Re: "System Idle Process" Using 98% of Resources???

A Baffled User wrote:
"Daave" <dcwashNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uxL8dcwiIHA.1944@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A Baffled User wrote:
My HP Pavilion notebook computer, running Windows XP Home SP2 with
512 MB of RAM, has been incredibly sluggish lately though I am using
the machine in exactly the same way I always have. It takes an
extremely long time to switch between programs that are running when
I click on the buttons on the taskbar. Programs that are already
running emerge slowly on the screen rather than appear instantly as
they always have in the past.

I just looked at the processes that are running, via CTRL + ALT +
DELETE, and 93 to 98 percent of resources are said there to be taken
up by System Idle Process. Is that normal?

As others have said, yes, this is normal.

When I go to System>System Tools>System Information>Software
Environment>Running Tasks, I find tons of things that have no
business "running," if indeed they are:
c:\program files\common files\real\update_ob\realsched.exe, for
example, when I don't even have RealPlayer on my machine;
c:\program files\common files\seagate\schedule2\schedhlp.exe,
appearing TWICE, as another example, when my Seagate hard drive
isn't
even attached to my computer;
c:\program file\itunes\ituneshelper.exe, when I'm not running
iTunes,
etc., etc., etc.

Are you *sure* you don't have Real Player on your machine? Sounds
like
you do. :-) You're on the right track: One of the things that slows
down
PCs is unnecessary processes running in the background. Some of these
processes use considerably more resources/memory than others. Your
best
bet is to use Google and these sites to gather information as to what
they are and how best to disable them:

http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php#THE_PROGRAMS
http://www.sysinfo.org/startupinfo.html and
http://www.answersthatwork.com (and click on the Task List button).

Using XP's MSCONFIG is good to see what is running each time you
boot
up. Task Manager (Control + Alt + Delete) will give you information
as
to which processes are currently running.

Something is sucking up my available resources. How can I track the
culprit down and get rid of it?

As mentioned above, Task Manager can give you this kind of
information.
For more thorough information, I recommend you run Process Explorer:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

You may also want to run AutoRuns (which is *much* more detailed than
Msconfig):

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

I have to ask what is the malware status of your PC? Malicious
software (viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, etc.) is the number one
cause of slow
computers.

In the event a read error caused your hard drive access to change
from
Ultra DMA to PIO mode, reset it:


http://technize.com/2007/08/02/is-your-hard-disk-cddvd-drives-too-slow-while-copying/


Many thanks, Daave, for all these links. I will try them all.

You're welcome. I'm also curious how much you are using the pagefile.
Please perform the following:

When you are in Task Manager/Performance, look in the lower left-hand
corner. You should see three figures under Commit Charge (K): Total,
Limit, and Peak. What are they? Record these figures shortly after a
reboot and then again, after you have been using the PC for a while and
you notice sluggishness.

I know you have 512 MB of RAM. If your Total or Peak figures exceed
the amount of RAM you have, there is a good chance you are relying on
the pagefile, which will certainly cause sluggishness.

For a more accurate assessment, you may run Page File Monitor for
Windows XP:

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm


.