Heavy CPU usage then a shutdown on a fresh install of Win 7.

rcoop · 23 Feb 2014

I've been trying to fix my brothers computer for a while now. Basically his CPU uses most of its power and ends up speeding up all the fans etc, then just shuts down. It used 70% of its power just opening internet explorer and when opening file explorer it went up to 100% and just shut down.

I decided to do a complete reinstall of Windows 7 on his PC (Win 7 PRO x64) and it's up to 100% right away just on internet explorer, disk clean up, and basically anything.

His specs are :
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core Processor 5400+ 2.80 GHz
RAM: 3GB
He's running a DELL Motherboard with current BIOS of DELL Inc 1.0.7
---

I'm stuck here and have no idea what to do other than say get a new processor. Any help would be appreciated thanks.

Mellon Head · 23 Feb 2014

What are you using to measure the CPU usage?

rcoop · 23 Feb 2014

Mellon Head said:

What are you using to measure the CPU usage?

task managers cpu usage meter

windude99 · 23 Feb 2014

Hardware wise, the computer needs to be cleaned. Get a can of compressed air and be sure to hold the can UPRIGHT when cleaning. Also, spray some of it into an open area before using to ensure there isn't any liquid that is going to come out when you clean the pc. Alternatively, you could use an air compressor if you have one.

Software wise, there could be resource hogging programs running at startup or a virus. Follow this tutorial to optimize Windows 7: Optimize Windows 7

It also mentions running Malwarebytes to scan your computer. I highly recommend you do this. Also, what antivirus is he using?
Also, be sure you run Windows Update and check ALL updates (except for Bing Desktop), especially drivers. This sounds like it could be a driver issue.

rcoop · 23 Feb 2014

windude99 said:

Hardware wise, the computer needs to be cleaned. Get a can of compressed air and be sure to hold the can UPRIGHT when cleaning. Also, spray some of it into an open area before using to ensure there isn't any liquid that is going to come out when you clean the pc. Alternatively, you could use an air compressor if you have one.

Software wise, there could be resource hogging programs running at startup or a virus. Follow this tutorial to optimize Windows 7: Optimize Windows 7

It also mentions running Malwarebytes to scan your computer. I highly recommend you do this. Also, what antivirus is he using?
Also, be sure you run Windows Update and check ALL updates (except for Bing Desktop), especially drivers. This sounds like it could be a driver issue.

Cleaned out the PC and ran updates and did the optimize and the processor is still using up to 70+% just on desktop at random times

windude99 · 23 Feb 2014

rcoop said:

windude99 said:

Hardware wise, the computer needs to be cleaned. Get a can of compressed air and be sure to hold the can UPRIGHT when cleaning. Also, spray some of it into an open area before using to ensure there isn't any liquid that is going to come out when you clean the pc. Alternatively, you could use an air compressor if you have one.

Software wise, there could be resource hogging programs running at startup or a virus. Follow this tutorial to optimize Windows 7: Optimize Windows 7

It also mentions running Malwarebytes to scan your computer. I highly recommend you do this. Also, what antivirus is he using?
Also, be sure you run Windows Update and check ALL updates (except for Bing Desktop), especially drivers. This sounds like it could be a driver issue.

Cleaned out the PC and ran updates and did the optimize and the processor is still using up to 70+% just on desktop at random times

Go into the Processes tab and sort by CPU usage. which process is using the most CPU usage? Be sure to processes from all users. Also, did you run a virus scan? What antivirus is on there? Was this computer restored from a factory restore partition/dvds or did you do a clean reinstall with no extra software?

rcoop · 23 Feb 2014

windude99 said:

rcoop said:

windude99 said:

Hardware wise, the computer needs to be cleaned. Get a can of compressed air and be sure to hold the can UPRIGHT when cleaning. Also, spray some of it into an open area before using to ensure there isn't any liquid that is going to come out when you clean the pc. Alternatively, you could use an air compressor if you have one.

Software wise, there could be resource hogging programs running at startup or a virus. Follow this tutorial to optimize Windows 7: Optimize Windows 7

It also mentions running Malwarebytes to scan your computer. I highly recommend you do this. Also, what antivirus is he using?
Also, be sure you run Windows Update and check ALL updates (except for Bing Desktop), especially drivers. This sounds like it could be a driver issue.

Cleaned out the PC and ran updates and did the optimize and the processor is still using up to 70+% just on desktop at random times

Go into the Processes tab and sort by CPU usage. which process is using the most CPU usage? Be sure to processes from all users. Also, did you run a virus scan? What antivirus is on there? Was this computer restored from a factory restore partition/dvds or did you do a clean reinstall with no extra software?

This is a fresh install from disc, no extra software. The thing that takes up the CPU usage is system idle. It's always 50-100% which is good for system idle isn't it? I don't understand what could be taking up the resource making his cpu run up to 100%

Mellon Head · 23 Feb 2014

This is what you're looking at right?

Heavy CPU usage then a shutdown on a fresh install of Win 7.-capture98.png

My machine is at idle and it's only showing 1 - 2%. IIRC Windows used to show the idle percentage in the processes around 98% when it was idling. Maybe I'm wrong or an update made it so it doesn't show that anymore.

Never the less, your machine shouldn't show much more than 2% at idle. Maybe it's a temperature problem. What are you using to monitor temperatures? HWMonitor is good for AMD machines:

HWMonitor CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

Try downloading that and checking the temps. If you can, post a screen shot of the results.

Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums

rcoop · 23 Feb 2014

Heavy CPU usage then a shutdown on a fresh install of Win 7.-capture.png

heres the temp

gregrocker · 23 Feb 2014

System Idle Processes is not running up the processor. It is the amount of time the processor is not being used.

Is there some performance reason why you think this is a problem? Does Win7 hang or bog, which should never happen on adequate hardware with a perfect install?

Look over the steps for getting and keeping a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 - Windows 7 Help Forums to see how close you came. Particularly look at how drivers are handled in Win7 because this can be messed up.