100% cpu usage when fitting WLAN card

Hi all,

Laptop is 1GHz PIII w/ 500Mb RAM, oddly no ethernet port but the PCMCIA LAN
card works just fine. Bought an 'Octopus' branded WLAN card, with 'TWINmoss'
printed on the areial bit, but as soon as I fit it the cpu usage goes up to
100% (task manager (eventually) reveals the process to be called 'system' -
very helpful) and the pc becomes useless. As soon as the WLAN card is
removed it reverts back to normal. This occurs whether or not the other LAN
card is fitted. There is a utility app. that came with the card, which I've
loaded, but as the pc can't be used when the card is fitted I can't really
use it for diagnostics. Can anyone help with this?

Many thanks,
Jamie

The process-name of "system" makes me think you should run a virus scanner.

Ron Bandes, CCNP, CTT+, etc.

"Work Hard" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:c8ss5p$p6p$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi all,
>
> Laptop is 1GHz PIII w/ 500Mb RAM, oddly no ethernet port but the PCMCIA
LAN
> card works just fine. Bought an 'Octopus' branded WLAN card, with
'TWINmoss'
> printed on the areial bit, but as soon as I fit it the cpu usage goes up
to
> 100% (task manager (eventually) reveals the process to be called
'system' -
> very helpful) and the pc becomes useless. As soon as the WLAN card is
> removed it reverts back to normal. This occurs whether or not the other
LAN
> card is fitted. There is a utility app. that came with the card, which
I've
> loaded, but as the pc can't be used when the card is fitted I can't really
> use it for diagnostics. Can anyone help with this?
>
> Many thanks,
> Jamie

Has someone written a virus that only activates when a wireless device
is activated? I haven't heard of any. But a good AV and Adaware or
Spybot is still a good idea just about anytime.

Ron Bandes wrote:

> The process-name of "system" makes me think you should run a virus scanner.
>
> Ron Bandes, CCNP, CTT+, etc.
>
> "Work Hard" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:c8ss5p$p6p$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>Laptop is 1GHz PIII w/ 500Mb RAM, oddly no ethernet port but the PCMCIA
>
> LAN
>
>>card works just fine. Bought an 'Octopus' branded WLAN card, with
>
> 'TWINmoss'
>
>>printed on the areial bit, but as soon as I fit it the cpu usage goes up
>
> to
>
>>100% (task manager (eventually) reveals the process to be called
>
> 'system' -
>
>>very helpful) and the pc becomes useless. As soon as the WLAN card is
>>removed it reverts back to normal. This occurs whether or not the other
>
> LAN
>
>>card is fitted. There is a utility app. that came with the card, which
>
> I've
>
>>loaded, but as the pc can't be used when the card is fitted I can't really
>>use it for diagnostics. Can anyone help with this?
>>
>>Many thanks,
>>Jamie
>
>
>

On Mon, 24 May 2004 14:48:01 GMT, Ron Bandes spoketh

>The process-name of "system" makes me think you should run a virus scanner.
>
>Ron Bandes, CCNP, CTT+, etc.
>

What? That's simply the system trying really hard to figure out just
what hardware was put into the computer... It could take a little while
before the computer figures out just what the heck is going on.

For any OS pre-XP, install the drivers before installing the card, it
might just help ...

Lars M. Hansen
www.hansenonline.net
Remove "bad" from my e-mail address to contact me.
"If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?"

"Lars M. Hansen" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> What? That's simply the system trying really hard to figure out just
> what hardware was put into the computer... It could take a little while
> before the computer figures out just what the heck is going on.
>
> For any OS pre-XP, install the drivers before installing the card, it
> might just help ...

Hi Lars (et al),
The card only appears in device manager when it's fitted, and upon first
fitting it was identified as Realtek 8180, which concurs with the supplied
software, and the drivers installed, ok. When I remove it, it no longer
appears in device manager and so no driver update is possible. The OS is
Win2k. Is there anything else I can try? Bear in mind the pc is unusable
with the card fitted.
Many thanks,
Jamie

On Tue, 25 May 2004 09:35:36 +0000 (UTC), Work Hard spoketh

>
>"Lars M. Hansen" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed).. .
>> What? That's simply the system trying really hard to figure out just
>> what hardware was put into the computer... It could take a little while
>> before the computer figures out just what the heck is going on.
>>
>> For any OS pre-XP, install the drivers before installing the card, it
>> might just help ...
>
>Hi Lars (et al),
>The card only appears in device manager when it's fitted, and upon first
>fitting it was identified as Realtek 8180, which concurs with the supplied
>software, and the drivers installed, ok. When I remove it, it no longer
>appears in device manager and so no driver update is possible. The OS is
>Win2k. Is there anything else I can try? Bear in mind the pc is unusable
>with the card fitted.
>Many thanks,
>Jamie
>

Installing drivers and other software that may be necessary for such
devices to work are often available in a "setup.exe" on the accompanying
CD. It is also possible to right-click on .inf file (in the event that
the drivers are unpacked on the CD, or have been downloaded from the
manufacturers website) to install the drivers even while the hardware is
disconnected.

It is rather unusual that the CPU remains at 100% even after the
hardware has been correctly detected and identified. Although 1GHz isn't
the fastest, it sure beats my laptops, and the time it took my slowest
laptop to discover and install my WLAN card was only a matter of a
couple of minutes. If your CPU is maxed out for more than 5 minutes,
there's definitely something wrong with the card, the driver or the
PCMCIA slot...

Lars M. Hansen
www.hansenonline.net
Remove "bad" from my e-mail address to contact me.
"If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?"

"Lars M. Hansen" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote;
> Installing drivers and other software that may be necessary for such
> devices to work are often available in a "setup.exe" on the accompanying
> CD. It is also possible to right-click on .inf file (in the event that
> the drivers are unpacked on the CD, or have been downloaded from the
> manufacturers website) to install the drivers even while the hardware is
> disconnected.

There is a setup.exe file, the instructions for Win2k state that the card
should be fitted & identified first, which did happen albeit v. slowly, then
the setup should be run, which isn't possible due to the 100% cpu status.
So, I took the card out, then ran the setup, which installed a utility for
card config. & monitoring, though it won't run unless the card is fitted.. &
nothing will run when the card is fitted..

> It is rather unusual that the CPU remains at 100% even after the
> hardware has been correctly detected and identified. Although 1GHz isn't
> the fastest, it sure beats my laptops, and the time it took my slowest
> laptop to discover and install my WLAN card was only a matter of a
> couple of minutes. If your CPU is maxed out for more than 5 minutes,
> there's definitely something wrong with the card, the driver or the
> PCMCIA slot...

I can only guess that the card is faulty, as the laptop works fine with LAN
& bluetooth networking, and the pcmcia slots both work ok with the regular
LAN card.

Thanks v. much for your input,
Jamie