System Idle Process is when the system is idle or doing nothing.
<quote>
Idle: This is a generic process that is used when no other program or
process is requiring CPU resources. It is not a bad thing if it is using 99%
of your CPU! This process is a 16 k loop that the CPU processes while it is
not doing "anything" else. If you computer is called upon to do any other
task than nothing, the idle process allows that to happen and the % used
will decrease accordingly. You can not disable the idle process. If it is
using 97% CPU, which only means that the other 3% is used by real programs.
If your idle process is constantly at a low rate (for example, 3%) something
else, an application or process is using the CPU.
<quote>
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/strangeservice.htm
"Note The System Idle Process indicates the unused percentage of the CPU."
Task Manager may not calculate CPU usage correctly on Windows 2000, Windows
Server 2003, or Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/873289
<quote>
System Idle Process - You cannot end this process from Task Manager.
* This process is a single thread running on each processor, which has the
sole task of accounting for processor time when the system isn't processing
other threads. In Task Manager, expect this process to account for the
majority of processor time.
<quote>
Default Processes in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/263201
<quote>
Description:
the System Idle Process is not a process, more a counter which is displayed
in WinTasks used for measuring how much idle time the CPU is having at any
particular time. This counter will display how much CPU Resources, as a
percentage are 'idle' and available for use. Cannot be killed
<quote>
http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/System Idle Process/
<quote>
System Idle Process
An option in the Windows XP Task Manager that indicates what percentage of
time the CPU is currently doing nothing but waiting for work. If no
applications are running that the user is aware of (although there may
always be some tasks running in the background), the percentage can be in
the high 90s.
<quote>
http://www.answers.com/topic/system-idle-process
<quote>
System idle process
In computing, The System Idle Process is a process in the Microsoft Windows
operating system that displays, as a percentage, how much CPU resources are
"idle" and available for use at any given time. The name of this "process"
may be a misnomer, however, as the System Idle Process is more of a counter
and less of a process that actually uses the resource percentage that it
displays.
<quote>
http://www.answers.com/topic/system-idle-process
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Hope this helps. Let us know.
Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
In