[hallgente]

 TskMgrScreen.jpg (14.06K)
Number of downloads: 56And another thing..... Help!

When my PC (Samsung SX10) is not doing very much, the task manager CPU Usage window is showing regular blips when the CPU gets momentarily fully loaded. I've attached a picture if it helps. The culprit seems to be System Idle Process.

I'm running Norton AV 2006, MS Office, Skype, SkypeOBE (a toolbar for Outlook), Outlook.

[managed]

Hi,

The 'System Idle Process' is running when the CPU is doing nothing else, as this quote from Microsoft shows :-

"A separate instance of this process runs for each processor present, and has the single purpose of accounting for unused processor time."

In other words it's just a way to measure how 'idle' the CPU is, it doesn't waste resources.

The peaks you are seeing are probably caused by something else.
I don't get peaks like that but I do see 90%+ System Idle Process.

It's probably Norton causing those peaks so try turning it off temporarily and see if they stop.
An easy way to do that is do Start > Run type MSCONFIG press Enter.
Click on the Startup tab.
Now 'untick' any entries with 'Norton' or 'Symantec' in the Command column.
Re-boot and try Task Manager now.

If the peaks are still present you can 'untick' other things and test but be careful, if you're not sure what an item does leave it ticked and post back with details.

If it was Norton don't forget to 're-tick' !

[Shadow]

World wide, Norton is well known as a tremendous Resource HOG.

Millions like myself, won't have any part of it.

Every week I take it off of my customer's PC's and replace it with AVG FREE, a much nicer and less invasive AV program.

If you're not willing to just totally Un-Install that hog, then at least shut it down,,,,completely, and see if that helps your system performance.

De-Select it in MSCONFIG/Startup and in Services.msc.....disable all instances of Norton or Symantec.

I've done this for a few customers who thought they really needed Norton.....they were astounded at the jump in performance when I totally shut down Norton. They were then happy to let me just De-Install it.

Good luck to you,
Shadow

[Centauress]

First boot to Safe Mode by tapping the F8 key on startup. In Safe Mode the computer bypasses all the startup items, all device drivers and networking components. If the symptoms persist in Safe Mode then the problem is most likely a corrupted, altered or missing Windows file. If not then proceed with the next step.

Second perform a “clean boot”. This is a diagnostic procedure. Click the Start button and select Run. Type (or copy and paste) “msconfig” without the quotes into the Run box and click OK. In the MSCONFIG window that will open click the Startup tab, then click the Disable All button and then the Apply button. Next click on the Services tab. Check the box says “Hide all Microsoft services” and wait for the list to refresh. When it does again click Disable All and then Apply. Restart the computer.

Please note that this does not remove the programs from the system or alter them in any way; it merely prevents them from loading when Windows starts, and can easily be re-enabled at any time.

If the symptoms re-appear the cause is most likely an outdated, corrupted or missing device driver; we’ll go into that if we need to. If the symptoms do NOT reappear then you will need to re-enable only one service or startup item and reboot. Keep doing this until the symptoms return; when they do you know that the last item re-enabled was the cause and you can then make a decision on whether to leave it disabled, uninstall it or repair it by re-installing it, whichever is most appropriate. A lot of startup items are really nonessential, so to save time (and improve system performance) I would leave all but essential startup items disabled. I would define essential as your anti virus and third-party firewall (if you use one).

For more information on the clean boot procedure read:
How to perform advanced clean-boot troubleshooting in Windows XP

[Guitar Man]

I'd like to see a screenshot of Task Manager's Processes tab. I'm willing to bet that the Indexing Service is enabled (by default).

[Wingman]

And if the Indexing Service IS turned on...and you want to turn it OFF...

Go to MY COMPUTER
Right click on your hard drive icon(s)
Select PROPERTIES
at the bottom of the GENERAL tab you should see a check box to:
Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching
Uncheck this option, click Apply, then click OK

This is a per disk setting...so if you have mutliple partitions...repeat for each.
-Mike-