New Vista Bug found - Proccesor usage from 50- 60% in browsing mode (Mozilla).

I dunno, maybe i'm unlucky with Vista..you remember that previously i had problem with processor usage - it was up to 80-90%, system was braking, that was caused by TrustedInstaller process. I solved the problem - made system restore.
So, lets get down to business - i have 50-60% processor usage according to Perf.Monitor, and only Mozilla FireFox is open (ver. 2.0.0.13), the fan is always on cos of the high processor usage and its definitely something bugging on software part.
Also if i open COD4 - my lappy goes to a crawl, cos processor usage goes up to the 100%, and the same thing with HD video playing, but these are my only "hobbies" in my lappy and it pisses me off.
If someone has the same bug, please reply.
P.S: I made system scan by AV Avira - deleted one Troyan - no help.
Also i always suspect new software to cause bugs, problems in system, i had only updated:
CCleaner to the latest version.
FireFox to 2.0.0.13.
and installed UEFA EURO 2008 Demo.

 

Firefox 2.0.0.13 is showing to be pretty buggy so far. It will consume alot of your cpu if you have several Plug-ins.

 

its not vista, its firefox itself. its a damn cpu hog. it makes my core temps fly up to 54c. Watch the cpu load fly up when your scrolling

With IE it doesnt even go past 48c no matter how many tabs i got open. I still use FF over IE though...

 

u could try using firefox 3 beta 4..... its very stable.. and isn't a cpu hog..

 

I set RM CLock to minimal performance so that the problem is solved. (I tried scrolling FF and it makes my CPU go to the highest multiplier)

 

mdsbrain
ah, and i also have 3 plugins in Firefox installed: Flashgot, Fasterfirefox, Calculator.

flipfire
seems so..

arjunned
going to download FF 3 beta 4 or maybe beta 5? and what is the for FF3? cos i don't see it on their official site.

Shadowfate
ok, i'll also try RM CLock.

 

Try to set it to a higher level first then go down until you think that the CPU will not slow down FF.

Have you undervolted yet or are you already using EMclock?

 

Shadowfate
i even dunno what RMclock is, i'll google it and do as you said.
hm.., i closed Firefox, but 50-60% of processor usage persists.
No, i haven't undervolted neither used Emclock.

 

Then go read first "Undervolting guide" by Flipfire. It is in the Hardware thread.(Easy way is to click the link in the Signature of Flipfire in this thread)

It will teach you how to use RMClock

 

how many tabs were active? what were the sites u visited (some sites caused more cpu spike than others)?

ur gpu driver uptodate? what is the current version that u used? tried different resolutions in games?

cheers ...

 

...some sites caused more cpu spike than others .. to certain browsers. To clarify, one site causes no effect uner FF, while wrecking IE or O. And vice versa

cheers ...

 

hah, wtf. seems that is not FF exactly. cos i restarted pc, not started FF, only started Flashget and COD4 and after a while my lappy started to brake. i went to perf.monitor - 100% cpu load..( closed COD4 - lower, ok. but then i opend usual, small - 2mb video file and cpu went again to 60-70% load..
its very odd.
thinking of system restore again.

drivers from l2g 169.04.

 

might want to check/try out some newer one

cheers ...

 

Read my thread on the release of Firefox 3 beta 5. It's the latest stable beta version.

 

qhn
its def. not a video driver issue. i just dunno what is it. going for system restore in a few days.
Calvin
i'm reading now. going to delete ff 2.0.0.13 and install FF 3 beta 5.

 

Wait, install Firefox 3 beta 5 before you uninstall Firefox 2.0.0.13 or else you may lose some important settings.

 

Calvin thanks for the hint, i've already done this. only pity that there is no FasterFirefox extension for FF 3.

 

Don't pity, be happy. Fasterfox for Firefox 3 slows it down, trust me. With Firefox 3, you don't need all the extensions you needed before. Test it out naked for a while and you'll see why.

 

You never mention which process is taking up so much CPU. Go into the Task Manager and choose processes, click on CPU to sort by that field. Which one seems to be the problem? Flashget is a download manager, correct? Try scanning with a spyware/adware scanner.

 

+)
seems that FF3 is a goody.

 

Fixed the problem?

 

hey guys, if anyone has dual cpu's in their lappys (or desktops) you could try changing the Affinity.

Cntrl-Alt-Delete/Task Manager/Processes
Right-click on firefox.exe and choose Set Affinity.
Both CPU's are probably checked, uncheck either one and hit OK.

now the program will run off just a single Core instead of hogging up both.
you could do that to any other program you like.

hope that helps w/ the high cpu usage.

cheers.

EdoKoi

 

do you have vista set to high performance mode?

 

u might then want to review ur environment java runtime, codecs etc ... - since FF3 has lots of plugins to be used on its own, pretty much trying to be self-contained

cheers ...

 

You are making some BIG assumptions without knowing WHAT is the REAL culprit. Open Task Manager, in the lower left is a button to show ALL processes. Then switch to the process tab and click on the CPU column to sort by CPU use. Now you can tell EXACTLY what process is hogging the CPU. Guessing is not going to do you any good, you need FACTS.

Gary

 

Calvin
no(
also i have mentioned that FF3 opens web sites slower than ff2+fasterfox..
if i run COD4 or start hd video or other progs processor usage runs too high.
EdoKoi
thanks for guide, i've uncheked cpu 0 (there are cpu 0 and cpu 1), see what happens.
harpreet1988
yes of course.
Guys, you know i'm not a guru of pc, vista, but i'm also not a amateur, i'm average in knownledge about vista, and i see that its not my fault, or that i dont understand something. its somekind of bug, maybe this http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=236397
i'm really tired and gonna do system restore during next week.

ScuderiaConchiglia
i went here, checked - cpu 95 , process "system inactivity".

 

You mean "System Idle Process" right? That is the percentage of time that the CPU is idle. If it was showing 95% it means the CPU was only running at 5%. You need to look at this when you think the processor is running at a high percentage and see what process is hogging the CPU.

By the way, setting the CPU affinity is a bad idea. That is only a bandaid and treating the symptoms not the disease. (BTW the affinity thing is really designed for servers with multiple cpus, where you want to dedicate a particular CPU for a particular function.)

Gary

 

well said, rep+

cheers ...

 

Turn off smooth scrolling. That's usually the CPU+scrolling culprit

 

until we figure out what the disease actually is...then why not bandaid a little? even if it is only a temporary fix. it certainly wouldn't be harmful to your computer, so why even call that a "bad idea"?

you do bring up a great point about it being designed for servers. but the fact that you...the standalone home unit is "allowed" access to that function through your OS, why not do all you can to try to isolate the problem? i know people who swear by that function to help Norton Anti-virus from hogging their systems down. it has helped many people by setting the Affinity on their home computers, NOT JUST SERVERS. you do know people run Opteron Server cpu's on their home desktops now right? i'm building mine next year so i guess the Affinity would be good for me then?

and if this is really a "Vista bug" or a Firefox bug then wouldn't it happen to everyone? some people don't care or know how to adjust their settings and fine tune their OS.

i'm sure if jimmy-floyd tells us a little more about his problem, we'll find a solution.

jimmy-have you even attempted the tweaks suggested by Les?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=166532

i bet if he did some of those, he'd have a happier computer.

he says he plays COD4 sometimes....and his cpu is hitting 100%....on his Vaio SZ??! that's a business laptop which isn't even designed to play games like that. also he's using AV Avira, someone else on here just complained how after they installed that program, their computer no longer booted up. that program may have it's own bugs as well.

and of course the obvious...have you updated all your drivers jimmy?

 

Affinity is typically a bad thing because it hinders the ability of the OS to properly balance the load. The best thing to do with an application that is misbehaving is to get rid of it and get one that works properly. The Affinity setting was put in back when multiple CPU's designed for when physically separate chips were the SMP systems, with a long lag for switching between the different chips (having to transfer cache contents over the FSB and so on). With modern multi-core chips, that's not nearly as much of an issue, so "Affinity" is more snake-oil and placebo effect than anything on a modern machine.

If your car burns up a quart of oil on the trip to the corner store, do you keep buying oil for it, or do you fix the engine? The band-aids only work for so long. Get rid of the apps that monopolize CPU and I/O time (which is what REALLY kills Windows), and use better behaving citizens. Firefox without smooth scroll is a good start, and ANYTHING is better than Norton.

 

thanks again and again for your support folks, i really appreciate it.
but i suppose this problem is caused by some kind of software or maybe "my" CCleaner usage - ( i just cleaned all problems in registry with it, was it right?).
or maybe this problem is caused by Punkbluster or something near onlinegaming.

i have the latest drivers, i played COD4 for 3 months and all was ok till now. and its not a COD4 actually. even if i start to extract files from archives or do something else - i get higher processor usage and more ram eating than previously.

EdoKoi
yep, i tried Flamenko tips.
by the way - how to save FF bookmarks not just in the .htm, but so that then i could drag em to bookmarks section in FF tab.. ?

 

I don't exactly understand, could you rephrase that please?

 

You still need to isolate WHICH process or processes are eating the CPU cycles. Until you do this, everything else is just a wild guess. Have you tried what I suggested earlier by watching things within task manager WHILE you are experiencing high CPU use?

Gary

 

Calvin
so, there was a guide how to save FF bookmarks if you are going to do a system restore.
i followed the guide, but i have also forgot it), but as i remember the bookmarks were saved in the file (.htm or .html), so then after system restore, you must open this .html file with saved bookmarks, and open every bookmark in firefox browser and add it manually again to bookmarks in firefox, as they were before system restore.
EDITED:
seems i found what i asked - went to bookmarks> bookmarks managment> import-export tab.

ScuderiaConchiglia
i'll try to do again as you said, i'll test my lappy - open cod4 and other application to hog up the cpu and then go to task manager and see what process is eating my cpu.

 

Good, there is really no point in screwing around with other alleged fixes until you KNOW what the problem is. It's like saying my foot hurts and someone slapping a cast on it without doing an xray.


BTW there is an even more detailed tool than task manager. Go to find Sysinternals Process Explorer. It is the BEST tool for this sort of thing. Task Manager will suffice for your needs right now, but if you want to dig deeper Process Explorer is the way!

Gary

 

hm.. i dunno wtf is this(.
so, i open COD4 MP, play for 5min ok, nearly after that period of time braking starts, i go to task manager - and see that cpu usage is 100%, AND also i see that iwmp process (COD4 MP) uses 500 000-600 000 KB of memory, BUT previously it used no more that 300 000 KB..only single player COD4 uses 500 000-600 000 KB of memory, but not in Multiplayer mode.
Also i open HD trailer (which i have played many times previously on the same player - KMP and all was ok, and no higher cpu usage was seen), and after several minutes it starts laging, and i go to task manager and see that cpu is "good" loaded, and also i see that KMP (his process) uses a lot of memory, and previously it used less memory.
i went through VAIO Hardware Diagnostic tool to test CPU and RAM - all is ok.
You can see the thread named .... in Browsing mode, - but its not only in browsing mode.
yeah i know Process Explorer, will try it, but seems there is no hope for me to fix that bug.

 

That's good information, but you only mentioned the memory intensive processes. It may be the case that those two apps are burying your processor, but it's strange that it just started happening. You say that the CPU is at 100%, so sort by the CPU column, and find out which process is taking up the CPU (not RAM).

I honestly don't think this is a "bug"...at least not by the commonly known definition. To be a bug, it should be narrowed to a very specific set of steps, and highly repeatable. I'm not sure if every other person is experiencing this issue with those programs.

I suggest performing a system restore back to a point before this started happening. It could be corruption in the registry, a "bug" (virus/spyware) in the system, or something else all together. The bottom line is that you've spent a long time trying to fix it. Unless a system restore would set you back a long ways, I'd say go that route.

 

Jimmy, follow my original directions and sort it by CPU use. Lets find out what is hogging the CPU cycles. You still have not done that. Your looking at memory tells us ZERO, ignore that for now.

Gary

 

ttupa
i think so too - that it maybe registry corruption. the fact is that i had turned off system restore points to save some space on internal hdd.

ScuderiaConchiglia
i've made it, it just tells that COD4 or KMP or Flashget or Winrar load cpu a lot, higher than previously.

i have nothing to say - i'm very impressed with your support folks. even when i tell that i could not detach the problem you still help me and i get different solutions. for example - on some big russian tech. forums i would not have a chance to get such help and support. thank you very much all.

Here is a pic


only one ff tab and hd video playing. previously i got only up to 55% of cpu load during the same hd video file playback, now it is from 80 to 98%.. also high memory usage.
cpu is c2d T7700 2.4ggz.

 

The problem is that you're looking at the Performance tab, not the Processes tab. Processes should be the second tab from the left. That should show you CPU load information per process item.

 

Jimmy,

Show us a screenshot of the Process Tab, sorted by CPU use highest to lowest. And hold down the ALT key when you hit the Print Screen key. It will make an image of JUST the active window not the whole screen.

Gary

 

i use Vista's snipping tool, i tried print screen, also alt+print screen, but dont understand where to find the pic, anyway here it is:

only cod4 was open, and sometimes cod4 loads cpu even more.

 

When u press CTRL + PrntScreen then you need to open MS Paint & Paste the image by pressing CTRL + V or right click & Paste.
I dont have snipping tool so i use that.

How is Snipping tool? How does it work?

 

All you do is open it up, and after you take your screen snip, save it. No MS paint needed or anything, it's very nice.

 

nocturnal310
thanks, now i know how to use print screen tool.

its good, i like it. the main feature is that you could select any part of your screen to save in a pic.