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#1
Performance problem from periodic high CPU usage, please help
I've just started having a problem where my computer becomes periodically unusable for chunks of time, like 30-60 minutes.
Everything is going along well and then it slows down to a crawl.
In the task manager, under performance, I see a crazy amount of activity, sometimes pegged at 100%, sometimes less. But even when it shows the cores around 50-70%, I can't even right an email without significant lag.
It's a Dell, Windows 7 x64. i7 processor, 16gb of RAM.
The thing is, when I look at the applications running, none of them account for all the activity.
When I look at processes that doesn't add up to all the activity I'm experiencing either.
I got something called Process Explorer which gives a more thorough list but that doesn't show very high activity either for any process.
I ran several virus scans while the computer was booted into safe mode with networking. One of them caught some stuff, but subsequent searches came up clean.
I ran a tool to clean up the registry.
I can't figure out what is causing the problem and I don't know what to try now. It's weird because after a while the activity will just stop and I can use my computer again. And then just as mysteriously the problem will start up again.
Thanks for any help.