A way to find out what is actually calling CPU space

[emthompson 0]

when I open up Task Manager I have an Image Name of "system" that is constanly fluxing the CPU usage from 0% to 20%. I would like to know if there is a program that will tell me what exactly is causing "system" to use the cpu like this?

[Sampson 0]

I don't know of any program that would tell you why the system is indicating usage from a variance of 0-20%. If your computer is on a network, cpu usage may be involved. Depending on the speed of the computer and the amount of memory, the disk cache usage (virtual memory)can kick in system usage. Copying large files between disks will have this effect. Some programs create and maintain log files that itermittantly may be written to disk and this will involve system time.

[emthompson 0]

I have taken my computer off the network too see if that was it but it wansnt. This problem isnt just for a little bit of time then it stops. I have watched it flux like this for about 30 min. It keeps going on and on untill I use the computer.

[Sampson 0]

Have you run Adaware to see if some kind of spyware is running in the background?

[emthompson 0]

Nope, no spyware. Just ran Ad-aware. There must be some way to find out what is really running. The stupid task manager just says "system". I checked my girlfriends XP (same one) and it only gets as high as 3% in idle.

[Sampson 0]

What things do you have loaded in the Task Bar? Do you have some transparency tweeks on your Desktop? Do you have programs driving your sound card or video card that are running in the Task Bar? Do you have a device hooked to a USB port? What kind of mouse are you using - standard PS/2 or something else? Winamp, Real Player and Quicktime run processes in the background without putting an icon in the Task Tray, are these installed on your machine? Are there any conflicts in your Device Manager? What kind of hard drive do you have - some seagates do no play happily with XP? Do you have anything like Norton's System Mananger installed? What virus software are you using? Are your network drivers up to date?

 

Obviously, I don't know of a piece of Software that can do what you are seeking. These are some of the standard processes that could contribute to high cpu usage in idle time.

[emthompson 0]

I originally thought that some of these could be the lil' bastard that was doing this but when I did a fresh install with no software loaded and nothing but a mouse a keyboard a harddrive and a video card it still was there, even from the first time I booted into windows. The first thing I did was check the task manager.