CPU usage 100% - Explorer.exe related?

[tiago1919]

Hello, I am new but i have been irritated by this problem for the past few weeks.

I am running Windows XP Home edition.

Basically once i turn on my Computer, everything is ok - after an hour or so my explorer.exe stops working and task bar is froze.

As usual i just open task manager and find the process, cancel it and just run it again - usually this would fix the problem altho my explorer.exe never stopped working regularly anyway.

The problem really kicks in once i have run explorer.exe again, the CPU usage shoots straight up to 100% and everything is slow and laggy.

After opening my task manager to see which program is using the most, i was shocked to see that no program had abnormally high usage, and after closing all my programs, disconnecting from the internet it still remains 100%.

I cant reboot as regularly as id like which makes this problem even more irritating although i beleive that is some sort of hardware problem non related, it has been happening for 2 years now, ive reset my system twice and it still happens, i jus have to put it in standby as soon as i get to the log in screen (if it doesnt freeze before i get there ), once it comes out of standby it works as normal again

If anyone could shed some light on this problem it would be greatly appreciated, also if im required to post anything in order to help you guys find the problem then please tell me and i will try and do it.

[DragoN]

There are some viruses that use name iexplore.exe or explore.exe and use a lot of mem. usage, but if you reinstalled your OS, then it's not that -> it's hardware problem (i guess)...

[tiago1919]

But it has only started happening recently, so it cant be hardware. - that freezing problem i wrote about is unrelated altho not being able to reboot quickly makes this porblem even worse

I know that some viruses will take on those names, IEXPLORE.EXE ive dealt with, it only messed up my computer when i opened internet explorer, so i jus began using opera. (which is alot better IMO.)

I gave google a search on my issue and read something about registrys and AVI videos, this wouldnt happen to be the problem would it?

[oddjob]

This maybe difficult to pin down but, as DragoN implies, you should try to eliminate as many possible malware culprits as you can.

Try the following.

I suggest you print this out to help you follow my advice.

***********************

Make sure you have exposed all Hidden Files & Folders.

To enable the viewing of Hidden files follow these steps:

1. Close all programs so that you are at your desktop.
2. Double-click on the My Computer icon.
3. Select the Tools menu and click Folder Options.
4. After the new window appears select the View tab.
5. Put a checkmark in the checkbox labeled Display the contents of system folders.
6. Under the Hidden files and folders section select the radio button labeled Show hidden files and folders.
7. Remove the checkmark from the checkbox labeled Hide file extensions for known file types.
8. Remove the checkmark from the checkbox labeled Hide protected operating system files.
9. Press the Apply button and then the OK button and close My Computer.

***********************

I suggest you run some first line (free) removal programs. These three ...

Superantispyware > http://www.superantispyware.com/

AVG Anti Spyware > http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/us/frt/0?prd=asf

TrojanHunter > http://www.misec.net/


Download each and have them run full scans on your entire systems.

Let them fix whatever they find.

***********************

Rehide your Hidden Files & Folders by carrying out the reverse operation to that described at the start of this post & reboot to normal mode.



If this doesn’t succeed in fixing the problem download a self-extracting copy of HijackThis from here …….

http://downloads.malwareremoval.com/hijackthis_sfx.exe

Save it to your Desktop.

Double-click on the file hijackthis_sfx.exe file and it will self-extract into its own folder ……

C:\Program Files\HijackThis

Go to this folder and run the hijackthis.exe file.

From the menu click on "Do a system scan and save a logfile".

Copy and paste the HJT logfile to this thread. More specific removal instructions will follow for any malware revealed.


I may also advise using Process Explorer, for more details on Running Processes, but let's see what happens with this first fix.


MM