NT Kernel & System - High CPU

Hello,

Out of a sudden my CPU is loaded to 100 %. Everything was fine until two days ago. I did not install anything, no viruses. I have installed VISTA and anything is fine. I reinstalled Windows 7 and the CPU is locked by 100 % due to the following process:

The Image Name is SYSTEM; the User Name is SYSTEM and the description is NT Kernel & System.

I have no clue what is causing this issue especially after installing Vista and than reinstalling Windows 7 again.

Does anybody know something about the issue.

Every lead is welcome.

Thanks,

Diddl

Once you've done the clean install did you install anything else at all, including any 3rd party drivers? Also, which build and bit type are you using?

It could just be some maintenance tasks that Windows 7 is running in the background that may take a little while to clear. If it tries to build the search index the CPU usage can rocket for a while in some cases.

Ian, Thank you very much for the reply. I am using the RC.

It was no background process. I disabled my ethernet network card and now the PC is running as stable and fast as before. However, I have never changed anything. I think an automatic update had caused the issues, but I am not sure.

Thank you very much.

I am looking forward for the real version of W7. I am happy with this new operating system.

DIDDL

hi, did you ever find a solution?

i have the same problem. i noticed my computer running really hard. so i checked all processes and there was the NT kernel system running at very high levels and the CPU running at 100%.

Windows 7 RC1 x64 version (64-bit). I have an AMD X2 6000+ with ATI 4670 graphics card. 8 GB of RAM. motherboard is Nvidia nVIDIA nForce 520LE single chip (ECS NFORCE6M-A (V2.0)).

I thought it was a virus or malware so I ran scans to no avail. I decided to wipe the system to an older image that was clean of software. But I still had the problem after some updates. So I believe it's some update from Microsoft that's causing it but I'm not sure. I tried disabling various hardware devices.

I even did a completely fresh installation from a legitimate Windows 7 RC1 ISO I d/led from Microsoft. and i still have the problem.

So if anyone gets an answer, can you share it with the rest of us? Thanks.

I also have the high CPU (100%) problem the NT Kernel will always use whatever is left to equal 100%. If the OS is using 6% the NT Kernel will use 94%. I did a clean install 4 days ago and it was fine. Left it on and running and now the NT Kernel is jamming everything up, it never clears. Reboot the machine and it go to 100% and stays there. Any ideas?

Hi dc240v

( Be a good idea to ask Admin if you can change your user name as you will no doubt get spammed M8)

NT Kernel is a bit vague as Kernel mode in Windows NT has full access to the hardware and system resources of the computer, consider using Process Explorer from Microsoft TechNet (its free) and should / may be able to pinpoint your problem, Process Explorer can be downloaded or run from the Sysinternals site. Post back your findings and someone here may be able to help.

Link > http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../bb896653.aspx

Hello everyone

Not sure if anyone has found a solution to this yet or even knows what the problem is but i thought i'd just add something else to the situation. Since installing windows 7 ultimate i have lost 2 hard drives (one about 4 yrs old the other just over a year old) i was running 2 drives at the same time and so put it down to heat damage. After researching on the internet i found that a number of data recovery services found a large increase in hdd failures following the installation of win 7.

Now back to the point...

For the past 4 days i've been running hdd temperature 4 and monitoring everything in an effort not to lose my new hdd. Then about an hour ago i noticed my hdd going beserk for no apparent reason. I opened up task manager then resource monitor and there was the 'NT Kernal & System' accessing CPU and Disk resources. Important to note is that durring this time my HDD temp rose from 38 degrees to 45.

There is some suggestion on other forums that the NT Kernal & System process is in fact the task scheduler going about its daily business.

anyway that's what i've put together so far but im not even close to being an expert so would love to hear from someone who is, if only to put my mind at rest that im not gonna lose another hdd

I've installed Windows 7 on two used laptops, with no adverse effects or heat issues. One of them was 8 years old at the time of install. Although I didn't run the RC of Windows 7, and can't vouch for that period of time, I can say now that Windows 7 runs without issue on my used laptop.

Your trouble seems to be exact the same as mine.
My laptop gets very sluggish from time to time, and looking at the process explorer things just doesn't add up. It seems that my system is using CPU cycles on tasks that isn't in process explorer. The percentages jut don't add up.

The system enters this state after 2 to 60 minutes og CPU/GPU intensive tasks like gaming. If I restart the system it's fine again as long as I don't start up the game again.

My system is a HP 8710w with 4GB Ram, 128 GB Corsair SSD Drive and Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit.
I have attached a screenshot of process explorer while the PC is experiencing the issues. Note that the peak in CPU usage you see in the graph is from starting Snipping Tool :P

I really hope someone can help me with these issues, as I'm really stuck.

This process was slowing my PC and dragging 60% of CPU in Task Manager.

I am using Window 7 Pro 64 on an Athlon Phenom black Quad core

My fix:- Open control Panel, System, Hardware delete all network adaptors,

Refresh hardware

Adaptor found and reinstalled

No more problem I assume some update or stray program did something to screw up adaptor setting

Hope this works for you