Hardware Interrupts

I've been having probs with my puter the last couple of days. Seemingly simple things like opening an internet browser or playing a film were using 100% of my cpu in task manager. However, totalling the CPU usage from the visible processes would only yield 20-30% or so. It was almost as though there was a hidden process which was using the rest of the CPU. So, I downloaded "Process explorer" which showed that "Hardware interrupts" were using a random percentage of my CPU, anything from 5% to 90%.

Any idea how I can get my speed back?

Is it a hardware problem is hardware interrupts are slowing things down? I've not changed any hardware lately.

My spec:
Athlon 2700+
ASUS A7N8X-D
512MB Corsair XMS3500
Radeon 9600 pro
80GB Seagate 7200rpm 2MB cache HDD
120GB Western Digital 7200rpm 8MB cache HDD
250GB Western Digital 7200rpm 8MB cache S-ATA HDD

got to ask, but did you try adaware to make sure there is no spyware on your computer, have you updated your antivirus software and scanned for viruses.

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Originally posted by firefox@13 April 2004 - 20:28
got to ask, but did you try adaware to make sure there is no spyware on your computer, have you updated your antivirus software and scanned for viruses.

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Yep, spybot and ad-aware came up clean. NOD32 and trojan hunter both came up clean too

it could be a driver problem...id try reinstalling video drivers, sound drivers, chipset drivers, mouse and keyboard drivers(if u are using any) first.

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Originally posted by ROSSCO_2004@13 April 2004 - 20:41
it could be a driver problem...id try reinstalling video drivers, sound drivers, chipset drivers, mouse and keyboard drivers(if u are using any) first.

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I wondered about this, but couldn't think of a reason that the system would be running fine for 2 weeks (after a fresh windows install) and then suddenly start messing up (when the only thing I've installed recently was the newsreader GrabIt!)

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Originally posted by 4th gen+13 April 2004 - 16:44--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (4th gen @ 13 April 2004 - 16:44)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-ROSSCO_2004@13 April 2004 - 20:41
it could be a driver problem...id try reinstalling video drivers, sound drivers, chipset drivers, mouse and keyboard drivers(if u are using any) first.

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I wondered about this, but couldn&#39;t think of a reason that the system would be running fine for 2 weeks (after a fresh windows install) and then suddenly start messing up (when the only thing I&#39;ve installed recently was the newsreader GrabIt&#33;) [/b][/quote]
check msconfig (start>run>type msconfig>press enter) and see if there are any new programs in the startup tab, iof so disable them and restart. also what happens if you end that "Hardware Interupts" service using task manager?

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Originally posted by ROSSCO_2004@13 April 2004 - 20:52
check msconfig (start>run>type msconfig>press enter) and see if there are any new programs in the startup tab, iof so disable them and restart. also what happens if you end that "Hardware Interupts" service using task manager?

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One of the first things I did was to check msconfig. Nothing new appears there.

I don&#39;t want to end the interrupts because they&#39;re vital to the operation of the computer. I just want to know why they&#39;re slowing my system down so much (i.e. the actual root of the problem, what hardware device it is)

i doubt it would be hardware amp ,imo,directly anyway m8.Maybe a driver prob.Either way you could test by setting the interrupts on each device manually in the bios,if thats what your on abt.I&#39;d leave that you rarly have probs with em.Ummm try verifier for all your drivers,run,start.Just follow the instructions amp n go back to verifier again after to turn it off.

i have another idea, do you have a virus scanner or spyware scanner that is always on with the realtime scanner enabled? you could try closing it...just a thought,

Just run a virus scan there and I&#39;m getting an error message I&#39;ve never had before.
NOD32 is saying that the file atapi.sys can&#39;t be scanned because it&#39;s locked. Usually, the only locked file on virus scan is the pagefile.
It&#39;s my understanding that the atapi.sys file is connected with the operation of optical drives, so would it be a good idea for me to download (or copy from me windows disc) a new copy of the atapi.sys file?