'System' process eating up whole CPU

[Jordan]

Hi All,

I am facing a serious problem since some days. The process 'System' suddenly starts using up a lot of CPU, the CPU usage turns up to 100% leaving Windows unusable. The problem ends automatically in 15-20 mins, but occurs 2-3 times daily. Killing the process is not an option since it crashes the whole system and has to be restarted. I tried to disable possible culprits like 'Trend Micro' and 'Dell Wireless Lan Utility' as stated in the search results returned by google but its of no use. Can anyone help me understand whats happening and how to cure this? Or is there some utility that can be used to monitor and find out which process is actually causing the System process to spike the CPU? I am using Windows XP.

[Master Razor]

Sounds like a bad driver.
Download DPC Latency Checker and post a screenshot of the program after all spaces have been filled.

[Jordan]

Sounds like a bad driver.
Download DPC Latency Checker and post a screenshot of the program after all spaces have been filled.

Here you go. Please note that this screenshot was taken at the time when the system is working properly so let me know if you want the screenshot at the time when it is all screwed up.

[Master Razor]

You either have a driver or a 3rd party application (non-Microsoft) that is giving you this problem.

Try disabling all startup programs and see if it changes anything. If it doesn't try removing all non important drivers such as webcam, phone, etc.
If, even this doesn't work, remove video driver, audio and storage.

[Jordan]

Oh that will be a very tedious task, especially removing the drivers. Is there any other way, some application or something that can debug this?

[anon]

Download Process Explorer, double-click on the System process, and go to the Threads tab. That will tell you which module is hogging the CPU.

[Jordan]

Download Process Explorer, double-click on the System process, and go to the Threads tab. That will tell you which module is hogging the CPU.

Ya I downloaded it but could not decode how to use it. Does the color coding mean anything? It shows the processes under 'System', how do I find out the process that is causing the problem?

[anon]

"double-click on the System process, and go to the Threads tab"

[Jordan]

"double-click on the System process, and go to the Threads tab"

Here is the screenshot of the 'Threads' tab. But it doesn't show anything suspicious, or does it?

[Master Razor]

That screenshot of DPC is very disturbing but proves my theory. It is a driver issue; no doubt about it and cannot be solved any other way.
Either update your drivers or remove them one by one.

[Jordan]

That screenshot of DPC is very disturbing but proves my theory. It is a driver issue; no doubt about it and cannot be solved any other way.
Either update your drivers or remove them one by one.

Seems like the problem was with the video driver. Updated it, and the problem did not occur today. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[anon]

Here is the screenshot of the 'Threads' tab. But it doesn't show anything suspicious, or does it?

Check it when/if the problem happens again. If it's a driver issue, it'll show which one is responsible for the lag.