100% CPU usage?

So in just the past few days, my new (2 months old) HP notebook has suddenly slowed WAY down. I did all my normal clean up routines, scans, clean up, defrags, etc. Nothing found and all ended well. After checking my Task Manager, I noticed that my CPU % was running at a steady 100%! Sometimes it dips down into the 60-70% range. VERY occasionally, it would go down to 4-12, but only for a brief second or two. Then back up to the 70-100 range. I did come basic looking into my running processes but didn't find anything definitely malicious. there were a few questionable ones: csrss.exe and winlogon.exe…only questionable because it won't let me check the properties of each. I didn't do anything because they are normally a critical part of the OS. Any ideas??? Thanks in advance

How does it behave if you boot to Safe Mode with Networking? If better then something is starting at boot that is causing the problem.

Use msconfig to determine what is causing the problem.

These are good tutorials on using msconfig in XP or Vista:
How to use msconfig in Windows XP
How to use msconfig in Windows Vista

Click on Start then Run, type msconfig and press Enter.
Click on the Startup tab, record what is currently starting then click the Disable All button.
Reboot and see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable several items at a time till you find the culprit.

If no, boot to Safe Mode again, start msconfig and click on the Services tab.
Check the Hide All Microsoft Services box, record what is currently starting then click the Disable All button.
Again, do a regular boot, see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable services till you find the culprit.

Once you've found the culprit, uninstall it or find out how to eliminate it from your system.
Simply disabling it in msconfig is a temporary fix at best.
Enable everything else you disabled.

Hi! Yeah, Safe Mode is lightning quick and was down to 0-2% usage. I'll go ahead and do the MSCONFIG things and report back. Just curious, would a HijackThis log be helpful at all? I had done a scan earlier (didn't record a log) and while I'm not very proficient at reading those, I saw a lot of "weird" things…file missings and such.

No,
HJT log not required,
Follow Ztruker's instructions…particularly:

Reboot and see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable several items at a time till you find the culprit

Regards
paws

Found the culprit. After clicking on "see all users processes" (I am the only added user), more processes showed up and there it was…wmpnetwk.exe After a few google searches, this seems to be a common problem and easily remedied. Since it's a service I do not use, nor plan to, I just disabled it in msconfig. Problem solved. Back down to 0-2% usage, on average, and computing is fast like it should be. Thanks

Thats good to hear. Well done Regards paws

According to Processlibrary.com

wmpnetwk.exe is the main executable for Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service. It is used to share Windows Media Player libraries. Disabling or enabling it is down to user preference.

I have it disabled in my Win 7 system also. Glad you found it. I'll have to remember that for future problem reports here. Definitely something to check.