High cpu usage

seems like this has been asked allot before...

anywho from what lve seen my system has randomly gone into 50% usage but l cant see it from the task manager, and by the time l start the resource monitor it returns to normal again, its kinda annoying because l leave the resource monitor open for a while but the moment l close it down again and leave it for a bit it does it again..

only reason l notice it is because my temps shoot up to 37/38 (my temps are usually around 31/32 at the moment but it goes up to whats mentioned before) again (since the weather is pretty warm right now l wanna make sure that when the weather gets warmer my system isnt maxing out for some reason) the only things that have been open while its happened is Mirc, Skype, Vuze, BitDefender, and Probe2 (temp monitor) on another note it only happens when l havent been touching the computer the moment l start moving the mouse again to take a look things seem to return to normal, so l guess its a process that acts while the computer is assumed idle and not being interacted with.

l have disabled search indexing just because it was my first assumption after it happened, l might also try disabling superfetch but its prolly unlikely to be the cause but l guess l would get RAM back quicker, not that l need to with 8GB.

in any case is there a monitor out there that could log a process that suddenly uses high cpu resources that doesnt show in the Task manager (because it seems to be a phantom process that hides when l try to open the resource monitor, perfmon.exe at the moment is the highest use process, but until l see it eating 50% l cant really say with certainty its the culprit because l dont get there quick enough to see it)

none of the related services in task manager show it, tho l guess from what l read that windows does have some issues showing complete data usage for my second core on my dual core CPU, by the looks of it though (touch wood) since my reboot it hasnt looked like its done it since, the only thing l can put it down to at the second is search indexing, which was disabled before rebooting.. tho l wish there was some tool that could automatically note which processes have used high resources like 50% of my CPU or something so l didnt have to just sit and watch it until it spiked..

but still it only did it while l wasnt touching the keyboard and mouse.. the moment l intervened it was fine again.. guess l can only really observe for the time being.

I would suspect Vuse. If not that, malware from using a bittorrent program - a leading source of malware.

Disabling Superfetch is not a good idea. Its a good feature.

pretty sure vuze isnt the problem as lve been using vuze since l was on XP nearly 5 months back which would have made this the first time problems occurred if it was related.. which l think unlikely, as for malware.. l believe thats unlikely as well as my system scanned clean that and lm always pretty careful about what l download, l have noscript and adblock plus blocking just about everything.

It still would not hurt to uninstall it for now for testing.

ok, l have messed around... lm not sure what l did or installed around that time though l did do a windows update along that week that may or may not have required a restart, going by my history at least...

today l had more updates, when l came back to my system temps were up so l assume high CPU usage as they went back down from 34 to 27C regardless of what l do lm unable to track the issue down, even uninstalling my virus scanner didnt help.. then again l cant seem to repreduce the problem while the task manager/performance monitor are running, whatever the problem is its something that runs while my system is idling because the moment l move the mouse or have a process reviewer open things seem to run normally as it happened after 5mins before of being away from the system, so l left the process monitors open while l was away for an hour without touching it and it didnt happen again (l havent left it long enough after the first time earlier for it to do it again)

when l came back to my system temps were up so l assume high CPU usage as they went back down from 34 to 27C

You are not complaining about 34°C, are you? Those are great temps. I don't start to get seriously worried until I start seeing the temps break 60°C, higher on some CPUs and graphics processors.

Do note that some programs wait until idle, then they do their thing. Some malware scanners do that, backup programs, Windows Update, and Windows itself does a lot of "housekeeping" chores during idle times.

If me, I think I would do a quick clean just to make sure it is clean of crud, then just let the machine run idle for a few hours, or even over night and see if it settles down.

Here's my QuickClean canned text:

I recommend purging the hard drives of clutter with Windows 7 Disk Cleanup, ATF Cleaner or CCleaner. If using CCleaner, uncheck the option to install the Yahoo toolbar during installation. Before first use, go to Options > Settings > Advanced and ensure Only delete files in Windows Temp folders older than 24 hours is unchecked. Know your site credentials (user names and passwords) for sites you frequent before cleaning; you may have to login again at next visit.


Download and install Malwarebytes's Anti-Malware (MBAM) and scan as follows:

Check for updates before scanning,
Select Perform quick scan > Scan,
When complete, click OK, then Show Results,
Ensure all is selected, and click Remove Selected,
When complete, save the log in Notepad to a convenient place for future reference.

Repeat for all computers in the "Trusted Zone" of your network (your side of the Internet "gateway" - typically the cable or DSL modem).

Windows Disk Cleanup Note: One distinct advantage Windows Disk Cleanup has over all other cleaners is that it also has the option to delete all but the most recent Restore Point. This can be significant as malicious code can hide there too. But I caution this option, found under the More Options tab, should be used only after careful consideration. If experiencing a problem that first appeared within the last couple days, do not use this option until sure System Restore cannot be used to fix it. If the computer is running fine otherwise, and you are doing your weekly supplemental scans and want to root out as many potential malware hiding places as possible, I recommend setting a new Restore Point, and then use this Disk Cleanup option to clear out the old points.

   Tip

Always clean the clutter of potentially 1000s of temporary files on your drive(s) before defragging.

lm not complaining about the temps as such, however when its hot like the previous week l could already be in the high 40s due to ambient temp which could mean that l start hitting temps l dont want to, granted there maybe paranoia there but in my experience it pays to be wary and plan for the worst so l can create a fix for the best.

High 40s is still very good. What are the temps when they are at their highest?