Hi Craig,
You may have accumulated unecessary things running, besides your games, that are slowing down the computer. Some things are not viruses, not adware, but are programs of limited or zero usefulness that consume lots of computer resources. Learn and write down every program and process running on your computer. Use Google to find out what each is, and whether they are necessary/useful or harmful. Process Explorer and/or Windows TaskManager may help you. Shut down programs/processes one at a time to see if it improves. Uninstall junk and modify your startup list to prevent unecessary things from running. Also make sure you have plenty of RAM. It's cheap and easy to select/buy at Crucial.com. A few hours work and maybe $40 for RAM should get you back up to speed. Most people in this situation just buy a new computer - good for the economy.
Bob Lendrim


-----Original Message-----
>From: Craig Felkowski <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: May 9, 2008 12:21 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: [PCBUILD] Extreme CPU Usage
>
>Hello,
>
>For the past few years, I have had a slight CPU problem.  It was however bearable.  Maybe every once in a while I would suffer extreme lag for a few minutes, but in the last month or two it has gotten much much worse.
>
>I am at the point now where, whether it be Firefox, a game, media player, or any random program, that it consumes anywhere from 40-90% CPU.  Now, it is so bad that sometimes the whole system freezes for a second or two.  It happens when the CPU is at 100%, and it is intermittent, about every 15-20 seconds, and everything including the cursor freezes.  The sound also gets stuck, and skips for those 2 or so seconds.
>
>I don't know what to do.  I have had my fan cleaned about a year and a half ago, and it helped, until now.  I have ran all kinds of scans(primary programs are AVG, Ad-Aware, and Spyware Blaster.  I also use Winpatrol, Process Tamer, and Process Explorer).  I have tried so many things.  I have read that high CPU can be caused by loose wires also, and have noticed that my screens back light flicks on and off.  Could that be the cause?
>
>I will provide System specs, and also Hijack This! if needed.

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