Hi.
One of my computers is an old Acer 3620. It is not on the internet, and has never been any problem. It has started running very slowly.  When no programs are running task manager shows 50 - 60% CPU usage and at the same time system idle process 99%. Any ideas?
Regards GeofflThat's not possible. System Idle Process shows the % of cpu that is NOT being used. The cpu can't both be taxed at 50% yet have 99% unused.

What is new or different since the last time everything worked properly (ie, new hw, new sw, virus, error, etc)?

Have you run full scans with both your installed anti virus app and MalwareBytes? If not, please do so.Hi,
Thanks, I didn't think it was supposed to do that. CPU usage is ranging from 41% sometimes up to 60%. I only found this today. I can't run scans as this computer has no anti virus. It has not been on the internet for years. It just runssome simple office stuff.
GeofflYou can download and INSTALL an anti virus app and MalwareBytes. Please do so and run full scans with both.Ok. It has some work to do today but I will take it HOME tonight and connect it.
Thanks for your interest
Regards
GeofflSure. Let's rule out (or in) malware before we move on to the next steps.Hi,
RAN Malwarebites and Nortons - Neither found anything. (I ran them on our network from another computer. I hope that works the same). The computer was doing the same this morning but after a reboot this afternoon it seems to be fine ( although still slower than I remember). Maybe this is some kind of hardware problem.
GeofflGo to task manager - processess tab and post the software/program that is running high on CPU usage.Thats the problem. Processes say 99% idle but in performance says 50 - 60% CPU usageDownload Process Explorer on your desktop.
Right-click extract all the zip file then navigate to the extracted ProcessExplorer FOLDER and double click procexp or procexp64.
Go to View Menu - Select Columns... Checkmark Command Line under Process Image tab.
Under File menu - Save as File Name : System Idle Process
Save as type : Process Explorer Data (*.TXT) -> OK. Save the text file on your desktop and copy/paste the result on your next reply.
will do tomorrowOpen msconfig and on the General tab choose "selective startup" (uncheck all three items) and reboot. Does the problem still occur? If not, start adding items back to msconfig one or two at a time, rebooting after each change, until the problem reappears and you'll have identified the offending process. This is clearly a time consuming procedure, but it is the best way to determine if some process loading with the system is the cause of your problem.

After you've isolated the cause, do not use msconfig to permanently DISABLE the process. Instead, if it is a service go to START - RUN and type: services.msc (then press enter) and disable the service OR, if it a program, you can download & run a simple app such as Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel (http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml) to enable, disable, or otherwise manage startup programs.
Hi,
I have been playing around with this thing all day. Never seems to do the same thing twice, so it's off to the computer shop next week. I am sure it must be some hardware problem. Thanks for all your help.
Regards
Geoffl