Something is wrong here

Well, the problem is that when i go to windows task manager, it shows in the processes that im running 45 processes and my CPU usage is 100%(sometimes it ranges from 96-100%) . Im not very good with computers, but I think that the CPU shouldnt be used this much, and i shouldnt have 45 processes running. The reason that i think i shouldnt be running 45 processes, is because when i turn my computer on, I go on AIM, then i turn on Guild Wars, and then i go to 2 forums, this forum and another one. So thats 4 processes. I know theres other processes that i dont manually turn on, but they are just there. I was wondering if this is normal for my CPu to be used 96-100%, and to run 45 processes. I could post a pic of my Task Manager and what processes im running if anyone wants me to. I would also like to know how many processes other people are running and how much CPU usage they are currently using, just to compare myself to other people. Thanks in advance

yes, take a screenshot of your task manager. it isnt typical for running 45 processes and your CPU usage at 100%. you probably have a lot of useless programs running in the background.

If you are running Windows XP and you have things shown in your Start Bar to the bottom right of your screen, that also adds to your processes.

Plus, XP runs other services and programs that are part of the system, that also show as services. Firewalls, virus software again, all have different features and programs that run as services.

This all adds up to processes running on your machine and is perfectly normal.

As for the machine running at 100%, if you are running GW, then this is also perfectly normal as it just means it is using this process a lot more than the others due to the full on gaming nature, and is normal for most games and CPU intensive apps.

The problems come, when running at 100% that you can't do anything else. Such as load other apps etc. This normally means a program is looping and locking up your system.

If however, you are getting 100% usage after quitting GW, then I would suggest looking for what is taking up the 100% of your CPU power.

Hope this helps.

As the Film Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy says in the beginning.

"DON'T PANIC"

Addition - Just for example. I have 42 processes running, as I have Firewalls, Virus Software, Browser features, Spyware, Mobo features etc etc which all add to the processes running as each one can have seperate components that add to the processes list.

What ever you do, unless you know there is a particular process you know that is part of one of these apps, don't end them. This could end up making your system unstable and possibly crash the machine.

P.S. With regards to what Internet Browser you run. If you use IE, each instance of IE you run, starts a process. If you run Firefox, only one process gets started due to the efficient way this browser works.

Thanks everyone for the info, ill post a screenshot of the task manager and what processes its running in a sec.By the way, i exited GW, and now the CPU usage ranges from 0-5%.

Heres some screenshots of the task manager when its running GW( I took 2 because i needed to scroll down so that people can see all the processes )

If you guys dont mind, maybe someone here can help me close some of the useless tasks, oh and i use firefox. Thnx again.

http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/4701/untitled4eu.jpg
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/5...titled26pj.jpg

I think he means when he is running GW that he is getting 100% CPU usage.

Looking at those pics, those are all normal processes and no reason to close any of them.

It looks like you have all sorts of software running? Do you run a Lexmark Printer, Itunes etc etc?

It's all perfectly normal in my opinion and won't hinder your PC in anyway. The only way to get rid of some of the processes if you are running out of memory is to uninstall some of the apps that run on startup, that you know you don't need.

Could be anything as I don't know what software you are running or have installed on your machine.

I saw weather.exe in that list. Tell me do you have weather bug in your system tray? (look to the right side of the screen near the clock for a white looking lady bug). If so I suggest you scan for spyware.

Yes there are something you could turn off but not necessary and may have some side affects you may not like plus each time you reboot the machine unless you remove them from start up, they fire right back up.

I'm running 21 processes and, when idle, I get 0-1% CPU usage, of course, I'm not using any AntiVirus or Firewall services that run in the background. Never had problems with hackers, and I run a system scan with AVG 6 and Spybot every month, though I usually have no problems with either since I use Firefox and safe browsing rules (like don't open attachments, go to superspywarefunfun.com, click on ad banners, etc.) Try checking out http://www.tweakxp.com/ Good site, all sorts of guides to optimizing your system performance.

Yup i use Weatherbug/Lexmark printer/Itunes/Ipod. Thnx for the replies guys, been very useful

*** DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING***

if you read that first sentance and you didnt understand it... dont read anymore... im serious... you could seriously screw up your machine...

go to start
click "run"
type: "msconfig" without " "
click on the startup tab.
any programs you know you dont need for startup, AOL, WEATHERBUG, MSN, YAHOO, WINAMP, DAEMON TOOLS, ETC... uncheck the boxes next to the title of the program.

DO NOT CLICK DISABLE ALL AS THIS WILL CAUSE SERIOUS DAMAGE THAT MAY NOT BE REPAIRED.

there are many websites with guides to this nifty little function i would suggest going to the aforementioned website a few posts up, or go to google and type msconfig and see what pops up on the results...FYI: use common sense when searching for things like this, i might be paranoid, but i wouldnt put it past people trying to screw you over when it looks like they are trying to help...IE:going to a link, and they say... blah blah blah... speed up computer... blah blah blah... disable all because you dont need any of these programs which would then cause your computer to crash.

like i said up top if you do not understand what any of this means do not attempt it...

good luck fixing your problem and sorry for the long post

Wow thnx AngryhobOz . I did justg that and now not so many proccesses show up at task manager. Thnx for all your help guys

no problem

that little trick will also speed up your reboot, you may not be able to see a difference but it is definety less stressful on your machine.

I consider anything up to 18 processes when idle as normal, up to 24 when busy. Most people aren't as careful about what processes are running though, and I don't see anything harmful in the lists you posted.

As for 100% CPU usage, depending on your hardware it'll be that high while running Guild Wars and is pretty normal.

Looks normal to me. I see you got Norton too, Norton Avirus alone usually takes up 3+ processes. As for the 100% CPU, screenshot shows it is Guildwars, now chances are good that if you "alt-tab' out of a game like GW you will put additional load on everything. Even though you can run all kinds of software with games, i generally turn it all off. For example, i don't browse with Firefox AND play Guildwars in the background.

Also do not forget about that Antivirus, Norton especially love to scan files when it is the worst time [i.e. burning a DVD].

dang said what i was gonna say. lol. Msconfig is a life saver! my cousin showed me and it freed up my computer unbelievably

ok.. i'm having the same problem everyonce in a while i get the out of memory error and the game locks out and closes.... now i run on the intel graphics card... i've rolled back the amount of disk space to use... and have uninstalled many programs that i know i don't need... i still get the cpu 100%... i'm not sure how to fix this.. it doesnm't happen as much since i've uped my disk space.. but i have tons of free hard drive space.. and i wanna fix this problem.. can anyone help me.. sorry to post here but what i read so far wasn't helping... as i have tried alot.... if someone wants to pm so i don't have to clutter board space on an already visited topic that'd be kool too
thanx in advance... please help lol i love this game
i don't know alot about comps so i don't wanna try the misc on my own in fear of screwin something up

do you know how much RAM you have? if you have 128Mb or 256 Mb you might wanna think about getting more, it isnt necessary but it would help the CPU usage and it would speed up your computer. if money isnt an object get a gig o ram, you cant go wrong with a gig o ram.

I went into that msconfig and disabled a number of startup crap (such as old 'free trial' programs still apparently on my system somewhere...), but i noticed the top startup one on the list is..ermm...well its name is 3 boxes, and it's command is also 3 square boxes. Well, here's a screenshot of it...

Weatherbug? arkh! it is a known spyware. Runa spyware checker. And the square boxes process: looks like another spyware in a foreign language.

Angryhob0z, your monkey is scary. Yes.

And Weatherbug is the devil. Un-install it, then hit up www.download.com and grab ad-aware to get rid of weather bug droppings.

i have 504mb of ram on the intel intergrated card..... i'll attach an everest report if that will help..... if ht efile wasn't too large darn it..... i'll pm it to anyone who wants to see.... or tell me what else to show andd i will
this is a new problem.. the only other problem i've ever had with the game was err=7 messages but that was a verizon problem and has since been resolved.....

if it causes probs just shut down everything under "user" except tskmgr.exe and explorer.exe...those are the only 2 you need to really run anything. but yeah, thats about double what i run. you might wanna check out some of the proggy's properties and turn off the startup when windows does because you startup time could decrease by..oh say...alot

Since some people mentioned how much ram i have, i got 768 mb of ram.

the 3 boxes... that means whatever the title and command description is is in a different language that your computer doesnt have a language pack for and cant identify the characters. what to do, your guess is as good as mine. common sense wouls say, since it is unknown characters on your computer it isnt anything microsoft out on your computer, but common sense would aslo say that since we dont know what it is we shouldnt trifle with it. sorry i wasnt to much help . if you want you could try and google it.... you would be better off asking any of the mods or admins here with more experience in this area...