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CPU running at 100% continuously in normal mode

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Moose:
I am trying to repair my sons computer.  I have used several anti-virus and anti-malware programs to get the viruses off his computer.  So far I have removed 10 Trojans and over 1600 Malware.  Mostly using Malwarebytes, Adwcleaner, Junkware remover, Norton Power eraser and Sophos programs.  I believe that I have removed all of the viruses.  So I ran the Tweaking.com Windows repair several times now and in safe mode everything works properly.  But when I go back to normal mode the cpu continuously runs at 100%.  The viruses on his computer wiped out his restore points and stopped system restore and windows update from running.  Tweaking windows repair has these now working in safe mode.  Also SFC /SCANNOW did not work but now works in safe mode.  What else can I try to repair this computer?

Boggin:
You haven't said which version of Windows you are using.

If you are using Win 7 then go Start - type msconfig and press enter and check to see what is running under the Startup tab.

For Win 10 those items are under the Start-up tab in Task Manager, but in either case, right click on the taskbar and select Task Manager then under the Processes tab click on the word Memory and that will sort into highest user first.

Need more details on which version of Windows as the steps to drill down further are slightly different.

There are two programs to see everything that is running on your machine - Autoruns and Process Explorer.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/processexplorer.aspx

I've always preferred the latter.

If you opt to use Process Explorer then click on Options and ensure Verify is checked then hover over VirusTotal.com and check its box.

That will produce a column with values/50ish and all should be in blue - any that are in red and have a highish numerator, then treat those as suspect which can be removed.

Moose:
I am running Windows Vista Home Premium.

Boggin:
The quickest way to get rid of infections and repair the installation on an OEM machine would be to back up the personal stuff and factory reset, which may still be the best option given that some things will only work in Safe Mode.

As for the high CPU usage, I've never used Vista but would think it similar to Win 7.

Are all of your Windows Updates up to date as it could be the Windows Update service that's hogging.

You could check that by going Start - type services.msc and press enter then scroll down to the Windows Update service, click on it then on Stop in the upper left pane then check the CPU usage.

Also, right click on the task bar and select Task Manager and under the Processes tab click on Memory to sort to the highest user first.

Right click on the highest user and select Go to services and the one that is highlighted will be the hog.

Which antivirus program is installed on the computer ?

Go Start - type msconfig and press enter then under the Startup tab click on Disable all - Apply - OK - Restart then check the CPU usage.

If that brings it down and your antivirus program isn't among those disabled then you can leave all of those items disabled, unless you want to find which is the culprit.

You would then enable one at a time - Apply - OK - Restart and check the CPU after each.

If it is still maxed out then under the Sevices tab check the box to Hide all Microsoft services then Disable all - Apply - OK - Restart

If that brings the CPU down then add a couple of the services back at a time - Apply - OK - Restart and check the CPU after each.

Have you downloaded Process Explorer to see if any suspect items are running ?

Moose:
I am using Malwarebytes Premium.  I was using 360 total security.

No I have not downloaded process explorer, yet.  I will do that next.

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