windows task manager

I just noticed that my CPU usage in the task manager is bouncing up and down form 1% to 50% even if im not touching the machine. resently my computer has become more and more sluggish. but is this normal for it to bounce like that or is there anything i can do to check my pc.

I just bought norton so shouldnt have any viruses etc....

Mr. Ugh

Is it an ACER? I have HUGE problems like that with my notebook. It came to the point where it took anywhere from 15-35 (Yes, actually 35) min from the time you press the power button from the time Windows actually boots up.

And the notebook is less than 2 months old.

what are the specs on your comp? (processor, memory, operating system).....

Keep an eye on what its doing, if need be open your task manager - Processes and then Click End Process for all applications one after the other and see what they do

how can i find that out?
Its an Asus A6
Xp professional
T2400 1.83 Gz. 2GB Ram.

So its not supposed to bounce up and down when i dont touch it?

Quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Ugh

I just bought norton so shouldnt have any viruses etc....

You just got ripped off. And it is most likely the cause of your problem. Norton AntiVirus is notoriously buggy, slow, and resource draining.

really? argh. so theres nothing i can do then? sigh

Uninstall Norton

Uninstall it and see if you notice any changes.

If your problem has stopped, well that is Norton for you.

For Antivirus: AVG Free
For AntiSpyware: Spybot: Search & Destroy, Windows Defender, and Ad-Aware.
For AntiRootKit: Sophos Anti-Rootkit
For Browser: Firefox
For Email: Thunderbird
For Firewall: Kerio or ZoneAlarm.

I stopped using Norton software a long time ago. And now my CPU usage (4 cores total) never go about 5%.

Before you uninstall it i would disable the service first,If it stops then uninstall it. With that kind of memory chances are you have an issue with spy ware. download hijack this and post the log in this thread.

Quote:

Originally posted by Kanzen

[reply=Mr.Ugh]
I just bought norton so shouldnt have any viruses etc....

You just got ripped off. And it is most likely the cause of your problem. Norton AntiVirus is notoriously buggy, slow, and resource draining.
[/reply]
Agreed. Norton is a notorious resource hog. It may not be the cause of all the problems you have but it's a damn good place to start.

When I open my task manager mine bounces from 0% to 3%. Now a buddy of mine who is pretty good with computers has told me that once you stop moving your mouse it should drop to 0% and stay there, otherwise it indicates that spyware or something else is going on, but I have never gotten mine to settle on 0% and stay there.

yeah norton really sucks. it runs like 9 processes at once which really suck up resorces. download avg or avast, disconnect your internet connection, uninstall norton, install avg or avast, let us know how it goes !

I spike at 15% (with two cores) when I open the task manager, and then hover around 2-3% with limewire, trillian, zonealarm, and some nVidia cpu/mobo monitors and all that open.

Hey I was having the same problem I had over 45 processes on my shit ass computer..my fault since I download shit that I really didnt need on my computer just cuz I want it to look cooler..and I was also running Nortons..I asked my buddy who is a computer tech guy and he told me to get AVG since Nortons is a huge resource Hog...
so I deleted the useless crap off of my computer...uninstalled Nortons...Installed AVG and now my computer only has 32 processes...and doesnt normally spike more then 16%

and its running faster...and smoother...I mean when I go to ipen a file it "POPS' open...webpages load extremely fast. even powering up it takes under a minute to load everything. and NO more error messages when I am rebooting

Definitely get rid of shit you never use...or shit that you really dont need...and get AVG

Also, if your hard drive is set to indexing files, the HDD will spin and CPU will hit high percentages. A great tweaking program is Tune Up 2006 (searchable on www.download.com).