Why is my CPU spiking, causing the desktop to reboot every few seconds?

I watch the CPU reading in the Disk Monitor spike in usage (from about 5% to 100%) every 30-90 seconds. Every time it does, the desktop reboots, taking me away from whatever program I am using to the Finder. What should I do?

Check for incompatible third party applications.
[One person reports success|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8969672#8969672] with installing the latest version of Stuffit upgrade (13.0.3)
[If using Stuffit, check this one first|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8884712#8884712]
[Finder crashes associated with using Stuffit|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1873700&tstart=0]
[Finder crashing/looping/closing folders (Stuffit issue)|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1882285&tstart=0]
[Finder crashes associated with using Afloat|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8852780#8852780]
[Quicktime 7.6 update issues with 3rd party software|http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20090121223437550]

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