[Ham-Computers] RE: Windows task manager

[Hsu, Aaron (NBC Universal)]

Hmmmm, based on your last two posts, something doesn't add up.  You wrote:

  CPU usage is at 100%
  iexplorer 81
  system idle is 88

What's strange is that these are percentages.  CPU utilization is at 100%, which is expected (this is the original problem).  However, the numbers for iexplore.exe and system idle both total over 100% which is not possible.

One thing to keep in mind...the numbers will fluctuate as you watch the Task List.  The CPU column is the percent of CPU use per task during the last sample period (about 1 second).  The System Idle @ 88% signifies that something is using up 12% CPU cycles.  But you also state that iexplore is using 81% CPU cycles.  I'm thinking when iexplore was at 81%, system idle dropped accordingly and when iexplore "calmed down", system idle went back up - this is normal.

OK, let's examine this for a second.  You have iexplore.exe (which should be Internet Explorer) taking up 88% CPU time.  Do you have IE opened all the time?  Does total CPU utilization drop if you close IE?

As mentioned earlier, reboot your system and let it sit for about 5 minutes after booting up - don't launch any apps.  Then bring up the task manager and post the same info I requested in the last post.  Also, pay attention and be "exact" with the process names.  As mentioned in a seperate post, some virii/trojans will name themselves something similar to a legit app to mask themselves.  If what you have truly is called "iexplorer" (with the extra "r") rather than "iexplore", then we might have a problem.

OK, so let's take a look at the "Performance" numbers:

  Total Commit: 312,304
  Peak Committ: 342,600
  Total physical memory: 522,736

What this tells me is that you have 512MB RAM installed.  The system is currently utilizing 312MB "memory" (which includes RAM + pagefile) and the most "memory" ever used since the last reboot is 342MB.  The pagefile size reported on the Performance tab isn't the actual amount of pagefile in use, so we'll ignore it - we need to use a different tool to actually see the amount in use.

So, memory wise, you've got quite a few things running.  A "clean" WinXP installation averages 130MB "total commit".  The systems I configure usually average 190MB (with AVG).  I might have you run HiJackThis to see what's running, but let's do the reboot first.

73,

  - Aaron, NN6O