CPU usage spike to 100%

Hello everyone

I'm new here and I hope that I'll be able to find the help I need for my problem. I've been searching for weeks for solutions online but have not been able to find anything. Anyways, here it is-

I recently reinstalled Vista ultimate. I was on the 32 bit and decided to go up to 64 bit. For about a week afterwards everything was fine. But then I started to experience spikes in my CPU usage to 100% while playing games. The games I was playing, such as Battlefield Bad Company 2, were totally fine in the 32 bit system and were fine right after upgrading to x64, but then during gameplay, CPU usage would jump to 100% causing massive lag. It even happens in the game Minecraft and now its starting to also happen while I watch Netflix. Again, I never had any sort of problem before while on the 32 bit system. When I reinstalled, I did a clean installation and I've updated all of my drivers. I even turn the graphics all the way down during gameplay but nothing changes. CPU usage still jumps, and while playing, it'll jump on a regular basis, like every 20 seconds. I brought up the Task Manager to see whats going on but there is no program running other than the game or Netflix that is using the CPU up to 100% and even the game or Netflix doesn't go to 100%. One thing I noticed was that when downloading and installing all the windows updates, they kept failing and I couldn't install them.

Here are my specs
CPU: Intel Core 2 Due 2.6 ghz
Motherboard: MSI P6N 650i SLI
Graphics: PNY GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512 mb
RAM: 6 gigs
OS: Windows Vista Ultimate x64

Compared to you guys here on this board, I'm a noobie at computer technical stuff. This one my first that I built with a lot of help.

Anyways, thanks!

When it happens, bring up task manager, (right click on bottom task bar) and send us a screen shot of whats using the cpu.
In addition you can make a clean boot and see if it still happens.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Download Malwarebytes make a full updated scan. MB is free
Make a complete updated scan with your anti virus.

Have you ever taken a memory test?

Updated on all SPs?

Thanks for your quick reply. I've run antivirus scans with no results but I haven't checked for malware. I'll do that. I forgot to mention that I re-formatted and reinstalled again to see if that would fix it but the problem still persists.

I haven't done a memory test so I'll do that. Also, what does SP stand for?

I'll get screen shots up soon.

Guide to using Memtest86+ - Geeks to Go Forums

SPs are the service packs. Are you up to date?
See if the problem is still there in safe mode

I'm betting that your inability to install MS updates is unrelated to your CPU issue, but I had that problem a while back, so I think I'll just help you fix that one right here as well. Unless it interferes with solving your CPU issue, in which case you can just wait for that to be fixed and then worry about it or make a new thread about it. What error message are you getting when they fail to install?

I think slammer has it right.

Get the updates in, as i think the updates trying to get through.

Here are the screenshots. I took these while watching Netflix.
The first one is while the video is streaming just fine; no lag whatsoever.
Second one is the CPU spiking to 100% while watching the video.
Third one is what it looks like in the processes tab when the CPU hits 100%.
Fourth one is an example of the pattern of spikes.
Fifth is what it looks like in game. I was playing The Witcher 2. I downloaded fraps to see what the fps was when the spikes would hit and the game would jump from 30-40 fps to only 1 fps during the spikes. However, when I minimize out of the game and go to task manager the CPU usage goes back down to very low.

All the SP's are installed. I haven't finished getting all of the updates so when if and when I reach the part about the updates failing to install I'll post screenshots of that as well. The last two photos are of the latest failed update and its details. Maybe it'll successfully install after I get the others in. There are over 100 for me to catch up on.

Also, I ran Malwarebytes and the scan turned out to be clean.

Try the clean boot.
Make sure that the Malwarebytes scan was the full scan and not the quick. It should take at least 30 minutes.

You first need to know whats running.. Your SS only shows a few processes. Click show all process, then sort by % usage.

The clean boot and the cpu usage may be tied together. Follow the advice of Patonb, and post and then try the clean boot and see what happens.

Thanks all for the advice and help. I'm going to be pretty busy during the 4th of July weekend so I'll post again after the holiday.
Hopefully we'll get to the bottom of this!

Sure no problem.

Hello

I'm back from the 4th of July weekend and did another screenshot of the processes in the Task Manager but this time I had it show all processes. I found a process called "System Idle Process" that would fluctuate, while there was nothing going on, and normally would reach near 100%. While watching Netflix, it would get into the 80's.

I'm still working through all the updates. All the virus scans and malware scans show nothing.

System Idle is suppose to be high, it holds the reserve
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/20...m-idle-process-hogging-all-the-resources.html
Did you try the clean boot?

As Rich said, system idle is whats NOT being used... aka how much free cpu you have.

I tried the clean boot but it didn't really work. After the clean boot, my computer restarted but then it wouldn't restart. It just sat at a black screen with a little white blinking cursor at the top left corner. I ended up going into the BIOS and in the boot sequence it had been changed to "USB: Generic Storage Device." I changed it to "SATA: 6M-WDC WD" and it started back up but then the problem was even worse. I opened up The Witcher 2 and it couldn't even make it through the start up screen because the lag was so bad. I tried Minecraft and it wasn't that bad but the CPU usage was spiking. I noticed in the processes under Task Manager that Java was up at around 70-80 %, and it was the only thing up and running.

Maybe I didn't do the clean boot correctly. I opened up the start menu, typed in "msconfig.exe" in the search box. Under the General tab, I selected "selective startup: load system service" and unchecked "load startup items." Then, under the Services tab, I selected "hide all microsoft services" and then clicked "disable all." I then clicked "ok" and "restart."

I dont unederstand what happned. You seem to have an understanding of how the computer works, and should know that a clean boot may not solve the problem but the results that you described should not have happened either.
In any event, I do not see any mention of the Memory test that I suggested.

Woops, I totally forgot about the memory test. I'll do that right away.

That may not go anywhere, but best to rule out everything.