Help on Problem with Custom Built PC - 1yr Old

[redsoxfanatic]

I am having a problem with a Core 2Duo System I built 2 years ago. The system started idling with the processor at 50% capacity. There were no programs running and only 28-32 processes. No anti-virus software, just basic business software, MS Office, Adobe Suite, ect.

I could not figure out what the problem was and just decided to reformat.

I installed a fresh copy of XP and updated to Service Pack 3 and have not yet installed any major programs (just Chrome) however I am still encountering the 50% idle issue. (screen shot of task manager below)

The processor is a E8400 (never overclocked). The system has 4GBs of ram.

Do you think this might be the hardware beginning to fail? CPU temp is hovering around 55C.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Guys and Gals.

 

[tecmo34]

Have tried re-seating your HSF with new thermal compound to see if that helps with the temps.

 

[dndhatcher]

You have an SVCHOST.EXE running 50% of the CPU. Svchost would normally run at 0% (as you can see the other copies do). Svchost is frequently hijacked by viruses and trojans. That is my guess as to what your problem is.

The CPU constantly running 50% will also generate heat, keeping the temps up even though its not critically high.

 

[redsoxfanatic]

Thank you, I will reformat this PC again...probably upgrade to Windows 7 and hopefully that helps.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Reformatting isn't the issue. You already tried that and it didn't fix it, so why would it this time?

You NEED anti-virus software. Period. No exceptions. I mean it. Seriously.

There are plenty of good free ones out there. I prefer AVG, but I'm sure others will weigh in on better ones. Download one and run it. Hopefully that will fix it.