Increased CPU activity when mouse is idle

[Guest]

I've noticed that recently I can hear my hard disk spinning when the mouse is
left idle. As soon as I move the mouse, the CPU activity stops. I've ran all
kinds of anti-virus and spyware programs to no avail. Anyone else know why
this is happening, and what I can do to fix it?

 

[Guest]

As just about anyone will recommend check for spyware and malware it sounds
like a trojan that runs while the pc is idle another thing to try is to bring
up task manager and watch to see what program starts using more cpu cycles
while it is idle.

 

[here]

have a look in task manager and watch to see what process is running.

XP does do things when the system is idle such as indexing the hard disk
which stops when the mouse is moved.

once you've seen what process is running you can google it for info or post
the name here if you aren't sure. if it is indexing just let it run for as
long as you can and it won't happen again for a while.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, Mike. I did as you suggested, and it appears that "cisvc.exe" being
used by SYSTEM is the culprit. What is this? Can I get rid of it, and how?

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Could be for any number of reasons. Might be the indexing service indexing
your files. Or maybe it's disk defragmenter doing a partial defrag. Or
perhaps it's Windows Media Player searching your disk for new media. For an
idea as to what's happening, open Task Manager and set it to display
processes in order of CPU time. When you hear the disk activity, glance at
Task manager and see which task is operating.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I've noticed that recently I can hear my hard disk spinning when the
mouse is left idle. As soon as I move the mouse, the CPU activity
stops. I've ran all kinds of anti-virus and spyware programs to no
avail. Anyone else know why this is happening, and what I can do to
fix it?

Hmmm..
Your disk spinning and CPU activity are two different things.

Install TweakUI.. Check the properties of the "General" setting for
"Optimize hard disk when idle".

 

[Guest]

Hey, thanks! I already had TweakUI, and sure enough, "Optimize hard disk when
idle" was checked. I was able to locate the incexing service, cisvc.exe, and
turned it off from the Adminitrative controls. Thanks, everyone.