load an app and have the computer not slow down. I've not been able to do that on any windows machine.
Not knocking them, just not going to deal with that anymore.