garypriceomaha

XP SP 3 installed on a desktop
I have 1 gig of ram
200 gig hd
usb's are on motherboard

The problem started a while back when my usb's quit working. Then the pc slowed down to a crawl. So since then I've reformatted hd and reinstalled fresh copy of xp. (many times) PC won't automatically install the drivers for the usb anc once I plug something into the usb port it slows my pc way down again.

I've tried uninstalling drivers, roll back, reinstalling, finally I disabled the on board usb's and put in a pci stack of usb's and it makes it work fine. (but the pci usb's are only 1.1--I had it laying around...)

I still wanted things to work right so now I've tried to manually download drivers from Gateway or AMD? (I think) and it has now bogged down my computer again.

There's no spyware or malware cause it's on a fresh reformat of xp

When I run task manager it shows system at 99% and no other programs using memory BUT I read somewhere else that kernel memory could mean a driver problem and my kernel memory is taking up almost all the resources almost all the time.

So what could it be? I really appreciate your help. Forums like these are great! I've contributed in many forums over the years.

justpassingby

Hi garypriceomaha and welcome to TSF !

Is this a Gateway, what's the exact model of the computer ?

What firewall/security suite do you use ? If you connected to the internet without any firewall you could already have gotten some malware, even if you didn't run your internet browser. Did you use an XP SP2 or XP SP3 CD to reinstall ? The USB drivers are part of SP2.

Make sure you've installed the chipset drivers before installing any other drivers. More on that once we know the exact model of the computer.

Enter the BIOS at startup (look for some "press xx to enter setup" message), find the hardware monitor or pc health screen and report your temps, voltages and fan speeds. An unsufficient supply or an overheating cpu can cause cpu usage to max out for no reason. Open the computer case and clean all the dust on the fans and heatsinks.

Make sure you have installed all the latest critical updates using windows updates. The windows update process will be looking for update and will take some cpu usage until all the updates have been installed.

When doing a fresh install you should do the things in this order :

0) download the latest chipset, video, audio, network, ... drivers for your motherboard and other hardware devices from the manufacturer's website. Download the standalone installer for SP3 (if your install CD doesn't have SP1 you'll need to install SP1 or SP2 beforehands so download them if needed). Copy them all on a CD.
1) format and reinstall XP using the CD that came with the gateway computer (a retail CD won't have the proper drivers).
2) install the latest chipset drivers then all the other drivers
3) Install SP3
4) enable XP's integrated firewall before you turn the wireless router on or connect the ethernet cable
5) connect to windows update and install all the critical updates.
6) download a free antivirus (Antivir, Avast or AVG) and install it
7) install the remaining programs

If you want to give it a last try uninstall and remove the PCI USB card and re-enable the onboard ports in the BIOS before you reinstall XP. Restart the computer each time you're prompted to do so (after installing the chipset drivers, the updates, the antivirus, ...).

garypriceomaha

Hi, Thanks for responding. It is a Gateway T6524 with a Micro-Star MS-7184

The CPU temp is 118 F
Sys temp is 107
Fan speed is 1127 rpm
Sys fan speed is 1077 rpm
cpu high voltage is 11.6v
Low voltage is 5.0 v
sys high voltage is 11.6v
sys low voltage is 5.0v

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Operating System System Model
Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 (build 2600) Gateway T6524
Enclosure Type: Desktop
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
2.20 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64
256 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: MICRO-STAR MS-7184
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justpassingby

Gateway eMachine T6524

Did that computer come with XP Pro or Windows Media Center Edition ?

Have you tried to reinstall using the recovery CD or the recovery partition ? (on eMachines you need to press F11 at startup)

11.6V is low for the 12V line. See if you can borrow a PSU of higher wattage and test your computer with it.

I see you use AVG. What firewall do you use ?

Are there any red or yellow devices in the device manager (start => run => devmgmt.msc) ?

garypriceomaha

I think I found the culprit. :)

I disabled all the usb root hub's and the memory usage is back to zero. So now how do I get my usb's back in order? I didn't see a usb driver on that link you supplied unless it's the 8/1 media reader?

The pc came with media center but I loaded pro this time. I supposed I could go back to media center BUT media center is what was loaded when I developed the problem in the first place.....

I guess I'll try those media reader drivers and see if that brings back my usb's

justpassingby

Were the usb hubs tagged with a yellow icon in the device manager ?

The USB drivers are included in SP2, restart the computer and the USB controller will be redetected.

garypriceomaha

No, they were not tagged in yellow.

If I enable the usb root hubs and restart I am right back to where I was before. Actually, I didn't even have to restart and my cpu usage went right back to 100%

So unless you can think of anything else, I'll reformat with Windows Media Center instead of XP Pro that I have on there now and see what happens. The first thing I always do is perform the windows update and let it update automatically or should I download sp2 and sp3 and manually put them on first?

justpassingby

If you disable then re-enable the usb hubs they aren't reinstalled. Unhook all your usb devices (use a PS/2 keyboard and mouse), right-click => uninstall (not just disable) all the usb root hubs and usb controllers in the device manager then restart the computer and see how it goes.


If you want you can analyze the kernel memory to try to find the specific driver that's using the cpu. Check these links :
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q177415
Kernel memory is steadily increasing until system hangs

This is another useful tool :
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../bb896653.aspx
If you go to view => show lower pane and click on system on the top left you'll see a list of the kernel dll's with their description. Google the names of the ones that are not registered by Microsoft to make sure there's nothing wrong there. You can add other columns to monitor the memory used by each process if you go to view => select columns.

If the svchost processes seem to use too much cpu use tasklist and the instructions herein to see what services are underneath each svchost process : http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/...ows-task-list/



To reinstall from scratch :

You need to have a firewall (part of SP2) before you connect to the internet (turn the router off or unplug the ethernet cable in the mean time), so if SP2 is not integrated on the MCE CD you'll need to install SP2 and enable the firewall. If your MCE CD is already patched with SP1 (look on the CD or go to start => run and type winver once Windows has been installed) you can install SP3 right away, no need to install SP2.

So prepare the drivers and the needed service packs on a CD (or on an usb drive, the usb ports should work right away, but maybe at a limited speed if SP2 isn't installed yet). Then install Windows MCE, install the latest versions of the drivers, install SP3, enable the firewall, connect to windows update, install the latest critical updates and see how it goes

garypriceomaha

Isn't there firewall protection in avg free? or doesn't it turn it on some how?

Having a little trouble getting the recovery cd to work but that's for another thread :)
I'll keep troubleshooting on my own.

Thanks again! I really appreciate your help.

justpassingby

AVG free is an antivirus and an anti-spyware, not a firewall. XP's firewall is only available in SP2 and later updates so if XP isn't updated with SP2 after you reinstall (go to start => run and type winver to see what service pack is installed) first thing you'll need to do is install SP2 (download it and save it on a CD) or SP3 and enable the firewall before you connect to the internet.

garypriceomaha

Are you still with me?

I couldn't get the mce to work so I loaded the xp pro. So I did a fresh load of xp without ethernet hooked up. I dl'ed drivers and sp 2 from another computer and loaded them on from a disk and everything was fine EXCEPT I had yellow question marks.

In the "other devices" category it said something about usb serial device (2 of them) and sm bus controller. So I updated the drivers for the usb devices and it updated them just fine.


But the sm bus controller would not update. Needless to say after I updated the usb drivers I was right back to why I started asking for help in this thread!!!

I am right back to 100% cpu usage.....and I never did connect my ethernet cord.

Help?

justpassingby

The yellow question marks were there because unlike the original MCE CD that came with the computer the XP PRO CD doesn't include the chipset drivers. Why didn't it work with the MCE CD, you did a clean format and install right ? If it's scratched contact Gateway or eMachine to get a new one. This looks like a driver issue and there's no chipset drivers available on the manufacturer's website.

Give the unknown device identifier a try :
http://www.zhangduo.com/udi.html

According to eMachine the chipset is ATI RS482 but I can't seem to find that chipset on Ati's website. I'll move you to the drivers support section where you may get better help.

BCCOMP

Hi,
Can you right click on the SM Bus controller error (and any other errors) in the device manager>Properties>Details Tab
Post the DEV/VEN numbers you find under Device Instance ID

I just want to confirm the following befroe you download the SOUTH BRIDGE driver (SM Bus Controller)

According to the specs I could find you have a Radeon Xpress 200 chipset
RS482

The SM Bus controller is the southbridge driver:
http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_ca...ntegratedip-xp
Scroll down to the Southbridge driver

Thanks,
Bill

garypriceomaha

Yes, the mce recovery cd hangs at the screen that says "PC Angel" or something like that so I'm gonna try to burn a copy of the cd and see if it will do a clean load that way.

Anyone on this site help out?

EDIT: I didn't see the above post before I posted. Thanks for offering to help. I'll try that out next and report back to you a little later.
Gary

garypriceomaha

pci\ven_1002&dev_4372&subsys_71841462&rev_11\3&61aa01&0&a0

Does this actually mean something to you? Looks like jibberish to me!

Thanks a lot for trying to help. Does it matter that I have another video card hooked up? I have a nvidia 6600 hooked up and leave the on board video card alone. Just didn't know if that mattered.

BCCOMP

Hi Gary,
Yes those numbers mean you have a ATI Radeon Xpress 200 Chipset.
This confirms what I thought.
Go here:
http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_ca...ntegratedip-xp

Download and Install the South Bridge Driver only.

Let me know if that removes the SM Bus error.

As far as you ON-Board Video:
Is it Disabled in the BIOS?

Also let me know if you have any more issues.

Thanks,
Bill

garypriceomaha

Good news and bad news. Installed those drivers so I don't have any more yellow marks in device manager but I'm still running at a constant 100% cpu usage and it really bogs down everything I do. Not to mention my on board usb's still don't work.

BCCOMP

For the USB drivers:
Go to the Device Manager.
Open the + under USB Devices
From the bottom up right click on each>Uninstall
Uninstall ALL of them and reboot the PC.
Windows should reinstall the drivers for them

Let me know if you have any errors in the Device Manager after you reboot
Bill

garypriceomaha

If you're talking about "usb root hub"--I have 3 of them. uninstalled them and restarted.

Woilla! cpu runs at normal usage..........until they get reinstalled. argh!

So I think we've pinpointed my heavy memory usage to a conflict somewhere in those usb hubs. Where do I go from here?

btw, there are no errors after I reboot (except for cpu usage at 100%)

These are also listed under the USB controllers tab

standard openhcd usb host controller (2 of these)
standard enhanced pci to usb host controller

When I try to uninstall these my pc stalls.....

justpassingby

Remove the pci card, try to troubleshoot the integrated usb ports only. The drivers for the PCI USB controller may conflict with the chipset drivers.