Our PC has been running slower than usual of late and I have noticed that in the Windows Task Manager the task ‘System’ is using close to 100% of CPU - even when nothing is open. NB: This is not the ‘System Idle Process’, just ‘. How do I find out what is causing this? We are running Windows 2000.

Having looked around the internet, I discovered that many other people are experiencing this same problem. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any global solution to fix this problem. Some people report that they still experience this problem after reinstalling Windows! However, there is a technical way to track down which specific device driver is causing the problem. It is possible to break down the system process and view the problem driver. You can find such a procedure at the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article: support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q295714. However, when you do find the problem device driver, don’t delete it. Instead, if you are able to identify what the device driver does, try to obtain an updated driver from the manufacturer’s website. If it turns out to be a Windows driver, then there isn’t much you can do except download the latest service packs from Windows Update. Be aware that this article was written for the Windows 2000 server and may not work on Windows 2000 Professional. If you are running Windows 2000 Professional, then unfortunately I am not sure what action you could take to stop the System process taking up so much CPU capacity.