Recently, I discovered the CPU usage on one of my PCs will not fall below 100%. I've attempted everything I can think of to resolve the issue, including:

- Running Ad-Aware SE
- Performing an online scan from Trend Micro
- Performing an online scan from Panda Software
- Running Registry Mechanic
- Running CW-Shredder
- Running Spybot S&D
- Running Cleanup! Version 4.0
- Running Scandisk
- Defragging the hard drive

The various scans identified some instances of spyware, which were promptly removed from the system. Unfortunately, usage remained at 100%.

I've opened the Task Manager and ended each program one-by-one to try and determine which one was causing the high CPU Usage. The only item that remained was Explorer. Am I to believe that Explorer is the cause of my problem?

The PC is a Pentium III (733 Mhz) with 320MB of RAM installed, and running Windows 98SE. I have F-Secure Virus Protection installed as well (Granted, the system is older, however it has performed relatively well until now).

I checked the CPU and System temperatures too, as I heard a faulty fan could cause the temperatures to rise, resulting in a CPU usage of 100%. The readings came back as follows:

SYS temp: 36-39 degrees Celsius
CPU temp: 46-50 degrees Celsius

SYS fan: 0 RPM (?)
CPU fan: 6113-6666 RPM

Here is my log from Hijack This!

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 9:08:59 PM, on 3/1/06
Platform: Windows 98 SE (Win9x 4.10.2222A)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP1 (6.00.2800.1106)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KERNEL32.DLL
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSGSRV32.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MPREXE.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\mmtask.tsk
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KB891711\KB891711.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\COMMON\FSMA32.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\COMMON\FSMB32.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\COMMON\FCH32.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\FSPC\FSHTTPS\FSHTTPS.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\BACKWEB\9867844\PROGRAM\FSBWSYS.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\BACKWEB\9867844\PROGRAM\FSPEX.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\COMMON\FAMEH32.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\ANTI-VIRUS\FSGK32.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\FWES\PROGRAM\FSDFWD.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\FSPC\FSPC.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\ANTI-VIRUS\FSSM32.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\ANTI-VIRUS\FSAV32.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SYSTRAY.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\COMMON\FSM32.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\DESKTOP\FREERAM XP PRO 1.40.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSTASK.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WMIEXE.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\FSGUI\FSGUIEXE.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\MOZILLA FIREFOX\FIREFOX.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\DDHELP.EXE
C:\HIJACKTHIS\HIJACKTHIS\HIJACKTHIS.EXE

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.excite.com/
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,SearchAssistant = about:blank
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page =
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Int ernet Settings,ProxyOverride = localhost
O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\ADOBE\ACROBAT 5.0\READER\ACTIVEX\ACROIEHELPER.OCX
O2 - BHO: C:\WINDOWS\LBBHO.DLL - {BE364320-DFED-11D8-8650-00D00954CBE5} - C:\WINDOWS\LBBHO.DLL
O2 - BHO: CDLPObj Object - {BE2ED590-CA49-46B5-8CCE-244FB2E0D1AA} - C:\WINDOWS\DLP.DLL
O2 - BHO: SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\ssv.dll
O3 - Toolbar: &Radio - {8E718888-423F-11D2-876E-00A0C9082467} - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSDXM.OCX
O4 - HKLM\.. \Run: [LoadPowerProfile] Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme
O4 - HKLM\.. \Run: [SystemTray] SysTray.Exe
O4 - HKLM\.. \Run: [F-Secure Manager] "C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\Common\FSM32.EXE" /splash
O4 - HKLM\.. \Run: [F-Secure Startup Wizard] "C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\FSGUI\FSSW.EXE" /reboot
O4 - HKLM\.. \RunServices: [KB891711] C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KB891711\KB891711.EXE
O4 - HKLM\.. \RunServices: [F-Secure Management Agent] C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\Common\FSMA32.EXE
O4 - HKCU\.. \Run: [FreeRAM XP] "C:\WINDOWS\DESKTOP\FREERAM XP PRO 1.40.EXE" -win
O4 - Global Startup: COGECO Security Services.lnk = C:\Program Files\COGECO Security Services\backweb\9867844\Program\fspex.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~1\OFFICE10\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O8 - Extra context menu item: &eBay Search - res://C:\PROGRAM FILES\EBAY\EBAY TOOLBAR2\eBayTb.dll/RCSearch.html
O9 - Extra button: Web Filter - {200DB664-75B5-47c0-8B45-A44ACCF73C00} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\FSPC\FSPCMSIE.DLL
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {200DB664-75B5-47c0-8B45-A44ACCF73F04} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\FSPC\FSPCMSIE.DLL
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: &Allow this website - {200DB664-75B5-47c0-8B45-A44ACCF73F04} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\FSPC\FSPCMSIE.DLL
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {200DB664-75B5-47c0-8B45-A44ACCF73F03} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\FSPC\FSPCMSIE.DLL
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: &Deny this website - {200DB664-75B5-47c0-8B45-A44ACCF73F03} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\FSPC\FSPCMSIE.DLL
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {200DB664-75B5-47c0-8B45-A44ACCF73F02} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\FSPC\FSPCMSIE.DLL
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: &Suspend Webpage Filter - {200DB664-75B5-47c0-8B45-A44ACCF73F02} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\FSPC\FSPCMSIE.DLL
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {200DB664-75B5-47c0-8B45-A44ACCF73F01} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\FSPC\FSPCMSIE.DLL
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Show website &list - {200DB664-75B5-47c0-8B45-A44ACCF73F01} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\COGECO SECURITY SERVICES\FSPC\FSPCMSIE.DLL
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\JAVA\JRE1.5.0_06\BIN\SSV.DLL
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\JAVA\JRE1.5.0_06\BIN\SSV.DLL
O12 - Plugin for .spop: C:\PROGRA~1\INTERN~1\Plugins\NPDocBox.dll
O16 - DPF: {56336BCB-3D8A-11D6-A00B-0050DA18DE71} (RdxIE Class) - http://207.188.7.150/18aef0747be0e87...p/RdxIE601.cab
O16 - DPF: {2253F320-AB68-4A07-917D-4F12D8884A06} (ChainCast VMR Client Proxy) - http://64.124.45.181/downloads/ccpm_0237.cab
O16 - DPF: {9A9307A0-7DA4-4DAF-B042-5009F29E09E1} (ActiveScan Installer Class) - http://acs.pandasoftware.com/actives...ree/asinst.cab

I've read the post on Microsoft's site concerning a problem with Windows 95/98/ME's System Monitor incorrectly showing CPU Usage at 100%. I'm running a RAM accelerator which also shows 100% usage. Does it simply take its information from the System Monitor? I am at a total loss. Perhaps there is something I'm overlooking? Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Go back into task manager - click on the processes tab and tell us which process is using up all the cpu power ( you can click the column heading to sort by CPU)

End this process if you know what it is and the problem should go temporarily. To stop it permanently, you need to find the program and stop it loading on startup.

But just tell us what the process is first.

My Windows 98SE Task Manager does not have a processes tab. As I stated in my original post, I went through the Task Manager and ended each program to see if the CPU usage would fall below 100% (which it didn't). The only one I didn't close was Explorer, which led me to believe it was the culprit.

The more I look into it though, the more I'm convinced it's a problem with the System Monitor displaying the incorrect CPU Usage (according to article 227131 on Microsoft's site).

Problem solved. I uninstalled F-Secure from my PC and installed a new AV and firewall. CPU Usage has fallen to 6% or less and my available RAM is back above 180MB. I didn't realize F-Secure was such a drain on resources.