My cpu usage jumps up to 100% randomly. Normally happens when im listening to music on itunes or watching videos like on you tube. The audio will become very choppy. Its not constant though. For instance right now im online and playing music through itunes and everything is working fine. Ive cleaned my registry and stopped unneeded programs from starting. I downloaded process exp but i don't really know how to tell what process is hurting my cpu. My cpu also takes longer to start up now. It just randomly started one day while i was listening to music. Anytime i open up a new window the cpu usage goes up for example i just went to my computer to check the amount of free disk space i have and the cpu usage jumped up and the music got all choppy again. It shows that i still h 56 of 75 gb free. I have read that when this is low your cpu can become slow. Can anyone please help me figure out whats going on? I am using windows xp media center. Also my mouse pointer gets glitchy whenever this happens. Im pretty much experiencing a drastic slowdown of performance.

I find this to be fairly normal, now just because your computers SAYS that there's CPU space free is notnecessarily so, the CPU usage could be happening for a brief period of time in which the CPU usage monitorwill not keep up. The Usage bar only checks every five-ten seconds(In Task Manager)Now, I have the SAME issue when I use WMP, and using Itunes it would only get worse as Itunes isbloatware in itself. As for your performance issue, see my standard post on slow PC operatio:.There are a number of reasons this could be happening.Computer is infected with Spyware, Malware and Viruses.Run a virus scan to find out.If you do not have such software I recommend the three following Free softwares:http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.phpThis will check for malware, AND registry key errors, or so most of the forums say. >.>http://superantispyware.com/You can download the free version and it will check for spyware as wellhttp://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.htmlThis is a GREAT AV it works EXTREMELY well in conjunction for the above.User is running and invasive and bloating antivirus, and/or is running more than one AV program.Such as Trend, Nrton, and McAfee. I would recommend dumping these programs for the three recommended free programs above or eSet NOD32 (Not Free), and/or is running more than one AV program.If you do have Norton, and McAfee. If you choose to get rid of them, make sure you use the removal tool.Norton Removal Tool ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/removal_tools/Norton_Removal_Tool.exeMcAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe Hard drive is full and/or is in PIO mode. Remove unused programs that have been INSTALLED BY YOU, (NEVER uninstall updates). Always back up your documents to CDs, USBs and/or External HDDSee(For PIO mode): http://winhlp.com/?q=node/10 User has too many 3rd party software's running. Add-ons etc. You have too many programs running at start-upUse MSCONFIG to fix this, and/or sysinternalsMsconfigSysinternalsUser has installed software that is CPU intensive (High Graphics games, quality video editing programs etc.) and does not have the necessary hardware power.To keep this from happening in the future, you can read/browse, the following articles: Risks & Benefits of P2P file sharing http://www.microsoft.com/protect/data/downloadfileshare/filesharing.aspxhttp://blogs.technet.com/mmpc/archive/2008/10/06/the-cost-of-free-software.aspx To prevent Malware: http://www.microsoft.com/security/spyware/prevent.aspx Steps to Help Prevent Computer Wormshttp://www.microsoft.com/security/worms/prevent.aspx Avoid Rogue Security Software!http://www.microsoft.com/security/antivirus/rogue.aspxYoung and learning...Have mercy - ChaosIf this post resolves your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" buttons. This helps other users with similar problems find the answer faster.