Ask Juan - Question and Answer
My Computer is Working Too Hard
Question:
When I do a ctrl-alt-del and look at the number of processes that are running, my eyeballs cross. The list seems endless! Often my CPU usage gets up to 100% when I'm online, and even when I'm not, it can run 40-60%. How do I know which of these processes can be turned off or deleted safely, and how do I do it? I do run AVG, Ad-aware, Spybot and Spyware Doctor on a regular basis, if that matters.
Answer:
Turning off programs that are using most (or all) of your computer's processor's cycles requires a high level of experience and expertise. Having said that, I am also a firm believer that anyone can achieve any level of experience or expertise one desires. All it takes is willingness and perseverance.
Before I continue let me clear the table and discard any information that is not crucial to this solution. You mentioned AVG, Ad-aware, Spybot, etc. I am not going to talk about these programs in this article. I am also telling you that I will not pretend to know what is or what is not running on your computer, and will not speculate on any virus infection or spyware invasion your computer may have.
Now, to the point. You mention the CPU seems to be occupied 40%, 60%, and sometimes 100%. One thing you can do to find out what is making it so busy is to sort the programs in your task manager by CPU. The task manager can be summonsed by holding the CTRL and ALT keys down while you tap the Delete key once (CTRL+ALT+Del) as you mentioned above. And, sorting the columns is as easy as clicking on the heading of each column. Clicking once sorts it one way, and clicking it again sorts it the opposite direction.
Once the column is sorted by the "CPU" column (with the higher numbers at the top) you will notice the "Image Name" column contains the name of the program that is using the cpu cycles. Optimally, you'd want the "System Idle Process" to be in the high 90s. Notice which is the offending program, and get ready to earn your experience.
Right click on the offending program, then click on "End Process." You will get a warning message. Don't worry. The worse that can happen is that your computer will stop responding. Simply restart your computer and you are back in business. If your computer does not act erratically, you may have fixed the problem. (see what I mean by "earn" your experience?)