Dell XPS M1710 - both processors maxing out for long periods of time and crippling system..? very annoying!

2.14 dual core
GeForce 9750GTX
Vista 32 bit home
Avast professional (installed on monday)

Sometimes late at night the computer will go into turbo mode and completely max out the processors with no visible applications taking up memory. Both processors show 100% for a good 20 minutes, it then stops and sometimes carries on repeating the cycle.

Its doing it alot more recently now and is starting to hinder the system, as no apps work properly when its in "turbo" mode.

Is it performing a virus scan or something?

 

DId you go into task manager to find out what is eating up the big portion of CPU%? I doubt RAM is the problem here. Hard to tell frmo your post if you went in there to see.

Otherwise, smells like it could be a BIOS problem. Had a similar thing happen on my ASUS where system resources would just go wild and make the computer unusable.
RM

 

it seems IE takes a hell alot, but its not a RAM problem its the processors. They both go to 100% and fluctuate between 90 and 100% for roughly 20 minutes, sapping all resources and rendering the computer pretty useless.

Are there any checks i can perform?

 

Virus scans don't occur on random...

This to me sounds like some of the software you legitimately get to help science - you run a programme for them and help computing.

The same could be done by a virus - running at night when no-one notices.

You may want to get the sysinternals process explorer, find out which task, an then which file causes this.
(free and installation free)

 

Should my new Avast pro not find if i have any virus's?

 

It should - in theory.

You could try the trial of Kaspersky for 30 days - use that to scan your computer once if you suspect a virus.

But as I said -virus scans don't occur at random, they follow a shedule.

 

Have you opened up the task manager to see what processes are consuming all the cpu time (no, not the applications list, the list of processes - there's a lot more running on those cpus than just the applications you choose to fire up). It could be anything from malware trying to phone home to a bad/corrupt maintenance utility, or anything else under the sun. Open the task manager and see what processes are running.

If you can't identify them from the built-in task manager, try using SysInternals' Process Explorer to hone in on the particular process(es) running the cpu ragged.

 

ok ive run the sysinternals program and as can be seen from the screenshot when my processors are maxing out its this ashSimpl.exe that is sapping alot of power..

any ideas?

NORMAL:



MAXED!!!!!!!:

 

I can't see the screnshots

Can you find out where the process originates?
This is what I got using google:
http://www.file.net/process/ashsimpl.exe.html

 

try it now.

Im reaching my limits now with regards to this problem, i.e i can download stuff to find out what is the problem however from here on in im going to need some guidance.

That article you posted suggests that ashsimple.exe could be a virus masquerading as a legit avast process. Its maxing out pretty much every 15 minutes on the dot now, and has been getting worse ever since i installed avast pro. Up until i installed avast pro i was running a free version of avast that had its automatic updates expire about 6 weeks ago, therefore ive been running an old un-updated version of avast for a while. When i got back from holiday on monday i noticed the computer slowing down alot so i bought the kosher version from avast.

could something have gotten into my system whilst i was running a relatively old version of avast?

 

Gah, huge images

But I can see them.

Now right click the process and go to "properties", then click the "Image" tab and verify the file path.

The "threads" tab will help you to determine which .dll is responsible for the CPU load.

(PS: can you thumbnail the pictures? Before it said "deleted or moved")

 

its says path not available.. the only salient info there is this:

Parent: <Non-existent Process>(4284)

 

This is very strange... I tried it on my Kaspersky and it has a path - some system processes have none.

You could try Kaspersky - the trial lasts 30 days - download it, do a scan with it and see if it comes up with anything.

http://www.kaspersky.com/de/product_downloads?chapter=201711392
just click "English" - I am a Kaspersky fan, that's why I suggest it.

 

here is a screenshot of the thread tab:

 

Surely my £25.00 Avast! Pro is better than a free kaspersky trial

would i not have to uninstall and re-install avast after trying kaspersky?

 

Google is not too helpful - the .dll using CPU resources is a system .dll

I'm running out of ideas.

Youcould try the scannow command to check system files (you'll have to Google it)

If it is malware your best bet is trying to throw different packages at it - if its a corrupted file a check and repair of core components may help.

 

As far as I know the trial will all the full version does.

And Kaspersky belongs to the best.

You could try other tools too.
And yes, you would have to remove Avast first.

Also, Google that "sfc scannow" (I think its called) command - see if you'd be willing to run that in case its a corrupted system file.

 

this is so right i remember i got a virus one night but i was using it for 3 hours straight no prob... so my mom told me to take out the trash so by the time i came back my screen was bloody red with a sign hazardous sign in the middle and all my desktop icons were gone and replaced with fake antivirus products....... then on the bottom right corner of the screen where the time is it said VIRUS ALERT i was afraid my comp. was gonna be crippled forever but then i just went to get it repaired cost me 50$ not bad huh..........well what im trying to say is that viruses are smart that virus i got waited until their was no movement and the system was idle so the virus can take affect and this is what i get for not having an antivirus before hand..........keep it up to date...............

What i suggest u do is download malwarebytes update first then do a quick scan then after that do a full scan and since u have avast do a boot scan that one always seems to be helpful ..........also put it to scan archives as well ...update avast too..hmmmm what else can u do let me see try this u have one already but i think this one is better: http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/index.html

 

Don't know if this'll provide more help, but Mark Russinovich - creator of many of the SysInternals utilities, including Process Explorer, and co-author of Windows Internals, one of the bibles on WinOS plumbing - has a blog entry on The Case of the System Process CPU Spikes which might give some pointers in how to go about tracking down (and hopefully killing) whatever misfunctioning software is causing your cpu usage to spike. Given the conjunction of the Avast virus scanner and the high number of threads that executable is starting, it's possible that you've got a bum Avast installation. I would try completely uninstalling and clearing out everything to do with Avast, going through both the Avast Pro version you just installed and the free version you had installed before, and sweeping with something like revo uninstaller or driver sweeper to make sure you've got everything out of the system.

Then, run the system naked, without any A/V (keep it away from the internet, obviously ) and see if you're still getting cpu spikes. If not, then go ahead and reinstall the Avast Pro you just paid for and see if those spikes come back or not.

 

Ah, the master has arrived

Very good points Shyster1

(Sorry, I can't rep you at the moment )