something screwy with task manager and cpu usage

for some reason my task manager is getting different readings for my cpu usage. under the processes tab, it says that the idle is taking up 99%, but in the performance, it says that there is a huge load on the processor, bouncing anywhere between 60% to 80%. im running with a 4600+ x2. the only programs i have open are itunes, this window, and trillian. its not a cpu problem cause it worked fine before. i ran adaware and spybot, as well as mcafee and found nothing. there is nothing (programs) on this computer that i havent used before. anyone else have a clue. i really dont want to do a fresh install of windows, cause i dont have the time nor the patience to get everything installed again. and i did call amd to see what they thought and the guy on the phone was not sure what was going on

heres the rest of the comps specs for those of u who are gonna ask:

AMD 4600+ x2 (am2) w/ stock cooling (all drivers and downloads from AMD)
Abit KN9 SLI (havent fully figured out how to flash teh bios yet)
2 gigs ddr2 667 kingston
300gb seagate hdd (sataII)
XFX 7600 gt (all drivers up to date)
Ultra X2 connect 550 watt PSU
Ultra Aluminius Case (blue) w/ 2x 120mm fans

Run msconfig and disable services that are non essential. Also look at the startup section and disable non essential items. Essential items are antivirus, firewall and most microsoft items.
If you are using an older operating system like windows 2000 you can download a msconfig for your system to do the same.