Hardware Interrupts & 100% CPU usage - Page 2

[cozzy]

There are no nasties on the puter.
I've just stopped the "old box" from popping up. All i did was to go into internet options & tick "never dial a connection" & it's gone now, it don't do it anymore.
I just connected to internet OK the normal way to write this. So the old box was not a problem after all.

[cozzy]

There are no nasties present.
I just stopped the old box popping up & forcing offline browsing. All i did was tick "Never dial a connection" in internet options. It's gone now, good.
I just connect to internet the normal way & it's fine, so it aint owt to do with nowt.

[runningbernie]

Hi cozzy,
with my „puters“ everything runs fine now. But I HAVE done some “homework to fix my own problems here…
But no need for you to feel “guilty.
Reading the hints “inside your post has given me new ideas – so I would say: it really helped me to find “my way (in addition to other posts on this CPU-usage problem).
So I have worked on this problem to get rid of it here. And I have had findings and guesses that helped me – more or less. Of course there is no “duty to bring my “experience back to “public. But in my opinion those who found support by “others should try to give “something back – if there is a possibility/opportunity. And this is the motivation for my “brief replies…

But I think it’s time to close this case. You tell us that you have found “your way to handle the problem.
Of course, I think that there ARE quite severe problems still “alive on your PC.
I would not accept a computer running at low performance – unless you have an “old CPU (couldn’t find you hardware data…). With an old Pentium I 100MHz machine your “problem may be looked at as quite “normal…
…but not with “nowadays PCs.
And to be honest: I have even experienced this updating new Windows over an old one. But if you have changed hardware and installed as well as uninstalled several kinds of software in the old OS'-lifetime – so I’m quite sure that this is NO good home for the “new operating system. And I am very sure that each try to “repair odd or unusual “things has a large potential for making it worse…
So if I have the opportunity for saving all my data in advance I would always start with a clean machine. Then you can start again with the opportunity of installing only those “really needed programs. Get rid of all the programs you have tried, used for a single time, shareware with timeout etc.
If there is no need for being able to be back at work in a short time: After my first experience I have always started with a clean machine…

Ok, this seems to be a little late for you…but with your performance problem…???
I think you have received lots of very good hints to do it better.
But, of course, satisfaction always has its very private point of view. (…one major reason for arguments in even good relationships…).

Ok , cozzy, it’s time to wish you Good Luck and say bye-bye !

runningbernie

[cozzy]

Dear Catweazle, i hope you get this message. I'm going to do a reformat & fresh install of windows & operating system & all in about 4 hours from now. I'm going to follow your instructions but there are a couple of questions that your piece does not cover.
The last time a "computer expert" came to do a fresh reformat etc, he had to do it 4 times over the space of 2 days because every time he got to the stage of connecting to the internet to do a Norton's live update we got a Blaster worm each time, before we had chance to do either a live update, or windows update or service pack one, etc.
Eventually, he went to a shop for advice & they downloaded a Welchia worm patch. The next time he got to the stage of connecting to the internet (after another fresh install), he "ran" the patch 1st & everything else then went along smoothly, i sorted everything out from there. He has been building & repairing computers for 17 years, (he says), & he said he had never come across this Blaster worm problem on dial-up connections EVER. This was the 1st one he'd done on a broadband connection.

Now my problem is, that it does not mention about this worm patch, (which i have recently added to it with a patch for the sassa worm) on your instructions, but you do mention about installing service pack one (at the probable stage i should be also running the worm patches from the floppy i added to.
Do i need to install service pack one onto a CD before i start? are there other important patches out there i should get? & the most help you could give me is just how do i run the patches that i have? where do i "run" it to or is it automatic when i put the floppy in? does it install automatically like when you do a windows update?
I'm going to get this right first time, as with everything! But i would need your Wizardry assistance on these confusing bit's & pieces if you would kindly give me some pointers.

Cheers Catweazel

[Catweazle]

Cozzy, you can get the full service Pack 1a from Microsoft's download section

But really, if you're connected via broadband (DSL? Cable?) I think it pays to own a Gateway/Router/ combo unit, even if you only have a single machine. Hardware firewall protection, and they don't cost very much. (By the way, I believe NOBODY should be using a USB ADSL modem ;))

Install SP1 from the pre-downloaded package, if you like, then install all further security updates via Windows update site immediately Windows is installed.

Edit: SP1a differs from SP1 only in that it doesn't include Microsoft's Java VM. You can download that separately later, or simply install Sun's Java VM

[cozzy]

Done it all & now it's super-sonic, thanks for your help. Everything is back on & OK. Apart from 'Avrack' Realteck AC97 (our sound driver that came with the computer). That disappeared again but this time i narrowed it down to either the latest directX 9.0 download & hotfix KB839643 (we were on directX 8.1 from scratch), or it could have been the latest update for the above driver from VIA technologies. After installing these 2 updates thats when the soundmanager disappeared AGAIN! The above updates i'm told are permanent, but can live without the multi-functional gizmo soundmanager & will leave it as it is coz it's zooming along now. I partioned the drive too! Not bad for a 1st go hey! But couldn't have done it without your help.
How do i close this thread? Cheers. :lol:

[Catweazle]

You don't close it mate. We have to mark it 'solved'. :D

Glad to hear you have had some success!

[tsuneo]

I have been having a similar problem as metioned, i have had the pc for about 6 months it has been running perfectly until last week when it started to get really slow and jump all the time so i check windows task manager and my cpu usage is goin crazy sitting at around 90% normally, but what really got me was that system idle process was showing 99% at the same time. for ages i couldnt even see what was using all my cpu. i had tried everthing i could think of goin as far as formating my drive and reinstallin win xp, and it worked for a couple of hours then it started doing it again. I was totally confused as to what could be eating my cpu until i got process explorer and it showed ma that i had hardware interrupts running at around 90%. i was happy to find this out but hasnt helped me stop it from happening. any ideas would be really helpful. thanks

[cheezecurds]

:cry: I have the same issues too. My CPU is constantly being drained at about 25% and it causes delays in programs, sounds, and viewing. I use XP but even when no applications were running, the CPU usage on the Processes tab in Task Manager showed no other significant usage except for Idle Time - but the CPU usage is definately showing 25% usage. I downloaded a program called Task Info and it labeled the ~25% as Interrupts. When I reboot the system it is fine for a little while but just seems to fall back into this usage category after it sits idle for awhile.

This did not start happening on my system until about 2 weeks ago, and I haven't reconfigured any of the hardware. Any ideas on a fix????
-Frustrated_ :mad:

[Fingerless]

[Ive been having a few problems with my P4 3 Gig Pent with 1 Gig Ram was fine when i got nice and fast, now the CPU seems to be working hard when nothing is running, its fine till you run something, it looks like it dosent release it after the program is closed, before you could have many programs running before.

My CPU was doing the same as yours, mabye you get 2 beeps at start up too

[tsuneo]

i managed to solve my problem of hardware interrupts, once i had realized it was hardware i desided that i should try remove all hardware one by one and as i was doin this i went in to the bois setup an noticed that PCI IDE bus master option was enabled, im not sure what this is but after being disabled my pc runs fine. i can only think it got enabled by accedent as it right beside the enable S.M.A.R.T for hard drives option an i had recently turn that off. I have a asrock k7s8x motherboard. just thought id post this incase it helps anyone.

[cozzy]

tsuneo if you see the system idle process at 99% don't worry. This is normal when you are viewing task manager with nothing much happening in the background. It's coz it's 99% idle! Dont know a lot but i know this.

[cozzy]

Well 2 years on & no problems at all with that PC & i've realised that all the problems in the past have been caused by me! When i do a format & fresh installation I've always then put the service pack next, then all the drivers. The PC then never runs as it should & no matter how many driver updates i install, it's never the same. The last time i started from scratch was 2 years ago & everything is still brilliant. All i did was immediately after installing windows i then installed each driver one at a time. THEN the current service pack. I was told by someone to throw the drivers disk away as it would be outdated but i'm glad i kept it. The windows updates does all of that for you afterwards. What a nerd i am hey?

[easychief]

I know this thread has been solved, but I have a better fix. And cozzy, you were right, it is something simple. Here's the fix I posted on another board.

Interrupts can have a nasty system-wide effect when hogging CPU and it can be worse than you realize. The problem is likely that your IDE ATA/ATAPI disk is running in PIO mode, which is the slowest, due to some time-outs or errors. To check and see if this is the problem, follow these steps:

1. Go to Device Manager (Right-click My Computer>Properties>Hardware Tab>Device Manager);
2. Expand IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers and click on Primary IDE Channel;
3. Click Properties button and select the Advanced Settings Tab;
4. If the Transfer Mode is PIO and not DMA, this is your problem;
5. Leave Properties panel open.

The fix is relatively quick and painless. It requires two successive reboots. Just make sure you follow these directions all the way to the end or the problem will come back.

1. Open Registry Editor (Start>Run> “regedit”>OK);
2. Expand HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG/System/CurrentControlSet/Control/Class/{4D36E96A-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318};
3. Highlight 0001 and click Edit>New>DWORD Value;
4. Type “ResetErrorCountersOnSuccess” and hit Enter;
5. Click Edit>Modify;
6. Enter “1” into the Value Data and hit OK.

This should fix the problem with Interrupts and make your system run much better.

[Robert72]

I'm having a similar problem.
It seems the problem only happens when I'm playing a game or watching a movie.
But then, I'm not sure I'd notice it otherwise.
For me, it happens in the middle, not when they're starting up.
It is something that's only started happening within the last month or so.

I think in this time frame I've installed OpenVPN, have disabled a harddrive that way dying, and made the switch from F-Secure to McAffee anti-virus (and I always keep any "real time protection" disabled. I just use antivirus software the traditional way - scan any new software before I run it).

I did the Process Explorer thing right off and it showed CPU usage at 100% when the stuttering fits happen and the "process" eating up all the CPU is hardware interupts.
I understand hardware interupts at a high level, and I think ACPI and interrupt sharing (and Bus Mastering?) are new-ish things that affect interupts.

What I'd really like to find is some bit of software that'd keep a log of when IRQs are tripped and which ones.
I'll bet they're tripped a LOT, but I'd be willing to go through a very large log file to get a hint as to where the problem's coming from.