Task manager/monitor for WinME

[SickBoy]

OK, I'm diagnosing my roommate's computer. He gets severe slowdowns (like the mouse only moves once every 2-3 seconds and sounds skip pretty bad) after a while of use. I killed off pretty much all but the basic programs and processes, and his CPU utilization is hovering around 60%. I know this isn't normal. My box, when not folding, hovers around 5-10% during an idle. Is there some utility that I can view the process details and priorities and time on the CPU like the Task Manager in WinNT/2K/XP? Third party I'd suppose. Here's the rest of the details on his box:

ECS K7S5A
Duron 700@stock
FOP33 (yep, 33 CFM YS Tech on there)
128 MB PC133 CAS3
ATi All In Wonder 8 MB AGP
250W Generic PSU
Single 15 GB Maxtor HDD
10X Generic DVD
WinME.... all drivers loaded.
Intel PCI 10/100 card
56k
using onboard sound

Thats all I can think of....

SickBoy

[turd]

here is a link: http://www.downlinx.com/proghtml/235/23594.htm

hey i wonder if a copy of taskmanager would run on ME?

[Yodums]

Use to happen to me I believe it was a hard-drive problem Windows Me is famous for its bad memory management ..

[SickBoy]

OK, downloaded and installed that program. Kernel32.dll is the thing that's keeping the CPU usage so high - it's between 80 and 90% all the time..... is this supposed to be this way? I know my CPU's idle between 5 and 15% usage. Is there a way to set process priority on this thing from High back to normal?

SickBoy

[SickBoy]

OK, update....

Figured out how to set priority. I set Kernel32.dll to normal priority, but it doesn't seem to do much... CPU usage is still around 62% when doing nothing. What do I do? I'm not real tempted to screw too much with Kernel32.dll, I'm pretty sure the Windows kernel is pretty important to keep the box running. I'd like to save this install if I can... can I somehow use MS's tool to replace the Kernel32.dll file? (With one from the CD) I'd heard this is possible.

Thanks

SickBoy

[Godfodda]

Originally posted by SickBoy
OK, update....

Figured out how to set priority. I set Kernel32.dll to normal priority, but it doesn't seem to do much... CPU usage is still around 62% when doing nothing. What do I do? I'm not real tempted to screw too much with Kernel32.dll, I'm pretty sure the Windows kernel is pretty important to keep the box running. I'd like to save this install if I can... can I somehow use MS's tool to replace the Kernel32.dll file? (With one from the CD) I'd heard this is possible.

You may be able to use the system config utility to do this. Start>Run>msconfig. I used pretty much the same thing a while back w/ 98, and this looks like it's similar. I take no responsibility for a fragged OS, though. :D


BTW, stupid question, but you did scan for virii, trojans, etc, right?

[turd]

on ME i think that u get a lot of cpu from system restore, try disabling that and see what u get,

u can turn off here

in the file system properties dialog where you set the disk space, click on the troubleshooting tab. select the last option on the list, and restart your system.

[SickBoy]

We updated Norton and did a full scan... nothing.

I'll look into the msconfig thing.

SickBoy

[diehrd]

Trojan,,get a scan for them..NOT NORTON but a scanner for trojans only,,,Trojan Remover works fine....

Also use the sir cam scanner from norton..It detects that sircam worm.

Hi cpu usage at idle can be a virus.I have used WinMe many times and never had it idling my procesor at 62% usage this is just not what an O/S does to an Idle system.It has to have something running to create this usage,and poor memory management is no reason for high cpu usage if all programs are closed.....Ctrl Alt Delete and close everything except explorer,If U have Me....Now check cpu usage do tyhis before any scans ok...If u did this get some scans from what I suggested

[SickBoy]

OK, did a scan for SirCam and Nimda.... it's clean.

Reformatted and reinstalled (dangit, was trying to avoid this) and it DOES THE SAME FREAKIN' THING!! With zero software installed except MBM and the Task monitor program I found!!!

Is it something with the motherboard? Does the K7S5A refuse to go into a "true" idle state? The CPU usage is lower when I move the mouse than when I leave it alone.

On a side note.... I think the freezing problem may be gone, even though the computer is still idling high. I'm still not comfy with this thing idling at 65% CPU usage, though.

SB

[diehrd]

Please tell me what you are using to determin cpu usage ???