35 is a lot of task to be running at idle. I for one don't like having anti virus running all the time. I just install and run it every so often to do a check, then take it off because anti virus can kill system performance.
Make sure all those tasks are necessary. Whats caprserv.exe and apache.exe for example. Aim for under 25 tasks at idle and then see how it performs.
35 processes isn't really "a lot" to be running at idle, 35 APPLICATIONS would be. That's my opinion of course, I'd also do a defrag. just to be sure your hard drive isn't bogging your processor down.
yeah dubplicate applications are not good, try ending one of the doubles of each, and see what happens, if anything goes wrong when you do so with one of the, make a note of which one reacted badly, and let it run two of the same processes.
I'm just going by the picture. Your "real" computer usage is 23% because 18% from task manager isn't a steady state and the idle is 59%.
I see you're running an SQL server and two apache servers. While it's a bit unusual for a laptop to act in a server role, that can have an effect on performance. Internet Explorer is using 16% which isn't an idle state. It translates into an audio/video file playing. You also have a Rundll open which could be a control panel application. Your Synaptics touchpad using a few percent is normal. You may want to disable carpserv.exe if you aren't using the modem. I'm assuming you use AOL to connect to the internet. With Winamp... what visual effects do you use. You have integrated graphics so some graphic effects could take a toll on your system. You have alot of SVChosts which probably translate to many services running in the background. If that's your goal, maybe you should choose to optimize the system for background tasks.
I'm actually amazed at how little memory your computer uses for all those applications. With Norton Antivirus/Personal Firewall, My computer boots up with a commit charge of 221 MB with 26 processes.
Wow, that's crazy. Is that the state of the machine immediately after you boot up? What *applications* are running? Are they doing anything (like playing media for instance)?
I'm running SQL Server 2000 on my Inspiron 8000 (believe it or not) and when things are idle, that task is at 0%.
Right now I'm at 8 apps and 36 processes and the System Idle process is at 99%.
Some basic things to check -
1 - Hidden startup processes
2 - Latest drivers for the video card, touchpad, etc.
3 - Run Ad-aware to make sure you don't have spyware
4 - Latest updates from windows update is always wise
If moving the mouse is causing a spike in CPU usage I'd investigate the mouse drivers first. Uninstall the Synaptics driver and see if the plain XP mouse driver will do the same thing. If not, then you've likely found the problem. Get the latest driver from Synaptics.
I first thought you were likely running Norton AV 2004 - it's known to have a problem of hogging CPU power. But, it seems that you're running McAfee and it's happily sitting at 0% CPU so I think you're ok there.
caboosemoose
240 Posts
0
November 29th, 2003 21:00
35 is a lot of task to be running at idle. I for one don't like having anti virus running all the time. I just install and run it every so often to do a check, then take it off because anti virus can kill system performance.
Make sure all those tasks are necessary. Whats caprserv.exe and apache.exe for example. Aim for under 25 tasks at idle and then see how it performs.
obrez
9 Posts
0
November 29th, 2003 22:00
i'll see what i can do for 25... but look at the duplicates of the same process, there's a few of them - anyone knows why?
apache - is server application
could this be it?
anyone else knows/ had experiences with running Apache and mySql on the background and CPU usage being high?
CSmith06
2 Intern
•
956 Posts
0
November 29th, 2003 22:00
EDIT was that I had an E in defrag. opps.
Message Edited by CSmith06 on 11-29-2003 06:08 PM
CSmith06
2 Intern
•
956 Posts
0
November 29th, 2003 23:00
rp3w600m
102 Posts
0
November 30th, 2003 14:00
I'm just going by the picture. Your "real" computer usage is 23% because 18% from task manager isn't a steady state and the idle is 59%.
I see you're running an SQL server and two apache servers. While it's a bit unusual for a laptop to act in a server role, that can have an effect on performance. Internet Explorer is using 16% which isn't an idle state. It translates into an audio/video file playing. You also have a Rundll open which could be a control panel application. Your Synaptics touchpad using a few percent is normal. You may want to disable carpserv.exe if you aren't using the modem. I'm assuming you use AOL to connect to the internet. With Winamp... what visual effects do you use. You have integrated graphics so some graphic effects could take a toll on your system. You have alot of SVChosts which probably translate to many services running in the background. If that's your goal, maybe you should choose to optimize the system for background tasks.
I'm actually amazed at how little memory your computer uses for all those applications. With Norton Antivirus/Personal Firewall, My computer boots up with a commit charge of 221 MB with 26 processes.
fbarwell
23 Posts
0
December 5th, 2003 19:00
I'm running SQL Server 2000 on my Inspiron 8000 (believe it or not) and when things are idle, that task is at 0%.
Right now I'm at 8 apps and 36 processes and the System Idle process is at 99%.
Some basic things to check -
1 - Hidden startup processes
2 - Latest drivers for the video card, touchpad, etc.
3 - Run Ad-aware to make sure you don't have spyware
4 - Latest updates from windows update is always wise
If moving the mouse is causing a spike in CPU usage I'd investigate the mouse drivers first. Uninstall the Synaptics driver and see if the plain XP mouse driver will do the same thing. If not, then you've likely found the problem. Get the latest driver from Synaptics.
I first thought you were likely running Norton AV 2004 - it's known to have a problem of hogging CPU power. But, it seems that you're running McAfee and it's happily sitting at 0% CPU so I think you're ok there.
Let us know what you learn!