[Resolved] Multiple instances of realplay.exe intermittently using 100% CPU

[LewCoH]

I've disabled nview desktop manager and i've had 3 boots without the visible strip of desktop showing up, hadn't thought of trying that until now.

I haven't tried your suggestion, and since it avoids the problem instead of fixing it (meaning it could come back at any time, and creating a new user profile each time would not be a useful way to 'solve' the problem), i would rather reinstall windows if i was at the point of giving up.

[Hoov]

I would never have thought of disabling that desktop manager, as I have used it in the past and as far as I recall there are no settings in that program that would seem to affect what you are seeing. Do you use that at all?

As for the new profile avoiding the problem, I am not so sure. There are many programs that have individual settings for each profile. If it is merely a settings problem (which you logging into other profiles and the problem is not there seems to suggest) then creating a new profile and moving all your personal data over should let you get rid of the bad settings. Reinstalling windows would do the same, but it would take hours instead of 10 minutes. At the end the results would be the same.

But if you don't use the desktop manager, and it fixes the problem by disabling it, then all is well. If you do use the desktop manager, do you have the install CD that came with your NVidia Graphics card?

[LewCoH]

I do use the desktop manager sometimes, and i do have the install CD that came with my NVidia Graphics card, and i wouldn't have expected it to be that either, though i wouldn't have expected any of the other attempts to fix it to have been the cause of the problem either.

As for the change of profile it avoids the problem by abandoning it by deleting the profile that it contains, and doesn't address the cause of the problem, and if that cause is nview desktop manager then it would still be on the system and in the same condition, so the problem could easily arise again on any new profile that was created. The problem hasn't always been there on this account either and it came it went seemingly at random, and it stopped happening for a few weeks/months after i disabled the onboard network and installed the NIC, as mentioned in an earlier post.

The option of reinstalling Windows was more to give a freshness back to the system, as there are still leftover files from uninstalled programs around, some of which are in "C:\Documents and Settings\Old_Username folder, where C is the drive on which Windows XP is installed, and Old_Username is the name of the profile", and i have been thinking of doing a bit of a shift to the file storage anyway, and possibly uninstalling some more software too, but haven't decided for sure yet.

Two more boots without any problems as well by the way, so that's five consecutive boots now with no strip visible.

[Hoov]

Try uninstalling the desktop manager, and then reboot and reinstall it from the CD.

As for reinstalling windows, I do that occasionally as well. At least once a year. Sometimes more Secunia

Do you need more help, or have you got it to the point you can deal with it?

[LewCoH]

Yes, I think it's best we end this now, my last two posts where merely a courtesy to let you know how I was fixing it, I wasn't asking what to do next as your most recent post would imply, I'm quite capable of knowing to uninstall and reinstall the offending software that I detected as the next testing step. So yes, I'd say it's evident that I've gotten it to the point I can deal with it, but thanks for the condescension from your recent posts.

Thanks for the actual help that you did provide, I'm not an expert in HjT logs or those other programs so couldn't have seen that there was a missing comma in the registry, I don't know what effect, if any, adding the comma has had, but better for the registry value to be what it should be.

[Hoov]

It was not my intent to be condescending. It is just that I have found when I assume something it irritates people more than not assuming something. If I offended you I apologize.

As for the comma in the registry entry, I am not a registry expert, but I have done enough programming to know that one little comma can cause programs to to unexpected things, and they can be the worst thing to track down.

As you indicated you no longer need help, this thread will be closed out.