AR51SU System load: What is my computer doing all the time

I see that my CPU load is hanging between 50% to 70% just after restarting the syste. If I look into the task manager, most of the processes are consuming 0% and a few with 1% and one odd more than 1% some tiles. All that does not add up to 50% for sure. What else is happening on the system, contributing to this high load.

 

Most likely it's due to a service. The standard Windows Task manager does not show system processes, including services. It only shows child processes of Explorer (the desktop instance of Explorer.exe).

I use Process Explorer from SysInternals, a large collection of excellent, free system tools that I've been using for years. They were recently acquired by MS. PE is like Task Manager on steroids, and will show you EVERYTHING running. You can also see what files each process has open, as well as numerous other things. There is also an option to replace the standard Task Manager with PE, so that when you call up Task Manager, you get PE instead.

 

Vista or XP? If Vista the task manager only shows user processes unless you click the button labeled "show processe from all users".

Then it will show the system processes as well. I agree with dmorris68. If you really want to see what is going on use Process Explorer!

Gary

 

thanks, I will try PE and see what is going on and get back with more details if I see something fishy.