SO IF MY SYSTEM IDLE PROCESS IS AT 99% YOU SAY THAT IS NORMAL…?
THEN WHY IS MY PC OVERHEATING WHEN THIS HAPPENS???
I apologize if this comment sounds uneducated. I have done my best to read everything here. I have a DELL laptop with XP Professional with SP2 installed. I have just recently solved a problem where explorer.exe malfunctioned. It seems that it was since then that the System Idle Process started to appear as though it was taking up the CPU near 100%. From my tray I notice that there is barely any indication of my CPU running high yet the blinking light doesn’t blink and is constantly on. I have fun scanners which have taken nearly eight hours to complete and they show no errors. It is unlikely that it is a virus, or so I would assume. I run at a bare minimum and I have never had problems before. It all happened after I fixed explorer.exe. Could it possibly be Spysweeper? That wouldn’t make sense either. The process is not running. If you believe you can be of any help to me, please e-mail me at :
LLYRIVIDA@yahoo.com
Thank you.
Why all the personal attacks? There is a problem posed to open this thread and very few of the self-opined “experts” have clearly identified the source of the problem or any solution. I have the same problem and have no solution yet, but I shall find one. In my case(Win-XP-Home-SP2) the problem is fairly frequent but intermittant.
In the meantime, for others experiencing this problem I’ll summarize what I think I understand from a couple of pertinent replies as they relate to my experience.
a. System Idle Process (SIP) showing 99 does not mean 99% capacity of CPU and does not noticeably (if at all) affect the speed or capacity of the operating system, firmware, or hardware. Some well-intentioned metaphors notwithstanding, that is the bottom line.
How can I accept this?
As did you, I pressed Ctrl-Alt-Del when my system was running abnormally slowly and I noticed concurrently the “Read/Write” Device Status Light on bright and continuously. On the Windows Task Manager that “SIP” CPU field showed “99” or close to it and memory usage was around “28”. No other listed process showed appreciable CPU “assignment” for lack of a better description and several showed high memory usage. So I believe the (very) few respondents who suggest it is something else running invisibly in the background such as Windows Auto Update, an anti-virus or firewall automatic update or scan or similar task which does not appear on the WIndows Task Monitor for some unknown reason(Microsoft???). Confirm for yourself: Look at “SIP” in the Windows Task Monitor (Ctrl-Alt-Del) the next time the “Read/Write” Device Status Light is off and your computer seems to be running properly with no windows open - you will likely see that the “SIP” shows 95-99 and mostly 99 - just as when the computer is running sluggishly.
b. So what could the source of the problem be and what are some solutions? I don’t know yet, as I said, but I am thinking perhaps:
-
It may be a scheduled automatic pre-scan and update - I do not yet know if the problem recurs at about the same time period on a regular basis which would clearly indicate this cause and then I would only have to determine which program updates then and change the schedule to a time I am not needing the computer, if that is possible. If that doesn’t remedy the problem:
-
It may be a third party utility which does not integrate well or may even compete for resources within Win such as a 3rd-party Firewall software. In this case I would select one and disable or Remove/Uninstall the other. If that doesn’t remedy the problem:
-
It may be a legitimately scheduled or remote site-prompted utility scan like anti-virus or Ad-Aware or Spybot or SpyDoctor which may function “behind the scenes” with no Win Task Manager indication but a steady-on “Read/Write” Device Status Light. In this case, the one suggestion above to exclude non-essential files and folders from the scan list may help but it is beyond my knowledge to implement(i.e.: suggestions at http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.windowsupdatetid=507fdfc2-c65b-4d88-bdee-9dc79a8e975fp=1 ) For me the most relevent action on this possible solution is to schedule the scan when I am not needing my computer (may mean leaving it “on” overnight) and limit my scan selection to the “Smart Scan” or “Quick Scan” or equivalent options during auto scans, and only run full scans when I suspect a problem or, again, at night when I am not using the computer.
Now perhaps I am partly correct in all the above or totally missing some point buried in animous above, but this is the sort of response I would have appreciated from truly knowledgeable and helpful technical “experts” at the beginning rather than all the “shoot from the hip” obfuscation. And to the posters for whom English is at best their second language, thank you for attempting to restate the problem or offer solutions. Some of us do not even speak our first language particularly effectively or respectfully.
Pitcheron, what you are describing is your computers video card bottlenecking. it cant keep up with your cpu so your game runs slow. system idle process does absolutely nothing. it just tells you how much of your cpu time is free, in your case 20%.
Same issue.
Everybody’s saying that’s not ‘it,’ but nobody is saying what ‘it’ is. Considering that nobody knows, it’s a long thread.
casey,
do you still think i could end that prosses? or would that be stupid…
In my case my Family’s Computer has been infected with spyware and I was stupid enough to give every account Administrator Privileges. If you own or are using a family computer that you know others use, then try running anti-spyware and anti-virus programs to clean the computer up. Also, spyware doesn’t spread well when infecting an account without administrator privileges.
Okay, I’ve really tried to read past the frustration and knee jerk reactions to find the answer to the one, what I feel is the most obvious, question that should be asked here.
I don’t know dvorak, and don’t care who he is. Plenty of people ask questions (that some feel are stupid) out of misunderstanding, and are attacked for asking them numerous time because somebody felt they answered it clearly numerous times.
Anyone who has studied basic communication principles knows that if the people you are explaining something to, do not understand what you’ve explained, the end result is the same as if you haven’t explained it at all. You can’t simply state something in a way that is simple for you to understand, and expect that everyone else will understand it as clearly as you did. Everyone takes in information differently. Just because someone else does not understand something clearly, that you did, DOES NOT MAKE THEM AN IDIOT! It simply means the information was not delivered in the way they needed to hear it.
Resorting to calling anybody an idiot doesn’t help anyone.
Frankly, I think that those who seem to be misunderstanding what the Idle process is, may not be misunderstanding it at all, but may be having trouble formulating the real question that is on their minds.
I have a feeling what I’m asking here is what most of them are really asking. If not, and some really aren’t getting it, perhaps the way I’ve worded this will help those who are misunderstanding it.
So, here’s my question. If it’s been answered, sorry. I ran out of patience trying to weed through the childish drivel to find it (apologies to those who really are trying to help).
I realize there may be numerous answers to this question. That’s okay. I know what some of them are. I ask in case someone may give me an answer I haven’t yet thought of.
I understand system idle process is not really a process at all (for the most part), and, in theory, represents how much cpu is available for requests from my programs.
I watch my processes fairly regularly (Please don’t tell me it’s useless to do that. It isn’t useless if you understand what you are looking at), and have a pretty good idea of what they look like when things are running normally. For example, I have a few programs that start when windows starts. When they start normally, I see them using anywhere from from 5% to 75% or higher CPU. Sometimes higher, and they are always in flux, varying up and down as one might expect. Whatever they are not using at any given moment is shown as being used by the “idle” process.
HOWEVER, when they do not respond or do not start up normally, I see them using possibly 2% to 3%, and system idle at 97% to 98% consistently.
So, my question is, "If there is so much of the processor available for use, why aren’t the processes from these programs getting to the CPU? What could be stopping them from reaching the processor?
So, you see, I’m not blaming the System Idle Process for this obvious malfunction. I’m asking where should I be looking for the solution.
What exactly would prevent the processes from getting there in the first place?
New reader with similar problem. Only at the same time my computer is trying to address my floppy “A” drive, which sits there helplessly tapping away since the drive is empty. I fear this will eventually break the A drive, so I turn the computer off and back on, which clears the issue.
I too found “System Idle Process” recording high on cpu usage (or not usage)at the same time as the A drive issue, though after reading the above, that may be a side issue and not a cause… which leads me to the question, how else can I define what’s wrong?
Win XP serv pac 2, automatic download of Microsoft updates, Spybot no help, Norton on (I suspect Norton, but not for good reason) Defrag no help…
We may not be defining the issue well, but there is an issue.
I had the exact same problem, I’ve had the same desktop for 3 years and no such thing had ever happened to me before. one thing I realized was that this problem never happened before opening any browser, especially IE or opera or any online programs like emule, the system idle process was near 70% but in the performance tab, the CPU usage was over 90%. and I also suspected the recent windows updates so I did one thing, I disabled the windows firewall, and also automatic updates, with no need for restarting, my CPU usage became 40% with 5 programs running other than the ones in the system tray, I’m not sure if this is the exact solution but i think if other people at this place who have the same problem, try it and give us some feedback we could find out if the real problem is in the automatic updates or the windows firewall or whatever else.
one other thing to mention is: try to stay professional, making fun of others has never solved any problem, and not having some knowledge is not stupidity, if it was, you would be as stupid in finance as i am in computers.
the problem is back!
Gone quiet, hasn’t it.
“We may not be defining the issue well, but there is an issue.”
Indeed there is, and despite the replies, it remains unidentified.
To the people that are harping on Dvorak, instead please tell us what is it that is causing the hd activity and system slowness that ties the affected computers up. Til then, we’ll assume you don’t know, either.
Whether it’s something running invisibly or only being governed by the idle process doesn’t really matter to us. We just want it to stop hogging the machine.
Apparently, no one really knows.
I guess you geeks find it easy to write harsh comments and remarks about those who do not know as much as you about a subject, or about those who have the strength to voice thier concerns, however, you don’t seem to be very open and sharing with your vast knowledge of this damn problem. Oh, maybe you have not got the foggiest either. Go back to whinging and moaning about others, successful others at that, lets face it, after reading all these ridiculous posts it’s all you are good for. I’ll seek assistance and guidance elsewhere and can only hope the monitors of this site see through your pointless posts and condemn you to even more of a solitary life than you must have now by banning you from entering more spitful, hate filled rubbish… Goodbye my friends, you have helped me nought.
While amusing as this is to you computer guru’s something is wrong!!! My computer is having entirely the same problem.
It started a week ago when I got some nasty virus. Now if I leave my computer unatended to say run to Taco Bell I come back to a nightmare.
Usually It starts with me opening internet explorer. Literally 5 minutes in I wonder if I ever opened it at all. Naturally as the inpatient American I am I open it 2 more times. NOTHING!! So I try opening who knows Pure play poker… NOTHING.
So just what the F*@$% is slowing my computer down so much? I open task manager and my system Idle is at 95-98%.
Now I am not saying my system being idle is using up all of my processor thus not allowing me to check my email.
What me and probably the first guy coming here for help not ridicule is trying to say is
WHY IS MY SYTEM AT 98% IDLE WHEN I JUST GAVE IT 4 THINGS TO WORK ON?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!
Ive had the computer for 2 years and like I said this has just started to occur 2 weeks ago. It is not normal. Each time I’m at 95-98% idle when each time I am giving it plenty to get 98% busy about.
This is where I would sign my name but I’d rather not be the butt of your jokes.
Female
20something.
Ha ha I just read the last few posts. All so simalar to mine.
I will look for help elsewhere because it’s clear you guys dont have a clue how to fix this.
For those who would like to research their own solutions to the CPU problems:
http://www.blackviper.com/index.html
this site has very good nfo on the Processes running in Windows and how many MB/KB they use and tons of other info on getting Windows to run smoother. This site may not have everything to ‘fix’ the problem, but it’s a good place to start.
Jenny
I am merely a self-taught computer user, however MS Windows is a great tutor (lol). Ditto for me on the problem w/CPU. I am suspect of the problem relating to AV programs, fire walls, and assorted spy/adware that are protecting the system. However, since I’m not a computer expert, I have not been able to figure out if this can be remidied. I also suspect the way hardware utilizes input is another source of problems. And then yesterday I figured out why Firefox it kept trying to get me save 2 pdf. files at start up…these were downloads that were cancelled, but somehow they didn’t ‘register’ w/ Firefox, and continued to try to d/l, unnoticed by me. This took up lots CPU, but still have the original problem. Also while visiting MS Technet (using the Firefox browser) cpu was almost unsusable, so I think this has something to do with MS ‘penalizing’ non-MS browsers using their site. Also, Firefox is incredibly notorius for not releasing resources after closing browser windows. (Another problem with Firefox…using CPU resources, which it does quite frequently) And finally, Panda A/V cause a lot of problems using CPU resources, which don’t necessarily show up in the task manager Processes tab, but do show in the Performance tab.
Perhaps some of the IT experts could give feedback on my theories, and how one might go about investigating a remedy.
Thanks, Jenny
I feel there’s sth wrong with the firewall, but one other thing, how many of you people who have the same problem have bandwidth managers installed on your system? aplications like du super controlet or net limiter, because when ever i kill the process, my system runs as smooth as 2 weeks ago!
Here’s another option to try…use cautiously…disabling some services will render your computer un-bootable. The blackviper site (above post) also has services info, with better explanations
http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2006/04/12/slow_computer_speed_up_your.htm
Jenny
Has anyone found a solution to this problem?
I am experiencing a similar problem with multiple PCs on the same network. When the Ethernet cable is plugged in the PC is extremely slow. Launching locally install applications such and Acrobat Reader, MS Word, Excel, etc. can take anywhere from 75 to 90 seconds. When looking at the process list in task manager to see what it running and what is utilizing the processing power, all I see is that the “System Idle Process” is between 98%-99% the entire time from the moment I initiate the launch of a locally install application until 90 seconds later when it finally opens. At no time the System Idle Process allocate any processor space for the application I requested. However, when I unplug the Ethernet cable from the PC, the PC performs as expected, with locally installed applications launching quickly and the system responding normally. The same behavior when comparing Safe Mode with Networking to Normal Safe Mode.
Also, ran multiple virus scans using various anti-virus engines and found nothing. When PC is on network, there is very little TX/RX traffic. So neither the NIC nor the network is being flooded with TCP/IP traffic. I’ve applied all the latest Windows Patches and Updates to see if this was another one of Microsoft’s famous vulnerabilities, but that did nothing as well.
I’m all out of ideas at this point and any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance.