Why is my PC's CPU always running at 100?

Why is my CPU constantly running at 100%?

• I just got my old Windows XP PC running again. Right from start up I can see that the CPU is running at 100% and it stays that way. I learned that malware, too many processes and maybe excess heat can cause this. If you are work with computers and know the answer to these things please tell me. I can send you my system info and a screen shot of my processes through email so you can see if there are too many processes or if there is a virus. I have downloaded Malwarebytes, Advanced System Care, CCleaner, IObit Malware Fighter, Smart Defrag 2, and house call. I ran the programs and they did what they could. No viruses I guess...

• Answer:

  I'd like a copy of the process info, please. You can contact me through my Yahoo e-mail account. I'll bet something is running on startup that either doesn't need to or that there isn't enough swap space available. By the way, what was wrong with Windows before? Addendum: It's been three days, and I have received no process info, nor other notification. I'll assume that you'll never come back to read this, so as a word of advice to people who want help: words are not always enough. Interaction makes this Yahoo! Answers community work the way it does. There are a lot of problems with Windows XP, and the news that the computer in question wasn't working right to begin with just adds to the difficulty. Maybe it's a faulty sound device. Maybe the Hard Disk is starting to fail. Maybe you've got a bunch of anti-malware programs running simultaneously and competing for resources. The actual process names are most important here, but unless you actually share them, there's nothing I can do. I can only hope that you sort out your priorities: how valuable to YOU is a WinXP box that constantly runs at 99-100% CPU? I think you'll keep the machine. It's no use to anyone but those who want something slow or something with XP . . or something cheap.