WTF is System Idle Process

[alimoalem]

lately i've noticed my fan in my laptop spinning up a lot more often and i figured it's the summer heat. I decided to check Task Manager and to my surprise I saw "System Idle Process" as one of the processes.

When I do nothing, absolutely NOTHING, it averages 50% CPU utilization. Laptop is in sig but basic components are:

CPU: 1.6GHz Core Duo
RAM: 2x512mb
HDD: 80GB sata 5400rpm

This has been a recent thing (like the past week or so). I've had the laptop since october and this is the first time i've noticed this.


PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!

TIA ATers

EDIT: Processes which Task Manager showed to be using the CPU are listed in MY first post AFTER the OP.

Also, is there any way to stop the System Idle Process or to get my laptop to idle at less than 10% again?

 

[ViRGE]

Relax, the system idle process is basically exactly what the name says it is. It's a pseudo-process the system runs when there's nothing else to run, sending HLT instructions to your processor to let it take a break until it's needed. It should take up exactly as much processing time as you're not currently using, and doesn't get counted in the task manager's total CPU usage counter. Wikipedia has a good article.

 

[BadRobot]

id be concerned if it is only 50% and you say you are doing absolutely nothing on your computer, should be clsoer to 90% at least..Got antivirus programs runnign or limewire or something?

EDIT: the reason i would be concerned is you might have a virus or spyware and bad things running on your comp. Would suck to find out you've unknowingly been a file server for someone =)

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: BadRobot
id be concerned if it is only 50% and you say you are doing absolutely nothing on your computer, should be clsoer to 90% at least..Got antivirus programs runnign or limewire or something?

Yea, that number should be close to 100%. You should post what's using the rest of the cpu time. Those are the apps you need to be concerned about.

 

[Markbnj]

Originally posted by: lxskllr

Originally posted by: BadRobot
id be concerned if it is only 50% and you say you are doing absolutely nothing on your computer, should be clsoer to 90% at least..Got antivirus programs runnign or limewire or something?

Yea, that number should be close to 100%. You should post what's using the rest of the cpu time. Those are the apps you need to be concerned about.

Mine is 98% right now, with 43 processes running including IE7, Outlook, a few Yahoo Widgets, BeyondTV, Firefly, etc. So yeah, 50% is way low, and you should see that some other process in the list, or group of processes, is using the other 50%.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Mine is at 0%, but then both CPU cores on my PC are folding 🙂

On an idle PC it should say close to 99%. If it isn't, find out what else is hogging the CPU.

 

[alimoalem]

thanks for all the posts! alright here's the other stuff that task manager is showing using CPU:

if User Name is LOCAL SERVICE, i'll put an L in front; NETWORK SERVICE = N; SYSTEM = S; my actual user profiel = U.


U taskmgr.exe (given) 2%
U wmplayer (watching a movie) 1-7%
S avp.exe (kaspersky?) 2-4%
? LUCOMS~1.EXE (just turned on right now for 10 seconds and used 22%...now i'm scared 😛)
U agent.exe (no idea what it is) 25-30%
U SynTPEnh (no idea what it is) 0-1%
U ISUSPM.exe (no idea) 15-20%
N svchost.exe 0-2% (User Name NETWORK SERVICE...the one with User Name SYSTEM is 0%)
N wmpnetwrk.exe
U explorer.exe 0-2%
U hpqimzone 0-1%
firefox.exe 2-11%
System Idle Process 38-50%

if anyone would like, i can list all the individual processes.

also, why has it just started to be like this? i'm used to my computer idling at like 5%. I have a laptop and i'm usually not in the best of positions when laying on my bed so i constrict a lot of airflow to my laptop...plus, it's really hurting my amount of usage being unplugged.

 

[rise]

http://www.bleepingcomputer.co...s/ISUSPM.exe-2344.html

 

[lxskllr]

I came up with this forum thread regarding LUCOMS~1.EXE with a Google search. There may be some reason for concern. I didn't look all over the web, but even if it's just a normal Symantec process, you may be better off trying some different security software.

Edit:
The other process' you listed appear to be ok.

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: lxskllr
I came up with this forum thread regarding LUCOMS~1.EXE with a Google search. There may be some reason for concern. I didn't look all over the web, but even if it's just a normal Symantec process, you may be better off trying some different security software.

Edit:
The other process' you listed appear to be ok.

yea i just installed kaspersky like a week ago, which is when i uninstalled norton. i just forgot LiveUpdate was a seperate program i needed to uninstall (just did it). thanks 🙂

and rise, thanks for the link. i'll deal with it as the link recommended.

lastly, is there any way System Idle Process can be stopped from running? i have NOT seen my CPU Usage History go below 48% for a minute for like the past week.

 

[ForumMaster]

Originally posted by: alimoalem

Originally posted by: lxskllr
I came up with this forum thread regarding LUCOMS~1.EXE with a Google search. There may be some reason for concern. I didn't look all over the web, but even if it's just a normal Symantec process, you may be better off trying some different security software.

Edit:
The other process' you listed appear to be ok.

yea i just installed kaspersky like a week ago, which is when i uninstalled norton. i just forgot LiveUpdate was a seperate program i needed to uninstall (just did it). thanks 🙂

and rise, thanks for the link. i'll deal with it as the link recommended.

lastly, is there any way System Idle Process can be stopped from running? i have NOT seen my CPU Usage History go below 48% for a minute for like the past week.

did you read the wiki article? the system idle process is not techincally a process and cannot be killed. also, it is not counted in the task manager cpu usage. rather it is used to calculate the idle useage.

other programs are causing your heavy cpu usage. not system idle process.

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: ForumMaster

Originally posted by: alimoalem

Originally posted by: lxskllr
I came up with this forum thread regarding LUCOMS~1.EXE with a Google search. There may be some reason for concern. I didn't look all over the web, but even if it's just a normal Symantec process, you may be better off trying some different security software.

Edit:
The other process' you listed appear to be ok.

yea i just installed kaspersky like a week ago, which is when i uninstalled norton. i just forgot LiveUpdate was a seperate program i needed to uninstall (just did it). thanks 🙂

and rise, thanks for the link. i'll deal with it as the link recommended.

lastly, is there any way System Idle Process can be stopped from running? i have NOT seen my CPU Usage History go below 48% for a minute for like the past week.

did you read the wiki article? the system idle process is not techincally a process and cannot be killed. also, it is not counted in the task manager cpu usage. rather it is used to calculate the idle useage.

other programs are causing your heavy cpu usage. not system idle process.

o...lol that helps. i read the article and how it can't be killed but i didn't really understand the rest 😛

does anyone know what agent.exe is?

 

[esquared]

Originally posted by: alimoalem

Originally posted by: ForumMaster

Originally posted by: alimoalem

Originally posted by: lxskllr
I came up with this forum thread regarding LUCOMS~1.EXE with a Google search. There may be some reason for concern. I didn't look all over the web, but even if it's just a normal Symantec process, you may be better off trying some different security software.

Edit:
The other process' you listed appear to be ok.

yea i just installed kaspersky like a week ago, which is when i uninstalled norton. i just forgot LiveUpdate was a seperate program i needed to uninstall (just did it). thanks 🙂

and rise, thanks for the link. i'll deal with it as the link recommended.

lastly, is there any way System Idle Process can be stopped from running? i have NOT seen my CPU Usage History go below 48% for a minute for like the past week.

did you read the wiki article? the system idle process is not techincally a process and cannot be killed. also, it is not counted in the task manager cpu usage. rather it is used to calculate the idle useage.

other programs are causing your heavy cpu usage. not system idle process.

o...lol that helps. i read the article and how it can't be killed but i didn't really understand the rest 😛

does anyone know what agent.exe is?

Agent exe is appears it could be associated with a few different programs. Dell has an agent.exe so does Acronis Disk manager. Also Power DVD uses agent.exe. If I don't know what a process is I google the following:
"What is agaent.exe?" and look at the results. A lot of times Liutilites.com gives the answers along with http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/process/

Here are a few possibilities:

http://www.liutilities.com/pro.../processlibrary/agent/

http://www.bleepingcomputer.co...ups/Agent.exe-210.html

http://www.auditmypc.com/process/agent.asp

What I would do is go to Start>Run>type Msconfig then look at the startup tab.
You should be able to see the agent.exe. It should also show you what program is associated with it. If it is either of the three above, it should be safe to just unclick the process in the msconfig startup. To apply it and you have to reboot. Now check you system idle processes.

 

[razor2025]

Download a tool called "process explorer". It expands the task manager's process tab allowing you to see what files are used by which process. That should help you pinpoint the origin of the processes and hopefully what programs are doing what.

 

[lxskllr]

Just in case your unsure, the way to think of system idle process is that it's showing how much your computer isn't being used, bigger numbers are better. The way to kill that process is to turn your computer off 😛

 

[alimoalem]

alright you guys have been a HUGE help. thanks for the Process Explorer recommendation, too. agent.exe is from the InstallShield Update Service Agent.

now one last question: do i need Install Shield Update Service? i let it update whenever it needs to but i never know if it's actually helping me out...and if i don't need it, is there a way to disable it?

you have no idea what a big help you've all been

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: alimoalem
alright you guys have been a HUGE help. thanks for the Process Explorer recommendation, too. agent.exe is from the InstallShield Update Service Agent.

now one last question: do i need Install Shield Update Service? i let it update whenever it needs to but i never know if it's actually helping me out...and if i don't need it, is there a way to disable it?

you have no idea what a big help you've all been

See this page then decide if you want it running. I prefer getting updates myself, but if you like the convenience, you can keep it running. But to actually answer your question, no it isn't needed.

 

[chusteczka]

Originally posted by: alimoalem
lastly, is there any way System Idle Process can be stopped from running? i have NOT seen my CPU Usage History go below 48% for a minute for like the past week.

The System Idle Process is the unused clock cycles for the processor. Even when there is no data to read from memory, calculate, or store; the clock cycles continue their cycle (0,1; high, low). The System Idle Process merely counts how many of those clock cycles have gone unused.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: alimoalem
alright you guys have been a HUGE help. thanks for the Process Explorer recommendation, too. agent.exe is from the InstallShield Update Service Agent.

now one last question: do i need Install Shield Update Service? i let it update whenever it needs to but i never know if it's actually helping me out...and if i don't need it, is there a way to disable it?

you have no idea what a big help you've all been

Seeing that agent.exe and ISUSPM.exe seem to be using almost 50% of your CPU between them, and they are both related to Install Shield, I'd guess that something is messed up with it (InstallShield), and that's what's using your 50% CPU.
You can disable the ISUSPM.exe process on startup.

Start -> Run -> msconfig -> Startup -> uncheck the box next to ISUSPM to disable it.
Reboot and see if that helps.
"isuspm.exe is not a critical component" - it just checks for updates for InstallShield.

See if that helps. It might also stop the agent.exe process running (since it's a sister program to ISUSPM), sorting the problem. It's probably just some weird bug that's causing both processes to hog the CPU for some reason. I've had similar issues with other programs before.

 

[alimoalem]

yea i just went ahead and got rid of InstallShield. thanks for the tips people. and System Idle Process is in the 80's and 90's now (and thanks to you guys i know that's a good thing 😀)

problem solved. thanks people