Winlogon.exe Help

Hello, I've got a Windows problem here and I'm totally stumped:

A few weeks ago my Dell Inspiron 500m (under XP, SP1) failed to resume from standby. After a couple tries I realized that it was trying to resume - however, a process called winlogon.exe was utilizing 100% of the CPU and preventing resumption.

I googled around for a solution, but answers varied from spyware to some proprietary software so I just said "screw it" and did a full reformat.

Great, it worked. For like three days. And then the same problem came up again. Since it was a fresh install and I didn't really have anything to lose, I simply did another reformat.

And it worked again. For another few days. This is the third time around I'm getting this problem and I think that eliminates spyware or any application problems that it might have caused it. So I'm concluding that it's a Windows problem.

So I installed SP2. It made things worse. Winlogon.exe would randomly start utilizing 100% of the CPU, not just after standby. So I uninstalled it. Now I'm back to square one and completely stumped.

I've never encountered such a problem in my four years of using this machine. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

It sounds like malware. This doesn't explain why it would be there after a re-install but maybe this will help.

http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-11184-0.html?forumID=47&threadID=199966

 

Any other suggestions here or is this just one of those stupida** bugs that no one can find a solution to? I went so far as try installing an SP3 RC, but that didn't help.

 

I would try another reformat after zeroing out the hard drive. This will definately confirm that it isn't a malware issue. Also, I would try getting the drivers from the actual component manufacterer's page instead of Dell. Tell me how this works out.



By the way, nice Gurren Lagaan picture.