Guys,
My PC is acting a little strange. Everytime I open a browser my cpu goes 100% busy. It does this with IE, Netscape, Mozilla Firefox. I can still surf the web but, of course things move a little slower than normal. I have a DSL connection. If I log into AOL I can go on the web without the CPU getting busy.

I have checked for Spyware and Adware, they come back clean. I have of course deleted all cookies as well. I also have Norton Anti-virous and the scan came back clean.

Any suggestions/advice? Maybe I am missing something obvious. I work on computers for a living, just not PC's I work on large systems (main frames/commercial servers) so, I am not always up on the PC stuff.

I'm not a computer guru, but also went thru this very recently (like 2 weeks ago). I had some of the same symptoms...system just kept getting slower and slower, but anti-virus programs always came back clean. I downloaded the free 15 day virus scan from www.symantec.com (http://www.symantec.com) (I think I spelled that right), and it found all kinds of nasty stuff on my PC. Got it all cleaned up and the thing runs like a champ now.

What operating system do you have? If you have XP then do ctrl-alt-del and check under the processes tab to see what is using all you processer power. You have some kind of virus or downloader using you to spread itself all over the web.

Yes, I have XP. When I look at the Task Manager, it shows 100% busy for the CPU (only when logged onto the web). 97-99% of the usage is whatever browser I am using at the time (Firefox, Netscape, IE, etc..). When I go to the web via AOL it does not do this.

My thoughts were/are that I either have a virus or spyware of some sort. Like I said above I have checked for viruses (with Norton) and it runs on a weekly schedule. I downloaded Adaware and ran it. I still get the same symptoms.

I have a Linksys router and firewall. I think my anti-virus is just missing the problem.

when was the last time you updated your virus profiles? if you are trying to find a new virus with a list of viruses that is a year or more old, you probably aint gonna catch much.

I wouldnt download adaware, it just creates more problems and doesnt solve the issue at hand. Go to symantec site and see if you can scan it. You will probably have to end up paying something to get rid of it. Stay with Norton anti virus. I have firewall protection and anti virus software running and my CPU is at 1% with XP. I have been block about 2-3 trojan viruses per week and other things that are trying to access my computer. Then it is important to keep things updated.

I updated (live update) my Norton, very often. I have a paid "subsciption" it update regularly. I have removed Netscape, Firefox but, of course you can't get rid of IE. Now the problem is gone but, that doesn't make sense to me. I have been using Netscape forever (years on end) and never had a problem. I just recently tried Firefox (after this problem started) to see if it would clear up my issue. I know there has to be still be a problem, when I re-loaded Firefox and went online with it, the same thing happened (CPU 100% busy). I am online with IE right now (not through AOL and my CPU is 2-7% busy).

Thanks for the input I will try to scan my computer again.

There's nothing wrong with AdAware SE Personal! It works great.... better than standard AdAware 6 ever did.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

I didnt have any luck with that. It scanned and found a lot of things and supposedly cleared them up but they kept coming back. The best thing is to have a good virus program and firewall installed from the start, then there would be no need for adaware. Most virus already have pop up eliminators as part of their software package.

avg fixes everytthing and adaware personal helps alot and so does spysweeper ... you probably have stupid hidden programs like that 180.com sh!t ... i work at best buy for the tech bench ...so i know my stuff with computers ...try my suggestions and get back to us or pm me

I am having the smae problem. Tried Netscape and Firefox did the same thing. I have Adware, Norton and Spybot. But when you open a browser the prosesor goes to 98 to 100%.Its got to be a hidden program. Everybody says to reload everything and start fresh.Any advice?

67Plum I would not reload everything. I haven't had the problem since I switched to the MSN version of IE that came with my computer (I never used it before). I know it is a hidden program that fires up when you access the web. I will try the things 86iroc mentioned. I will try to see if spysweeper helps.

This is what the Spysweeper free scan came back with:
2o7.net Cookie
Advertising Cookie
Atdmt (Atlas DMT)
Spy #9b295 -- Research In Progress
BannerSpace Cookie
Spy #f26b4 -- Research In Progress
Spy #ec5aa -- Research In Progress
DoubleClick Cookie
FastClick Cookie
Inet-Traffic cookie
Pointroll cookie
Questionmarket Cookie
Zedo.com cookie

Do any of these cookies look out of the norm? I am going to download netscape again and see if it still goes 100% busy when I open the browser.