Explorer.exe uses 100% of cpu (eats memory like mad) randomly.

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Fixion

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Dec 1, 2004
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For about 2 weeks now explorer.exe has been going crazy about 4-10 times a day. It only happens when I'm browsing a network share (sometimes with a lot of media in the shares, but not always). After a while (sometimes it takes longer than other times), I notice that my computer has slowed down. When I open the task manager, it shows 100% cpu usage, and 99% of it coming from explorer.exe. It also slowly starts eating away at my memory, if left running (explorer.exe) it can use 200+ megs of RAM. WHAT THE HELL?! I really don't want to install an alternative to explorer.exe, is there a way to fix it besides reinstall?

BTW, I'm running XP Pro with SP1 and the newest updates (from a week ago, which didn't fix it).

EDIT: I ustually fixed that by killing the explorer.exe process and starting it again. But I don't think it ever got back to normal by its self, not even when I close everything.
 
First, use the programs in my signature, and update them all before scanning with them. Let us know how that goes :).
 
I'd hit it...




Direwolf20's list that is... Get you mind outta the gutter.

Also, once the machine is clean, upgrade to SP2. This will help prevent spyware with the security updates, firewall, and infobar/popup blocker if you use IE.
 
Fixion said:
For about 2 weeks now explorer.exe has been going crazy about 4-10 times a day. It only happens when I'm browsing a network share (sometimes with a lot of media in the shares, but not always). ...............
Click to expand...


Sounds like a strange question, I know, but did you install different video drivers, previous to this problem starting, specifically nVidia drivers?

I had the exact problem, as you described. It turned out to be a couple of different sets of nVidia drivers caused it, 55.xx or 56.xx I believe.
 
Direwolf20 said:
First, use the programs in my signature, and update them all before scanning with them. Let us know how that goes :).
Click to expand...

-Adaware found 2 instances of spyware (and fixed them).
-SB S&D found 5 DSO exploits, and it said it fixed them. Then I scanned again, and they were still there.
-I ran Hijack This, I didn't see anything unusual.
-AVG found nothing unusual (scaned c:\ only)

Well, that might have fixed it. It hasn't happened again... yet. If it does happen, I'll post, because if this didn't fix it, I'm completly lost.

Should I still install servicepack 2? I heard of a lot of people complain that it slows down their computers, and doesn't help much in general.
 
Badger_sly said:
Sounds like a strange question, I know, but did you install different video drivers, previous to this problem starting, specifically nVidia drivers?
Click to expand...

Are you talking about the video card or the motherboar drivers? I have an ATI 9800 Pro, and an nForce 2 motherboard (ASUS A7N8X-Deluxe). I had a few different versions of the nvidia drivers on here, but right now I only have one on here (according to the control panel) + the Nvmixer utility. Did you have multiple versions installed at the same time?
 
Fixion said:
Should I still install servicepack 2? I heard of a lot of people complain that it slows down their computers, and doesn't help much in general.
Click to expand...
Yes, but I would wait until the machine is "working" before the patch.

I've heard you can buy beach-front property in Arizona too, but it's ain't true. People complain about SP2 for various reasons, and it may cause issues on your machine. However, those issues can be resolved, and they are not a direct cause of SP2. They are generaly a cause of *3rd* party software not working with SP2. That's generaly the fault of the 3rd party, not MS.

So yes, people have issues with SP2, but SP2 isn't the cause... The resolution is often to update/upgrade the conflicting software, not remove SP2. Some software doesn't have SP2 compatible releases, this can also be a big problem if you require that application.

As far as slowness, I only tend to hear that with P2P apps, and there's a fix available.

Finally SP2 isn't an optional patch, it's a major security release. There is MUCH more than a firewall and popup blocker in SP2.

Do some searching on these boards for SP2, it's been discussed a LOT.
 
Also, do you have a virus scanner (previous to installing mine) that has network scanning enabled? That might be it.

By the way, the 5 exploit things that Spybot found are just exploits in I.E. or something, theres a post or 2 around here that explain how to fix it, spybot doesn't actually fix the exploit.
 
The other possibility if it comes back, is to take those Dr Watson logs and put them somewhere, and I will take a look.
 
I was all good for about a day. But it just happened again. I caught explorer.exe using 314+MEGS of ram and 99% of the cpu. I don't have any active virus scanners installed. I don't really care about those 5 DSO exploits for IE, I never use IE, I use Firefox.

Ranma_Sao - What Dr Watson logs? How do I get those?

Any ideas? I really don't want to reinstall Winblows.
 
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