I have a computer that has almost nothing loaded on it which I actually use just to run a DOS app (I need Windows for networking). Lately it’s be running rather slow so I checked the antivirus status and ran a malware scan, but then I noticed a very weird thing when I went to the task manager and looked at the CPU usage graph.
See it here: www.terrywysocki.com/nicson_win2k_cpu_usage.jpg
It shows a cyclical oscillation of CPU usage in a pattern that looks like a complex series of sine waves. Usage varies up and down, but in a most unusual pattern. Looking at the tasks, the culprit was SYSTEM and I watched its CPU use go up and down cyclically. Has anyone ever seen this kind of pattern? What could cause it? How do I debug what SYSTEM is actually doing?
