Explorer.exe @ 100% CPU Usage

Puppetmaster · 28 Aug 2006 at 20:32

Got an interesting problem. For several weeks now, explorer.exe will randomly jump too between 80 and 100 % cpu usage causing my pc to grind to a hault. I used to be able to fix this by ending and re starting explorer and 3 times but now it seems hit and miss.

Ive defragged my hard drive, cleaned temp files etc done virus scan, adaware scans, trojan scans but couldnt find anything.

Ive only got a few start up processes which are for my logitech keyboard, ati drivers and one or 2 other things.

Anyone know how to fix this problem?

VeNT · 28 Aug 2006 at 22:46

Vicious said:
Got an interesting problem. For several weeks now, explorer.exe will randomly jump too between 80 and 100 % cpu usage causing my pc to grind to a hault. I used to be able to fix this by ending and re starting explorer and 3 times but now it seems hit and miss.

Ive defragged my hard drive, cleaned temp files etc done virus scan, adaware scans, trojan scans but couldnt find anything.

Ive only got a few start up processes which are for my logitech keyboard, ati drivers and one or 2 other things.

Anyone know how to fix this problem?

how long since you reinstalled windows?
you running windows XP or 2k or what?
try reinstalling windows over the top (ie no format) but backup your data first.

this COULD be from something reading your drives and it taking a long time/loads of resorces.
it could also be a bad driver, try updating everything (perticularly the chipset drivers for your motherboard, I used to get this on my NF7-s V2 with its IDE drivers)

quick google

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=317751

Puppetmaster · 28 Aug 2006 at 23:20

ermm id guess maybe 6 months since i reinstalled, running windows xp home sp2.

il try updating my chipset drivers see if that helps.

might try doing a windows repair see if that might sort it out.

manveruppd · 29 Aug 2006 at 08:02

I used to have problems with explorer.exe, including crashes and high CPU usage. Disabling "open each folder in separate process" in folder options did the trick.

Puppetmaster · 29 Aug 2006 at 09:01

i actually got a bsod yesterday, forget what i was doing but it blue screened with something i believe to be caused by a login failure - i was logged on at the time but googling stop codes didnt really help.

Anyway i restarted for a while and for the little time i was on my pc before i went to bed, it didnt do it.

This morning it hasnt done it but pc's only been on 5 mins.

I assume having an xbox 360 connected to my pc and using the internet (bridged connection) wouldnt affect it would it?

Puppetmaster · 29 Aug 2006 at 10:13

Hmm that open each folder in a seperate process isnt ticked

Puppetmaster · 29 Aug 2006 at 23:25

how odd sometimes it doesnt do it sometimes it does its particularly odd. once it starts though it wont stop.

Is it possible someone could host their own explorer.exe, only like 1mb to replace mine just in case mine is screwed in some way

Mint_Sauce · 29 Aug 2006 at 23:54

A temporary fix if you didn't already know, is to CTRL+ALT+DEL and end the explorer.exe task then click File - New Task (Run)... and type explorer.exe and hit enter. That'll start up a new explorer rather than restarting.

Puppetmaster · 30 Aug 2006 at 00:00

thats what ive been doing

j_to_da_t · 30 Aug 2006 at 14:24

I've had a problem that sounds like the same sort of thing, but when I ctrl-alt-del it won't come up with the Task Manager, but a window saying something about Windows Data Protection, or something...

Anyone know what this is about?

Puppetmaster · 30 Aug 2006 at 14:33

my task manager comes up, just problems with explorer.exe

Something i have found out, is that if i do a restart or turn the pc on, roughly an hour later (give or take a few mins), explorer.exe turns to 90% + cpu usage.

Not entirely sure why but still.

Oh, also if i set the priority to low, it will still show as about 99% but i can run other programs (anti virus etc) without them going deadly slow.

firewallblocked · 30 Aug 2006 at 17:40

You say you have scanned using antivirus, antispyware & anti trojan. Last time I came across this problem it was down to spyware & viruses but wasn't picked up by the antivirus programs installed on the system.

You don't say what antivirus program, spyware etc you are using, there are a lot of fake or poor spyware removal programs around. :mad:

Not trying to sound like you don't know how to do a thorough check of your system (i'm sure your a guru of virus removal

) but I have found results between anti spyware & antivirus programs to vary leaving me to be unsure of the accuracy of their scans.

Puppetmaster · 31 Aug 2006 at 14:34

Ok well i used norton to do a full scan and nod32 for viruses. I used windows defender, Adaware and spybot for spyware and Trojan hunter or something .

firewallblocked · 1 Sep 2006 at 21:20

I never trust Norton 100% to find all viruses etc due to their slowness at updating their anti-virus definitions. Trojan Hunter finds trojans etc my antivirus and other spyware software fails to pick up. Nod32 gets good reviews although I tend to use Kaspersky Anti-Virus myself. I would be pretty certain your system is clean using all the software you have listed if their defintions are up to date. However I did once have a crack for quicktime pro that several months later was shown to be an infected file. How long did we get caught by unknown hidden rootkit technology? Thank god for sony.

I have found a good site for scaning small files (10mb max I think) you may think are infected. There are a few others sites than do this.

http://www.virustotal.com/en/indexf.html

It does take a while maybe 20mins to upload a file and scan it but it is free and will scan files using loads of different scanning engines. It can be a big surprise at what keygen like files are infected and only picked up by a few scanning engines.

Best of luck with this problem.