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System idle process remains with 0% CPU uses


rudrax

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Yesterday, I had a strange bug in my system. The "system idle process" was using 0% CPU. At the same time firefox was using 25%, Icon management utility was using 19%, and the remaining were used by the svchosts and the system went out of response which was obvious. I couldn't be able to take a screenshot of that phenomenon as no CPU was left for running a screen capture utility. Then I barely restarted the system but after restart, all the processes were still using whole of the CPU. Finally, I did shut down for half an hour and then again started. Now fine.

What could be the cause of this - any guesses?

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majithia23

System Idle Process is no process , so it cannot use any CPU . It simply means how much % of CPU processing is idle or available at any one moment .

Now , about the system going unresponsive might be due to many reasons . Many .

> A background AV scan might be under run .

> Some memory leak in some app .

> Some stuck app in foreground or background that was using up CPU cycles .

> Flash plug in FF is notorious for sending the CPU spikes in a tizzy .

> A background installation of Windows update .

> A background run of MSRT might be in progress .

> Some malware .

> Heavily fragmented HDD .

> CPU reaching its critical temperatures of operation .

> etc etc etc .....

You might want to check the Windows Log at that specific time . Might tell you something !

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System Idle Process is no process , so it cannot use any CPU . It simply means how much % of CPU processing is idle or available at any one moment .

I know the thing. The figure against System Idle Process should remain above 90% during usual activities but it can't be 0% unless you are using some benchmarking program to bottleneck the CPU.

> CPU reaching its critical temperatures of operation .

I strongly doubt this as the reason because even after I had restarted the system, it wasn't responding. I shut down for half an hour and then it came too live.

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majithia23

hmmm....

Allright , that rules out one of the possible causes from the list , but what can you say about others ! :think:

( ... but , still it would be a good choice to look into the CPU temps . When idle and when at use . I have seen CPU temperatures in the range of 60 to 70 'C while starting up ! )

As i said , have a look into the Windows Log . Might tell something , and that is if you have not shut down the logging process .....

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Yesterday, I had a strange bug in my system. The "system idle process" was using 0% CPU. At the same time firefox was using 25%, Icon management utility was using 19%, and the remaining were used by the svchosts and the system went out of response which was obvious. I couldn't be able to take a screenshot of that phenomenon as no CPU was left for running a screen capture utility. Then I barely restarted the system but after restart, all the processes were still using whole of the CPU. Finally, I did shut down for half an hour and then again started. Now fine.

What could be the cause of this - any guesses?

It seems to me that you forgot one little thing - that you use Windows. It's a endless "wonderland", there's so much possible things. You maybe forgot - it's a 95 year model - only a little more than painted. Last century rarity. It must be in museum, but You insists on getting it to work. Enjoy this wonderland.

And more. Look, if a woman is going older and older, then in one day she is old. Does not help that when he painted over. Date of birth is still the same, and also some features do not want to work well. Repointing and new dress does not restore these.

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hmmm....

Allright , that rules out one of the possible causes from the list , but what can you say about others ! :think:

( ... but , still it would be a good choice to look into the CPU temps . When idle and when at use . I have seen CPU temperatures in the range of 60 to 70 'C while starting up ! )

As i said , have a look into the Windows Log . Might tell something , and that is if you have not shut down the logging process .....

screenshot_18.png - at idle.

at peak load, it goes 70-80 0C depending upon the load.

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rudrax : the last time I've seen such similar behavior / phenomenom was when someone installed Boinc or other GPGPU/CPU-heavy client in the background (or even as a service).

Also - what comes to my mind - try to list via command prompt all the ipconfig connections / adapters via ->

cmd.exe -> ipconfig /all

If you see a LOT entries (over 100) then this might also be a culprit. Seen sich behaviour where virtual adapters were created (was a bug in Win7 that was fixed post-SP1).

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rudrax : the last time I've seen such similar behavior / phenomenom was when someone installed Boinc or other GPGPU/CPU-heavy client in the background (or even as a service).

Also - what comes to my mind - try to list via command prompt all the ipconfig connections / adapters via ->

cmd.exe -> ipconfig /all

If you see a LOT entries (over 100) then this might also be a culprit. Seen sich behaviour where virtual adapters were created (was a bug in Win7 that was fixed post-SP1).

I've 11 entries of real and virtual adapters.

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Then that's not it...

Can you also post a log from Hijack This ?

Then we can be sure your rig is 'clean'.

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I've uninstalled HijackThis due to some issue, a few months back.

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majithia23
screenshot_18.png - at idle.

at peak load, it goes 70-80 0C depending upon the load.

hmmm...

Under peak load you get 70 or 80 'C ?

On my machine , under peak i.e. 100% CPU load i get a max of 65 - 70 'C ,

Under idle its about 45 - 50 'C .

Under regular load 50 - 55 'C .

And all readings depending on the surrounding temps !

What is your CPU model and also your Laptop make ?

And what are the idle temps and temps under regular load .

Just asking ....

And i think you can run the HiJack This w/o installing also . Give it a run ....

Most likely it would be -ve . ;)

And either ways i think , its just a regular all so common 'one of the those ' Windows glitches that showed up on your system and nothing more .

So not much to worry about and just keep using the sys your regular way . And keep an eye for if such a thing happens again .

Thats it !

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@ rudrax

CPU resources depend a lot on how your OS was tuned - just like a car. The only difference being that when a car is purchased, it's in optimal condition - not so in the case of an OS; how it will perform depends largely on the manner in which it was configured right at (not only after) the time the OS was installed.

I recently came across a couple of Peeps, here who were complaining about SkyDrive - a clear indication of lack of knowledge & experience in installation.

You're due for a reformat, buddy (as I've been informing you for a long time.)

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What is your CPU model and also your Laptop make ?

And what are the idle temps and temps under regular load .

1st gen i3-350m 2.26 Ghz.

screenshot_19.png - idle

On regular load - 60-70 oC

On peak load - 70-80 oC

@ rudrax

CPU resources depend a lot on how your OS was tuned - just like a car. The only difference being that when a car is purchased, it's in optimal condition - not so in the case of an OS; how it will perform depends largely on the manner in which it was configured right at (not only after) the time the OS was installed.

I recently came across a couple of Peeps, here who were complaining about SkyDrive - a clear indication of lack of knowledge & experience in installation.

You're due for a reformat, buddy (as I've been informing you for a long time.)

Yeah, I will install x64-bit soon.

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