Hello, everyone. I have a new interesting problem that has me baffled. My sister's Dell Inspiron E1505 laptop has had an issue for a few years that we previously thought was a sound issue. Any music or video stutters every second like clockwork, rendering it useless as a media machine. I finally realized that it's system-wide. For some reason the CPU "spikes" every second. Here are the issues I have noticed:

• Music/Video stutters every second
• Opening Notepad and holding down a key will repeat the key but stick very briefly at the same rate as the music stutter
• Looking at the CPU meter in Task Manager shows constant fluctuation of the CPU between 0-18%

I have tried reformatting XP and installing Windows 7, and the problem persists. Attached is a screenshot of the CPU Utilization meter just after booting. At first the CPU is pretty docile, and then it just starts going up-down-up-down. It never stops after that. Help!

Hi Rick

Welcome to PCHF

A list of what is going on in Processors will assist us in assisting you.

Thanks for the reply, Wolfeymole! I assume you mean the "Processes" tab of the Task Manager. I have attached two screenshots of the list. I can provide more information (say, from Process Explorer) if necessary. I don't think it's an issue with a Process, however, since the problem persisted through a complete reformat of a new operating system (Windows 7).

Ok Rick

Download this from here and run it then save a text file and post that back here.

Process Explorer

Here you are, sir!

Posted in the complete view to save time.

Process PID CPU Description Company Name
System Idle Process 0 83.08
Interrupts n/a Hardware Interrupts
DPCs n/a Deferred Procedure Calls
System 4 9.23
smss.exe 364 Windows Session Manager Microsoft Corporation
csrss.exe 616 Client Server Runtime Process Microsoft Corporation
wininit.exe 732 Windows Start-Up Application Microsoft Corporation
services.exe 832 Services and Controller app Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 968 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
igfxsrvc.exe 1968 igfxsrvc Module Intel Corporation
WmiPrvSE.exe 5060 WMI Provider Host Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 1048 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 1084 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
audiodg.exe 3520 Windows Audio Device Graph Isolation Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 1204 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
dwm.exe 1672 3.08 Desktop Window Manager Microsoft Corporation
WUDFHost.exe 4204 Windows Driver Foundation - User-mode Driver Framework Host Process Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 1248 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 1388 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 1532 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
aswUpdSv.exe 1664 avast! Antivirus updating service ALWIL Software
ashServ.exe 1768 avast! antivirus service ALWIL Software
spoolsv.exe 1580 Spooler SubSystem App Microsoft Corporation
taskhost.exe 728 Host Process for Windows Tasks Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 2084 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
schedul2.exe 2232 Acronis Scheduler 2 Acronis
AppleMobileDeviceService.exe 2280 Apple Mobile Device Service Apple Inc.
mDNSResponder.exe 2320 Bonjour Service Apple Inc.
svchost.exe 2376 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
ashWebSv.exe 2596 avast! Web Scanner ALWIL Software
ashMaiSv.exe 2652 avast! e-Mail Scanner Service ALWIL Software
iPodService.exe 2744 iPodService Module Apple Inc.
SearchIndexer.exe 2836 Microsoft Windows Search Indexer Microsoft Corporation
SearchProtocolHost.exe 5200 Microsoft Windows Search Protocol Host Microsoft Corporation
SearchFilterHost.exe 4228 Microsoft Windows Search Filter Host Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 4008 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
wmpnetwk.exe 912 Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service Microsoft Corporation
sppsvc.exe 988 Microsoft Software Protection Platform Service Microsoft Corporation
svchost.exe 1196 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation
lsass.exe 852 Local Security Authority Process Microsoft Corporation
lsm.exe 860 Local Session Manager Service Microsoft Corporation
csrss.exe 740 Client Server Runtime Process Microsoft Corporation
winlogon.exe 788 Windows Logon Application Microsoft Corporation
igfxtray.exe 1856 igfxTray Module Intel Corporation
hkcmd.exe 1864 hkcmd Module Intel Corporation
igfxpers.exe 1880 persistence Module Intel Corporation
ashDisp.exe 1888 avast! service GUI component ALWIL Software
iTunesHelper.exe 1940 iTunesHelper Module Apple Inc.
TrueImageMonitor.exe 1988 Acronis True Image Monitor Acronis
TimounterMonitor.exe 2024 Monitor for Acronis True Image Backup Archive Explorer Acronis
schedhlp.exe 440 Acronis Scheduler Helper Acronis
jusched.exe 624 Java(TM) Platform SE binary Sun Microsystems, Inc.
VCDDaemon.exe 620 Virtual CloneDrive Daemon Elaborate Bytes AG
GoogleCrashHandler.exe 1180 Google Installer Google Inc.
explorer.exe 1308 Windows Explorer Microsoft Corporation
procexp.exe 3440 4.62 Sysinternals Process Explorer Sysinternals - Windows Sysinternals: Documentation, downloads and additional resources

Please hold on for further assistance.