System VERY slow - Processor usage constant 100%
 

Everything is running very slow, mouse cursor is slow to respond and a delay
in entering text from the keyboard, programs slow to open. Checked with
system monitor, it showed kernel processor usage at 100% - constantly.

I have rebooted and closed unnecessary programs, and monitor will show 5%,
11%, even 20% at max. But after a few minutes or after opening a program
(like Word, Access, MSN or IE) it goes right back to a VERY slow response. I
checked System Information: running tasks appeared normal, everything else
appeared normal; however, problem devices showed error code 22 for the device
'ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering'. I've got no idea what that is.

PLEASE HELP!!!

Check for virus and adware

Housecall Online Scan
http://housecall.antivirus.com
or
Symantec Security Check
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/d...d=ie&venid=sym

SpyBot S&D searches your harddisk for so-called spy- or adbots;
http://security.kolla.de/
or
Adaware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

-------
Warren
For additional help, post in
http://groups.msn.com/HelpforInterne...owsME/homepage

McCheez wrote:
Everything is running very slow, mouse cursor is slow to respond and a delay
in entering text from the keyboard, programs slow to open. Checked with
system monitor, it showed kernel processor usage at 100% - constantly.

I have rebooted and closed unnecessary programs, and monitor will show 5%,
11%, even 20% at max. But after a few minutes or after opening a program
(like Word, Access, MSN or IE) it goes right back to a VERY slow response. I
checked System Information: running tasks appeared normal, everything else
appeared normal; however, problem devices showed error code 22 for the device
'ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering'. I've got no idea what that is.

PLEASE HELP!!!

The error code you are seeing is by design and nothing to worry about. I
would suggest that you get a good process viewer, i.e. Process Explorer,
free, from www.sysinternals.com or you could go directly to the page of
utilities, http://www.sysinternals.com/win9x/98utilities.shtml and download
from there.
This app will show you ALL processes that are running, including background
processes, that may or may not show otherwise and it will provide the amount
of cpu usage, in %, by each. Hopefully, it will direct you to the offending
process. I suspect you have some sort of malware that is eating your cpu
cycles. Post back with what you find.
Heirloom, old and hope that helps


"McCheez" wrote in message
...
Everything is running very slow, mouse cursor is slow to respond and a
delay
in entering text from the keyboard, programs slow to open. Checked with
system monitor, it showed kernel processor usage at 100% - constantly.

I have rebooted and closed unnecessary programs, and monitor will show 5%,
11%, even 20% at max. But after a few minutes or after opening a program
(like Word, Access, MSN or IE) it goes right back to a VERY slow response.
I
checked System Information: running tasks appeared normal, everything else
appeared normal; however, problem devices showed error code 22 for the
device
'ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering'. I've got no idea what that is.

PLEASE HELP!!!

Yeah, what War17 said..............excellent suggestions to address my
reference to 'malware.' I should have included his info.......thanks for
the assist, war.
Heirloom, old and must be time for bed


"war17" wrote in message
...
Check for virus and adware

Housecall Online Scan
http://housecall.antivirus.com
or
Symantec Security Check
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/d...d=ie&venid=sym

SpyBot S&D searches your harddisk for so-called spy- or adbots;
http://security.kolla.de/
or
Adaware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

-------
Warren
For additional help, post in
http://groups.msn.com/HelpforInterne...owsME/homepage

McCheez wrote:
Everything is running very slow, mouse cursor is slow to respond and a
delay
in entering text from the keyboard, programs slow to open. Checked with
system monitor, it showed kernel processor usage at 100% - constantly.

I have rebooted and closed unnecessary programs, and monitor will show
5%,
11%, even 20% at max. But after a few minutes or after opening a program
(like Word, Access, MSN or IE) it goes right back to a VERY slow
response. I
checked System Information: running tasks appeared normal, everything
else
appeared normal; however, problem devices showed error code 22 for the
device
'ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering'. I've got no idea what that is.

PLEASE HELP!!!

Where has ProcessExplorer been all my life? 2 minutes to download, install
and run the program, 7 seconds to find the culprit, 15 seconds to figure out
how to correct it. WOW!
Apparently there was a program called STMGR.EXE running. I'm not sure what
it is, but I'm on the trail now.

THANKS!!!

"heirloom" wrote:

The error code you are seeing is by design and nothing to worry about. I
would suggest that you get a good process viewer, i.e. Process Explorer,
free, from www.sysinternals.com or you could go directly to the page of
utilities, http://www.sysinternals.com/win9x/98utilities.shtml and download
from there.
This app will show you ALL processes that are running, including background
processes, that may or may not show otherwise and it will provide the amount
of cpu usage, in %, by each. Hopefully, it will direct you to the offending
process. I suspect you have some sort of malware that is eating your cpu
cycles. Post back with what you find.
Heirloom, old and hope that helps


"McCheez" wrote in message
...
Everything is running very slow, mouse cursor is slow to respond and a
delay
in entering text from the keyboard, programs slow to open. Checked with
system monitor, it showed kernel processor usage at 100% - constantly.

I have rebooted and closed unnecessary programs, and monitor will show 5%,
11%, even 20% at max. But after a few minutes or after opening a program
(like Word, Access, MSN or IE) it goes right back to a VERY slow response.
I
checked System Information: running tasks appeared normal, everything else
appeared normal; however, problem devices showed error code 22 for the
device
'ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering'. I've got no idea what that is.

PLEASE HELP!!!

Hey Cheez,
The process you are seeing is a legit Windows process.....State
Manager. Under Windows Me, STMGR.EXE provides support for the System
Restore feature that lets you roll back your configuration to fix problems
that are due to bad software installations or viruses. However, System
Restore may consume significant amounts of disk space and cause performance
problems if it is not configured correctly. For more information on how to
use, configure, and/or disable System Restore, see Microsoft article 267951.
I am hesitant to give you advice on how to proceed......we should
wait on one of the gurus. That process should not be consuming all of your
cpu cycles and it is not something that you would want to disable.
Have you taken the steps outlined by war17 to see if you are
infected with some sort of malware?
Heirloom, old and awaiting the gurus


"McCheez" wrote in message
...
Where has ProcessExplorer been all my life? 2 minutes to download, install
and run the program, 7 seconds to find the culprit, 15 seconds to figure
out
how to correct it. WOW!
Apparently there was a program called STMGR.EXE running. I'm not sure what
it is, but I'm on the trail now.

THANKS!!!

"heirloom" wrote:

The error code you are seeing is by design and nothing to worry about.
I
would suggest that you get a good process viewer, i.e. Process
Explorer,
free, from www.sysinternals.com or you could go directly to the page of
utilities, http://www.sysinternals.com/win9x/98utilities.shtml and
download
from there.
This app will show you ALL processes that are running, including
background
processes, that may or may not show otherwise and it will provide the
amount
of cpu usage, in %, by each. Hopefully, it will direct you to the
offending
process. I suspect you have some sort of malware that is eating your
cpu
cycles. Post back with what you find.
Heirloom, old and hope that helps


"McCheez" wrote in message
...
Everything is running very slow, mouse cursor is slow to respond and a
delay
in entering text from the keyboard, programs slow to open. Checked
with
system monitor, it showed kernel processor usage at 100% - constantly.

I have rebooted and closed unnecessary programs, and monitor will show
5%,
11%, even 20% at max. But after a few minutes or after opening a
program
(like Word, Access, MSN or IE) it goes right back to a VERY slow
response.
I
checked System Information: running tasks appeared normal, everything
else
appeared normal; however, problem devices showed error code 22 for the
device
'ACPI IRQ Holder for PCI IRQ Steering'. I've got no idea what that is.

PLEASE HELP!!!

Further to heirloom's post. In normal usage stmgr.exe shouldn't use more
than 1 minute of cpu time in any 24 hour period so if you are seeing
significantly more than this it is likely that you have a massive build up
of files in the C:\_RESTORE\TEMP folder and that the state manager has now
kicked in and is analysing these files, discarding those not required by
system restore and archiving those required for any system checkpoints you
have to FS*.CAB files in the C:\_RESTORE\ARCHIVE folder.

If the state manager's usage doesn't drop back to normal fairly soon and
you are happy with the present state of your system you might want to
think about resetting system restore which will clear out all existing
system restore checkpoints and the C:\_RESTORE archive. You do this as
follows:
System | Performance | File System | Troubleshooting and check "Disable
System Restore", Apply and IMMEDIATELY reboot. This will flush you
restore folder and erase all checkpoints, then,
System | Performance | File System | Troubleshooting and uncheck "Disable
System Restore", Apply and again IMMEDIATELY reboot. This should now
automatically create a new checkpoint immediately following the restart.
Finally adjust the space allocated to the restore folder,
System | Performance | File System | Hard Disk and adjust the restore
slider to your preferred setting. A figure of 200MB is normally more
than adequate for day to day use allowing perhaps a week of checkpoints to
be available although increasing this to perhaps 400-500MB for a few days
during periods of large installs such Microsoft Office is advisable.
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



McCheez wrote:

Where has ProcessExplorer been all my life? 2 minutes to download,
install and run the program, 7 seconds to find the culprit, 15
seconds to figure out how to correct it. WOW!
Apparently there was a program called STMGR.EXE running. I'm not sure
what it is, but I'm on the trail now.

Thanks Mike........believe it or not, I was going to suggest resetting
System Restore, but, I was unsure. Thanks for the assist and good advice.
Hope Cheez gets it worked out.
Heirloom, old and going to
bed now....busy day


"Mike M" wrote in message
...
Further to heirloom's post. In normal usage stmgr.exe shouldn't use more
than 1 minute of cpu time in any 24 hour period so if you are seeing
significantly more than this it is likely that you have a massive build up
of files in the C:\_RESTORE\TEMP folder and that the state manager has now
kicked in and is analysing these files, discarding those not required by
system restore and archiving those required for any system checkpoints you
have to FS*.CAB files in the C:\_RESTORE\ARCHIVE folder.

If the state manager's usage doesn't drop back to normal fairly soon and
you are happy with the present state of your system you might want to
think about resetting system restore which will clear out all existing
system restore checkpoints and the C:\_RESTORE archive. You do this as
follows:
System | Performance | File System | Troubleshooting and check "Disable
System Restore", Apply and IMMEDIATELY reboot. This will flush you
restore folder and erase all checkpoints, then,
System | Performance | File System | Troubleshooting and uncheck "Disable
System Restore", Apply and again IMMEDIATELY reboot. This should now
automatically create a new checkpoint immediately following the restart.
Finally adjust the space allocated to the restore folder,
System | Performance | File System | Hard Disk and adjust the restore
slider to your preferred setting. A figure of 200MB is normally more
than adequate for day to day use allowing perhaps a week of checkpoints to
be available although increasing this to perhaps 400-500MB for a few days
during periods of large installs such Microsoft Office is advisable.
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



McCheez wrote:

Where has ProcessExplorer been all my life? 2 minutes to download,
install and run the program, 7 seconds to find the culprit, 15
seconds to figure out how to correct it. WOW!
Apparently there was a program called STMGR.EXE running. I'm not sure
what it is, but I'm on the trail now.

Hope Cheez gets it worked out.

So do I.

going to bed now....busy day

Sweet dreams. :-)
--
Mike


heirloom wrote:

Thanks Mike........believe it or not, I was going to suggest resetting
System Restore, but, I was unsure. Thanks for the assist and good
advice. Hope Cheez gets it worked out.