Last night I moved my old Dell 2400's innards into a new larger case. The computer booted immediately (XP SP2) and ran fine, no problems at all, for several hours.

This morning when I started it up, I noticed it was running slow. I checked the Task Manager and I was at 100% CPU usage, with most of it going to the System process (not System Idle).

I tried shutting down a few other larger programs with no change. I rebooted, and found that I was at 100% CPU even before the usual startup items opened. It stays at 100% constantly and is slowing everything down.

I ran Spysweeper last night, I know the virus/spyware situation is fine on this machine. Can someone tell me how to start fixing this problem? Could I have damaged something moving it from the old case - but it was fine last night...

Debbie

Well changing a case would not affect the workings of a CPU. Have you dislodged any cables, or put them back inthe wrong place?
Check that all of the power/data cables are the correct way round and in the right ports.

This is John from Dell headquarters.

Many problems like this are caused by an incompatible or corrupted program. In order to figure it out, I recommend following the steps in the following Microsoft KB article:

How to perform advanced clean-boot troubleshooting in Windows XP

As Serunson said, changing the case wouldn't normally cause the problem you're seeing. Perhaps a corrupted update?

Anyways, give that a shot, and let us know if it does the trick!

John
Dell Customer Advocate