CPU usage and update speed in windows task manager

[Rage Skywolfe]

I have a question on the CPU in task manager. for some reason the last few
days it runs high at first when you open task manager and stays there for a
while. I had show kernel times checked not too long ago and it did that at
that time. now that I have that unchecked. it still does that and the actual
update speed is slow running unless the priority is changed to high. is there
something that is causing this or is it something I have done?:s

 

[Gerry]

What is the process using the CPU?

What is the image name of the process producing high CPU usage?

Download Process Explorer.
For further information about Process Explorer see here:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/SystemInformation/ProcessExplorer.mspx

It would be helpful if you could post the Command Line of the process
generating the excessive CPU usage. In Process Explorer place
cursor on Process and select Properties, Image.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Rage Skywolfe]

the exact process that is using it I am not real sure as it just says on the
bottom processes and cpu usage. as far as image goes I am looking at the
preformance graph of the cpu usage history and cpu usage areas. they both
used to run at a reasonable pace but they have slowed down alot within the
last few days :s

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Why do you ask? Are you experiencing problems which caused you to examine
the Processes tab of TaskMan? Had you just booted? If you d-click on Mem
Usage or CPU column such that the highest user is at the top, what
Process(s) is/are consuming resources? Do the same Processes keep consuming
so much memory/CPU after 2-5 minutes? Is this the same WinXP machine where
you just did (another) Clean Install?

 

[JS]

It could be a sub-process or application that's running in the background
and taking all the CPU resources.

To find and display what could be the problem try Process Explorer:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

Once you have Process Explorer installed and running:
In the taskbar select View and check 'Show Process Tree' and the
'Show Lower Pane' options.
Then expand the process named 'Explorer' (click on the + sign)
In the column on the left named 'CPU', look for any high CPU usage.
Next click on the CPU column to sort the processes by %CPU usage
(Highest to Lowest).

Move the mouse cursor over any process,
you should see a popup with some detailed info.
Then mouse over the process that's using most or all the CPU %.
Then click on that process to highlight it,
Now that it's highlighted, right click and from the options listed select:
'Search Online'.
This should display what out there on the web about that process.
You can also double click on any process to open up a more detailed
'Properties' window.
Note: some entries like Explorer, System/Services, and Svchost
may need to be expanded to show the detail (sub processes),
in this case click on the + located to the left of the entry.

An alternate method when using Process Explorer
is to double click on the Graph just below the Menu bar.
This will open the 'System Information' window, which has a larger display
of all three graphs. Move your mouse over any spike in the
CPU Usage graph to see what process/application or service is the cause
of the spike.

 

[Rage Skywolfe]

from the process explorer the task manager uses the most processes. as well
as just the system. in the actual windows task manager it does not show what
uses the most processes just memory usage and I have several processes that
have different memory levels on it. yes this is the same machine and no I
don't have any particular problems going on. I just like to check on what is
running here and there and how many things are running process wise. I just
wondered why the change in the speed of the usage and history usage.

 

[Gerry]

Rage

In Task Manager you need to open the Processes ta. However, Process Explorer
is a much better tool for investigating unexplained CPU usage.

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

You referenced TaskMan, not Process Explorer, in your first post. I
referenced TaskMan, not Process Explorer, in my reply. Please answer my
questions per what you see in TaskMan, not Process Explorer (which should be
v11.33 anyway).

 

[Rage Skywolfe]

the highest usage and usualy the only usage unless there are things like scan
running is System Idle process and the cpu on that is 99% the CPU USAGE nest
to the processes on the bottom bar of task manager changes percentages. it
usualy dosen't get too high it usualy remains within the small percentage
numbers like 12% 6% etc. but it does go back and forth I just wondered why it
dosen't change as fast as it usualy does.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

the highest usage and usualy the only usage unless there are things like scan
running is System Idle process and the cpu on that is 99%

"System Idle Process" is not a real process and it is not any problem
at all. That's just the name for what the system is doing when it's
not doing anything. It's there to make the total add up to 100%

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

And if you sort Processes tab by Mem(ory) Usage, what's the highest 3-4
processes?

With only minimal processes loaded, System Idle should always be the higher
per CPU (which, counterintuitively, means that it's *not* hogging memory).

 

[Rage Skywolfe]

to JS

there are no particular processes that are running extremely high on cpu
usage the usage goes back and forth from the hardware inturrupts and DPC

to Pa Bear
the highest memory usage in the first few items are
system 65,092 k
explorer.exe 34,640 k
RTDHCPL.exe 29,736 k
svchost.exe 24,064 k

most of the others I have run in the low numbers range with the highest
being a 9,616 k to the lowest at 28 k

I am on one GB ram

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Go worry about something else for a while. <w>

to Pa Bear
the highest memory usage in the first few items are
system 65,092 k
explorer.exe 34,640 k
RTDHCPL.exe 29,736 k
svchost.exe 24,064 k

most of the others I have run in the low numbers range with the highest
being a 9,616 k to the lowest at 28 k

I am on one GB ram

<snip>

 

[Rage Skywolfe]

lol

Go worry about something else for a while. <w>


<snip>

 

[JS]

Disconnect the PC from the Internet.
Turn off any and all AV software.
Note: If you use a third party firewall, some of these also have AV software
Try opening Task Manager and see if the problem
is still occurring.

Don't forget to renewable AV and firewall before
connecting to the Internet.

 

[Rage Skywolfe]

yeah it runs about the same. seems to run in about mabye one second intervals
I am not real sure. where as before it was faster than that. anyway I amjust
wondering if it is because of the fact that I checked high on the update
speed once and then went back to normal? but like I said I don't have any
particular programs that run really high on cpu usage unless I am running a
scan or something.