Windows Idle Process

[Guest]

It's me... the pain again. My pc's been slow. It seemed that SVCHOST was the
cause for it, since it's on all the time and getting most of the PC's
performance. I've tried everything people here said. Now that I got this
Process Explorer, I have realised that actually a "Windows Idle Process"
thing is taking all my pc's memory. Everytime SVCHOST's running (practically
all the time), it gets my memory the most and slows everything down. WHen I
go to check in Process Explorer, always this "Windows Idle Process" is the
one taking all the memory.

Does anybody know why this happens? And if there is a way to stop it or
correct what's wrong, would someone tell me?

Ever grateful!

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

"Windows Idle Process" is when the PC isn't doing anything - so the higher
the % the better.

--


Will Denny
MS-MVP Shell/User
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[Guest]

That's what I thought in the first place... but the pc just crashes when it's
high... it's crazy! I mean temporary little crashes. Music stops playing,
goes on stuttering... CDs stop... how can this be then? :O

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Is there one particular program that you are using when these crashes occur?

--

Will Denny

MS-MVP
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[Jim]

That's what I thought in the first place... but the pc just crashes when
it's
high... it's crazy! I mean temporary little crashes. Music stops playing,
goes on stuttering... CDs stop... how can this be then? :O

Are you sure about the name? On my computers it is called "System Idle
Process". If you have a process called "Windows Idle Process", then you
have malware.
Jim

 

[Skitch]

Are you sure about the name? On my computers it is called "System Idle
Process". If you have a process called "Windows Idle Process", then you
have malware.
Jim

Jim,

I wouldn't jump to conclusions unless you have information you neglected to
include in your post. "Windows Idle Process" may be a regionalized
translation of "System Idle Process." I believe the Italian version of
Windows lists the "Windows Idle Process" and there may be others.

Skitch

 

[Guest]

Sorry guys! It's System Idle Process!

Would it be malware? I have so many spyware/malware removal tools that it
seems impossible to be one of those...

 

[Ron Martell]

It's me... the pain again. My pc's been slow. It seemed that SVCHOST was the
cause for it, since it's on all the time and getting most of the PC's
performance. I've tried everything people here said. Now that I got this
Process Explorer, I have realised that actually a "Windows Idle Process"
thing is taking all my pc's memory. Everytime SVCHOST's running (practically
all the time), it gets my memory the most and slows everything down. WHen I
go to check in Process Explorer, always this "Windows Idle Process" is the
one taking all the memory.

Does anybody know why this happens? And if there is a way to stop it or
correct what's wrong, would someone tell me?

Ever grateful!

Are you talking about an item that is actually named "Windows Idle
Process" or is it actually the "System Idle Process" that you are
referring to?

"System Idle Process" is actually nothing. Period. It is just the
result of a calculation which is 100% minus the sum total of the CPU
usage by all of the active process. That value, whatever the answer
is, is what is reported under the name "System Idle Process". The
only purpose of it is to show how much of the time your CPU has
absolutely nothing to do and is idle.

On the other hand, if your Task Manager actually shows a line "Windows
Idle Process" then it is highly likely that your computer has been
infested by a virus or trojan of some sort.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

"System Idle Process" is the proper name - it's not malware.

--


Will Denny
MS-MVP Shell/User
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[Skitch]

As Will Denny said earlier, the system idle process shows how much the
computer is not being used; 90% under system idle process means that the
computer is only using 10% of it's resources.

SVCHOST is a program that loads system components called services and will
probably show up several times in Process Explorer; this is normal. There
are well over 200 services that are installed by various software packages;
I have 98 on my computer. Of those 98 I only have 32 running right now. Some
services are resource hogs or only have limited applications depending on
what the computer is used for. There are web sites like
http://www.vernalex.com/tools/services/ and
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/guidance/serversecurity/tcg/tcgch07n.mspx
that explain and advise about services and how to enable, disable, and
control them. Don't trust any one source of advice, there are a lot of
conflicting opinions about services out there. On the "Start Menu" type
"services.msc" in the "Run" dialog to start the Microsoft Management Console
Services snap-in which shows a list of services on the local machine and
allows you to control their behavior.

Skitch

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

It's me... the pain again. My pc's been slow. It seemed that SVCHOST
was the cause for it, since it's on all the time and getting most of
the PC's performance. I've tried everything people here said. Now
that I got this Process Explorer, I have realised that actually a
"Windows Idle Process" thing is taking all my pc's memory. Everytime
SVCHOST's running (practically all the time), it gets my memory the
most and slows everything down. WHen I go to check in Process
Explorer, always this "Windows Idle Process" is the one taking all
the memory.

Does anybody know why this happens? And if there is a way to stop it
or correct what's wrong, would someone tell me?

First, note that it's "System Idle Process," not "Windows Idle Process."

Second, "System Idle Process" 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%.

From the little information you've provided above, I can't even guess what
your problem might be (other than just making a generalized statement that
these days malware is often the cause of an unexplained slowdown), but I can
assure you that "System Idle Process" is not your problem.