System Process

[john]

running XP SP3, all current updates.

Over the last few days I've noticed a strange anomaly in Task Manager.
The process named System is using a constant 61,000K of resources and it
never changes.

That seems a little high - is this normal?
Spyware and AV scans turned up nothing.

 

[R. McCarty]

A normal system process is going to have a Peak Memory Usage of
~6,000K. Your value seems high, but values differ depending on how
the computer is used. There is a known issue with this involving Server
2003 but as far as I know it doesn't affect Windows XP.
I would boot the computer and immediately after startup check the
values for System and see if it's high or starts normally and increases.

 

[john]

A normal system process is going to have a Peak Memory Usage of
~6,000K. Your value seems high, but values differ depending on how
the computer is used. There is a known issue with this involving Server
2003 but as far as I know it doesn't affect Windows XP.
I would boot the computer and immediately after startup check the
values for System and see if it's high or starts normally and increases.

Thanks for the quick reply.

I've shutdown and restarted several times and no change - ever.
System process is stuck at 61,000K.

SysInternals Process Explorer doesn't shed any light either.

 

[R. McCarty]

I would use Process Explorer and check the Handles & Thread counts
for system. Handles ~300, Threads ~100.

 

[JS]

Just checked two of my computers, both are typically between 4,000K and
5,000K

In Process Explorer right click on the System process and select
'Properties'
see if anything stands out.

 

[Gerry]

R. McCarty

Equivalent figures from my computer:

Working set 60,956k
Peaking working set 62,772k
Handles 364
Threads 55

I do not think my system is anything other than typical.


--



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

 

[R. McCarty]

I think I did mention that not every system would conform to the values
I listed. I just spot checked a couple of XP systems to get those numbers.
They certainly aren't "Fixed" values that apply to every machine.

 

[woody]

61,076k here

Woody

 

[Gerry]

R. McCarty

Your words were " normal system process"? I have no axe to grind. I am
just wondering why my system is not normal. The differential is a factor
of 10!


--



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

 

[R. McCarty]

I've been reading up on the process to try and figure out the disparity
between 6,000K and 61,000K. About the only useful information I've
come across is an issue with drivers, discussed in this KB article.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/295714

 

[Gerry]

R. McCarty

FWIW KB 295714 applies to
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition

To what extent it can be applied to Windows XP I do not know.

--



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

 

[R. McCarty]

That seems logical. While I was testing XP machines I loaded up a
couple of Windows XP VPC machines. Each ( Home/Pro ) use the
free AVG 8.0. On those the System process is in excess of 60,000K
while other non-AVG machines hover around ~6000K.

 

[john]

It's AVG 8!!

I uninstalled it and my System System process dropped to 244k.

I reinstalled it and it went back up to 59,832m immediately. I updated it
and it is now sitting at 61,192k. My guess is this will getting steadily
higher at each progressive update.

Will check with AVG to see what they say and keep you posted.

Thanks for the heads up/
I'm also running AVG (Free) and I just noticed last week that it updated
from v8.0.1.76 to v8.0.233 - and that's right about the time the high
System Process usage began.
Sure enough, I uninstalled it, and it went away.

Good detective work...!

 

[john]

It's AVG 8!!

I uninstalled it and my System System process dropped to 244k.

I reinstalled it and it went back up to 59,832m immediately. I updated it
and it is now sitting at 61,192k. My guess is this will getting steadily
higher at each progressive update.

Will check with AVG to see what they say and keep you posted.

AVG is claming that this is "normal".
http://freeforum.avg.com/read.php?12,168379,168476#msg-168476

I'm not buying it...
Time to have another look at Avast.