Windows 7 - Installed Drivers & Now Have Problem

I went to NVIDIA's site to update my driver.

It required that I download Java in order to detect, I did this. Then it detected that I needed to download approx 132 MB update, I did this. Install went fine, and then I started having a problem. When my computer is sitting idle (no programs running) the CPU % used spikes every 2-3 seconds between 0 and 40-60%. If I open up a browser, it goes up to 70-90%.

This happened immediately after I downloaded Java and updated the driver. I have no idea what happened (and I'm honestly not too familiar with Windows 7).

I went ahead and searched for Windows updates and downloaded all of them.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Anything would be appreciated.

We need to wipe out the nvidia drivers and install them fresh from scratch while the antivirus is disabled, or on snooze.

First manually download the latest nvidia driver for your card. I could tell you which one that was if I knew what card you had, you just filled in nvidia though.


to remove them, do not use the normal uinstall, use driver sweeper instead.
Guru3D - Driver Sweeper (Setup) download from Guru3D.com

My card is: GeForce 8800 GT

You want this driver then.
NVIDIA DRIVERS 266.58 WHQL

I selected the different NVIDIA options in that sweep program and then hit analyse.

What to do next?

Limit this to only display stuff for the moment, we'll leave the chipset for the moment.
So untick all chipset items and then wipe the drivers for the display.

I wiped display drivers and rebooted. I did a CPU check there, and there were no spikes; also, when I booted up a browser the CPU was not jumping to 90% at any point. AKA the problem seemed to go away.

I reinstalled driver from that link, and now the problem is back with all the same symptoms.

What is next?

Exactly what process is all the cpu time being used up in?