Explorer.exe using 100% of CPU, extreme slowdown

wachtourak

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Joined
31 May 2004
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56
Hey

On one of my flatmates computer explorer.exe is using 100% of the CPU according to task manager, as soon as it boots it does it. Tried restarting lots of times, takes a couple of minutes to open task manager after you press alt-control-delete even.

Any Ideas?

Running Windows XP Pro by the way...
 
sounds like spyware. Download microsoft anti spyware and try and find spyware.
 
post a list of your processes either by text or a screenshot of process tab in task manager
you could also try ad aware and spybot if you suspect spyware/adware
 
I would also try booting into SafeMode (hold F8 during boot) and see if the same thing happens. It might at least help you narrow down the cause of the problem.
 
i had a similar problem but it wasnt spyware... turned out to be a bad sector...do a chkdsk just incase

edit: the drive was a brand new western digital 160 SATA.
 
napalmnthemorning said:
What is the process name thats using the 100%

He said it is explorer.exe -- I doubt that a browser hijack would cause that.
 
this may be just a rookie answer but i recall hearing that this is a fairly occuring event, it happens to me all the time. i have not been able to identify the reason but i always C-A-D and kill the process and newtask explorer.exe and everything works fine. I dunno why this happens but it does alot. Also, i have many instances in which, explorer does not appear when i right click the startbar and choose explore. Any ideas?
 
Explorer.exe taking 100% of the processor is likely to occur from time to time, but if it's frequent there is a problem... epecially if it begins doing so at login. Ending the task and starting it again is a good way to fix it under normal circumstances, but I wouldn't want to do that constantly.
 
From task manager type "services.msc" and see if any services are in the "Starting" state.
 
ive had it happen a few times and it was down to trying to open something with dodgy permissions on a domain machine. tho doubt this is the case this time :(
 
wachtourak said:
Hey

On one of my flatmates computer explorer.exe is using 100% of the CPU according to task manager, as soon as it boots it does it. Tried restarting lots of times, takes a couple of minutes to open task manager after you press alt-control-delete even.

Any Ideas?

Running Windows XP Pro by the way...

What service pack are you running?
 
Thanks for all your help, but it just stopped doing it as randomly as it started doing it...weird.
 
If the issue resurfaces:

To make sure everything is kosher, stick in your XP CD and execute a system file check.

Start->Run sfc /scannow
 

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