Explorer hogs CPU - XP home

[Chuck Bones]

Hi,
When I log back on after leaving my computer idle, the first thing that
happens is Explorer uses 95-100% CPU time for 30 sec or more. Or, if I
have a folder open and a program adds or modifies a file in that folder,
Explorer hogs the CPU, sometimes for a minute or more. I have 2 other
computers, one running XP home and the other XP pro, neither has this
problem. All are SP2. What is Explorer doing and how do I make it stop?

Thanks,

-- cb

 

[tmt]

Whenever the cpu senses it's idle, the first thing it does is start
taking care of all the little odds and ends that it couldn't handle
while it is servicing user requests. This may simply be a part of the
way windows functions. It may not be something you can tweak.

further thought on this is that if you step away from the machine for a
while, windows will take certain pieces of data out of memory in order
to make room for more important programs. If it decides that the
window you left open isn't important and swaps the data out of memory
and back onto the HDD, then once you finally return, it may seem like
it's taking forever and the reason is because it is going back to the
HDD to pull up the data so you can pick up where you left off. Do you
notice your HDD light on the cpu is on constantly when this problem
occurs? That would mean at the very least that much data is moving
from memory to disk and vice versa.

the solution if any might be to either assign the program a higher
priority in task manager and/or don't leave really complex work open
and unsaved,

hope it helps