Comments for What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Comment from Osama on 2009-11-18

2009-11-18T17:54:41Z

Does it effect the temperature of the processor? i am using AMD athlon 64X2 dualcore and its temperature is rising to 42 and 36...
Should i be really bothered?

The more time your computer spends in the "idle" process, the more time the CPU is doing nothing. That tends to run cooler.

19-Nov-2009

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from Pies on 2009-10-21

2009-10-21T23:39:07Z

Having read most of the comments above, I get what system idle is all about and have never had an issue with it, until now. I never considered it to be a problem for the reasons Leo, and others elsewhere, have mentioned, but what they don't answer is, if while system idle is showing 95% etc and the system going mad with activity why it slows everything else to a crawl? What is it doing? Scenario:- Desktop doing nothing, everything fine, 95% ish system idle, open a web page, activity as expected and fine, I accept once the page is open for the system to then become bored and become idle but not for it to suddenly go mad with activity and thus prevent me from having a nice smooth system, go to open excel or anything else, forget it, cpu far too busy :-( So my question, which gets ignored or skirted around is, [edited] is it doing to stop me from using my pc and why doesn't it recognise that i'm attempting to actually use the god damn thing and therefore the system should no longer be 'idle' and do what I want it to do???? or one day it WILL have a major argument with a hammer, and we all know who the winner will be :-)

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from rastapunk420 on 2009-10-15

2009-10-15T19:17:59Z

my systeam ideal prosses sometimes just randomly comes on and when it does i cant do anything ex:im playing a game then that comes on and i start laging so bad that i can hardly move my mouse. but when its not running my computer is really fast it makes me so mad xD btw its running right now wich is why my typing is so bad -.-

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from Will Monroe on 2009-09-29

2009-09-30T04:40:49Z

I did a search because I was under the same idea, that the system idle process was killing my ability to work. I have a feeling that based on the new info here (from Leo) and the complaints that I was right in my first idea.
The slowdows are the result of either system restore files being written, the hard drive trying to clean up swap files and rewriting or closing files, or both depending on when they take place. I think the system backup is growing too large and maybe the way to stop it, is to make sure the computer is running right and turn off the system restore so it dumps the huge files, then restore it so it can start over.
I hate waiting 12 minutes on startup because the hd is wigging and wigging though the processor and system idle show nothing is happening.
Bill

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from Josh on 2009-08-09

2009-08-09T09:28:55Z

You and some programing book may say it's doing nothing/something, but often a system gets a bug (we'll say) that gets it rollig out of control.
Whatever the "reason" is, you guys have not had the issue some of these folks are talking about. the system idle process does NOT stop running for many people and it slows the heck out of everything. One guy said it was days b-4 he could even get on line. once it took over an hour for me to even get to the shut down window. Now mine is stuck @ a high # again and I don't remember how to fix it.

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from kittonkicker on 2009-04-23

2009-04-23T09:31:12Z

Leo, don't worry these guys will never get it.

The System Idle Process is not actually a process, it's a representation of the CPU that is not being used.

I.E. You have firefox running at 5% cpu usage constantly and nothing else is above 0% the System Idle Process will read 95% usage because it's the inverse of the amount being used... it's not actually using 95% of your CPU (it does nothing and serves no purpose except to show what is not being used).

The problem most people are referring to is more than likely to be Intel SpeedStep or AMD's Cool n Quiet technology, both of which throttle the CPU clock speed (and sometimes voltage) when the computer is inactive (idle) if enabled.

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from Richard on 2009-03-16

2009-03-16T14:41:26Z

My "system idle process" has been running from 95 to 99 since Friday....5 days....and I have just been able to sign on the internet tonight (Tuesday night). Don't understand this.....and even though I can sign onto the internet now, this "thing" still seems to control what I can and cannot do.....Richard

Please read the article. System Idle means that your computer is idle, doing nothing. The Idle process doesn't control anything, because it doesn't do anything.

- Leo
16-Mar-2009

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from PcJedi240 on 2009-03-03

2009-03-04T06:14:41Z

This is one of the few posted answers that uses "resources" instead of "usage" or "processing" But may still leave some in the dark. The CPU column next to "Image Name" in task manager(as in posted pic) is NOT the cpu "Usage" it refers to cycles to the processor(instructions that let it know whats goin on, on the system - kinda like the dispatcher of your local taxi company) In this case the System Idle gets all the dispatcher attention when your system is doing nothing. Although it cant be seen on the edited posted pic, at the bottome of task manager is the ACTUAL cpu "USAGE" When the cpu "USAGE" goes up the Idle "CYCLES" go down and vise versa. So when the "CYCLES"(shown in pic) are in the 90's your cpu "USAGE" should be low 0-10%. If you are seeing both #'s high there may be other issues. As far as some of the post with jerkiness I beleive that is an XP IDE problem itself. I have used 2k til 08 when forced to upgrade due to newer hardware and have had that problem as well, EVEN when my actual cpu "USAGE" has been under 10%.
In closing the high "CYCLES" are normal on SysIdle if you have constant maxed "USAGE" (bottom of task manager)then you have something goin on but the high "Cycles" arent it.

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from Lynn C on 2009-02-24

2009-02-24T18:26:57Z

I read the above article and I understand the virtual thumb twiddling bit SIP doesn't stop when I try to start another program. Is it that once it starts, it must finish the SIP first? Is this process only characteristic of Windows?

SIP is always present, and it is only a representation of the computer's CPU doing nothing. That's ALL it is.

- Leo
25-Feb-2009

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from Chris Dobson on 2009-02-20

2009-02-20T14:17:06Z

Leo, I understand what you are saying about SIP not interfering by definition, or by design is probably better. But what Hawkins, Webb, and Milton are saying is true. In practice, I have often noticed momentary hangs in the application I'm working with when SIP kicks in (this is XP SP2). Whatever the intent, SIP does in fact interfere. What is needed, as Milton says, is user control of this feature.

It's not a "feature" - it's simply an indication that the computer is doing nothing. There's nothing to control.

- Leo
21-Feb-2009

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from freddie on 2009-02-04

2009-02-04T23:47:39Z

On my computer i found the same thing, but while transferring a massive 120 gb folder from partition to partition. Needless to say it is deadly slow, should,nt the processor consider that an opportunity to maximize the cpu to decrease time? Or did i miss something here, =)

Typically the CPU is not the limitting factor in data transfer, the hard disk speed is. If the CPU is idle, it's likely spending its time waiting for the hard disk(s) to be ready to take or give more data.

- Leo
06-Feb-2009

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from Andrew Milton on 2008-08-26

2008-08-26T09:03:25Z

The point seems to be that users expectations are that the SIP should not take over the machine, but it does, interferring with the usefulness of the computer. There have been many times for me when a program has appeared to have crashed when in fact the computer is just busy doing the SIP. If the SIP is housekeeping processes and commands to keep the processor occupied during periods when programs are inactive then as soon as a program requires the CPU, the SIP should be suspended. So either the SIP has been badly programmed or it is more than the computer sorting itself out. Either way this is very frustrating to users and a way to control the SIP would be really welcome.

By definition, the system idle process does nothing. That's why it's called "idle". It doesn't "take over" your machine ... if your machine is in an idle state that means it's doing nothing and ready to do something else.

-Leo

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from Greg Webb on 2008-03-23

2008-03-23T21:56:28Z

Sometimes my machine is running idle and it cannot be interrupted. That is, the idle process is too busy to notice keystrokes and mouse clicks.

Leo, do you know why this is happening?

I once read something about WinXp automatically moving files about, a kind of optimisation. When I can't interrupt the idle process there is certainly a lot of disk processing (I can hear the heads thrashing). I haven't been able to find the information about automatic file positioning again and sometimes wondering if it was a figment of my imagination.

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from Octav on 2008-03-22

2008-03-23T01:37:32Z

Simon said: "which raises the question of what the CPU would be doing that would use power if the OS *didn't* continually issue these HLT commands."

Adding 0 to 0. Repeatedly. :)

Actually, that's a joke. What it would do is check over and over again if anything's happening, like a key being pressed or the like. Read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busy_waiting (and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HLT while you're at it).

Also, thanks for pushing me to research this :)

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from David Hawkins on 2008-03-22

2008-03-22T09:41:02Z

Hi
The Idle Process can kick in when you are engaged in when you are using Movie Making software and are downloading or writing video causing you to lose or get distorted clips or frames. To get around this you can deliberately start the Idle Process so that it effectively gets it out of the way and won't start up in the middle of your movie making. You can also use a little program called "End It All" which also helps, but thats a different thread.
David

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from David Ball on 2008-03-18

2008-03-18T14:38:19Z

On Vista machine you'll also find that "SearchIndexer.exe" may be chewing up lots of CPU time from time to time. Vista will only show the current user's processes initially - if the user is logged in as an administrator, they can click on the Show All Processes button on the bottom of the dialog box to see everything running on the system.

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from Mike Carretti on 2008-03-17

2008-03-18T02:24:43Z

I am using WIN Vista Home Premium. I ran Task Manager, went to Processes, sorted the list and could not find the System Idle Process. Whats up with that?

Thanks

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from Simon on 2008-03-17

2008-03-18T01:23:31Z

Apparently, what the System Idle Process is actully doing is continually issuing HLT commands to the CPU; HLT being a command which, according to http://download.intel.com/design/PentiumII/manuals/24319102.PDF, "stops instruction execution and places the processor in a HALT state ... An enabled interrupt, NMI, or a reset will resume execution".

Apparently doing this saves power, which raises the question of what the CPU would be doing that would use power if the OS *didn't* continually issue these HLT commands. Any ideas?

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.

Comment from Greg Bulmash on 2008-03-17

2008-03-17T17:33:44Z

The devil finds work for idle processes. :-)

And so does BOINC.

http://boinc.berkeley.edu/projects.php is a list of projects you can donate idle cycles to when you install the BOINC software. It can either run in the background as a low-priority process, eating up idle cycles, but giving up cycles when your priority programs need them, or as a screensaver, using more of your CPU when the whole system is idle.

The projects range from evaluating radio signals from space for signs of E.T. communication to helping with complex mathematical modeling. It's a great way to take those idle cycles away from the System Idle Process and donate them to worthwhile projects, making your computer a voluntary node in a giant distributed supercomputer.

]]>

A comment on: What is the System Idle Process and why is it using most of the CPU?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
Leo's Answers Newsletter - Ask Leo! in your inbox every week.