Vista - CPU 50% System idle shows 98%

I have Vista Home premium for 2 years. About a week ago it slowed to a point where it may take 5 minutes to respond. Task manager Performance shows about 50% CPU usaage but Processes says 98% idle. If I start in safe mode Task Manager is the same but I seem to get a little better response. I use a free version of AVG.
This problem seems to show up a lot in Google but each one seems to get resolved a different way. I tried some things others did but it has had no affect. The last time I started there were about 10 SVCHOST processes. I ended a few but nothing changed.
It takes a long time for one to end because the response is so slow. And it gets slower the longer I am up.

Where do I start to get to the bottom of this?

Hi SMBerger,

This tutorial may help you with increasing your performance. Try especially steps 1, 6, 8, 14, 24, 25, 26, and any other that your would like to do.

Speed Up the Performance of Vista

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Thanks, I will try them this weekend when I get home and will let you know how it went. I have to do some work from home starting May 16 so if these things do not work I will be reloading Vista.

I just read them and I have done at least half already based on info I googled.
How do I Install the Latest BIOS and Device Drivers.
How do I know which I need. There probably is some info on it somewhere.
Most performance enhancements will help in general but I would be surprised if they resolve my problem since I actually have something using the CPU.

SMBerger,

If you can give me the brand and model number of your motherboard, or model number of your OEM (store bought) computer, I can look up the information for you at their website.

Shawn

Hi Shawn,
I bought this desktop from Cyberpower. They replaced the motherboard in September '07 and it was different than the one I originally had. Now that I think of it, being that it is fairly new am I barking up the wrong tree?

SMBerger,

If it is still under warranty, then you might check into that option to see if they can look at it for you for free.

You can download this free program called "CPU-Z" that will tell you what your "Mainboard" information is. I will need the Manufacturer and Model number under Motherboard to look it up.

This program does not install on your computer. It comes in a ZIP file that you just extract all the files on your desktop and run the cpuz.exe file.

CPUID

Shawn

Hi Shawn,
It has been a long weekend. Anyway, I decided to reload Vista. The PC came with a disc that was labeled Vista recovery. I called the company tech line and they told me it reloads Vista and I would lose my own files. Well, they were wrong. I started recovery and it looks like it connects to MS to do the recovery. It said it would take a few hours. It took a little over 11 hours. First it does some checking, then gets files then loads and keeps rebooting and eventually it gets done. It then tells me that windows will not activate without my typing in the Vista product number, which you would thing that would ask for before it started. Anyway when yhe desktop came up I had my own stuff still there. A citrix connection to work which did give me an error message but did connect me. And I still had Firefox and few other things. And response was OK but not great. But the kicker is that when I checked task manager it still shows 50% CPU usage. Maybe I just never noticed it. Does Vista use that much? The performance screen is split. The one on the right the graph shows it is all the way up and the one on the left just shows 1 or 2 percent. So in total it is around 50 -52%. But then why does processes show 98 percent idle.
I am going to try the list you sent me to see if anything changes. It was impossible to try before because it could take 5 to 10 minutes per response.
Thanks again and I will keep you posted.

Do you have a dual core CPU? If yes then Idle is running 98% of the time
and since it only requires 1 CPU your total CPU usage is 50%.
"smberger" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message
news:23248584441fa29380bf1f721f0d63cd@xxxxxx-gateway.com...

SMBerger,

Take a look in Resource Monitor under the CPU line. It will list everything that is using the CPU and by how much percentage. It may help in finding out what is using so much. What CPU do you have? If it's a older slower one, then Vista could put a bit of strain on it. 50-52% is still a lot though.

This tutorial will show you how to open the Resoure Monitor if needed.

Resource Monitor

Hope this helps,
Shawn