80% memory being used doing almost Nothing -- System Idle Process

A

awakened1107

Member
First things first - I have a very old laptop - at least 7 years old. Is very slow when simply surfing - no games, sometimes youtube, mostly just surfing.

Memory used:
Firefox: 350K
svchost: 81K

CPU used:
System Idle Process: 70%**
Firefox: 60%**
**: while these are the numbers for CPU used foe these individually - the CPU usage overall shows only 19%. For the 60% firefox- is that 60% OF the 19%?

What is this System Idle Process - is it really using that much memory?

I've done virus/malware scans - nothing.

Is it just because the processor is burnt out from being so old?
 
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My Computer

System One

Not all "vista capable" machines released about the time that Vista came out in my opinion where really capable of supporting Vista especially ones that came with XP installed. How much memory do you have? It sounds like your laptop is too underpowered for Vista. As for system idle process it is the amount of cpu that isn't in use. So if your cpu utilization is 30% then the idle is 70%. That's all there is to that. As for firefox. I'm not sure what is going on with your numbers. Perhaps Windows was looking at it's utilization of a single core. If your computer is too underpowered then even browsing the internet, especially streaming videos, can be very taxing on your system.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 8.1 Industry Pro x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion Elite HPE-250f
    CPU
    Intel i7 860 Quad core 2.8 ghz
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 gb ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Alienware 25 AW2521HF
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 &1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pavilion-elite-hpe-250f/
  • Operating System
    Windows 2012 R2 Data center/Linux Mint
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Poweredge T140
    CPU
    i3 9100 3.6GHz, 8M cache, 4C/4T
    Memory
    8GB 2666MT/s DDR4 ECC UDIMM
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB & 360 GB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetailstxn/poweredge-t140?~ck=bt
I have 2GB of memory.

Again, right now I have Firefox open, that's it and 1.57GB on memory is used up. Some of the high users:

AVG has 9 different processes running; total: 87.5K memory used (0% CPU used)
Firefox: 153K (approx 15% CPU)
svchost: 98K (0% CPU)
All the rest are under 15K each.

Should those top 3 be using so much memory??

CPU right now is very low - around 15%.

Also, why do the processes that use so much memory use so little CPU power?
So it looks like CPU is not my problem, but memory...
 

My Computer

System One

Post a screenshot of Task Manager - Performance tab, when the problem occurs. The numbers quoted don't make sense.

Edit: That is the numbers in the first post make no sense.
Note that there is no relationship between CPU usage and Memory usage. They are totally different things.
 

My Computer

System One

Firefox: 153K (approx 15% CPU)
Click to expand...

Why do you think this is a lot of memory?
In fact, look carefully again at what task manager shows, it's probably more like 153,000 KB.
153,000 KB = 149.4 MB = 0.15 GB, so about 7.5% of 2.0 GB.
 

My Computer

System One

Don't run two anti virus programs at the same time (AVG, Norton)
Try restarting Firefox
What version of Firefox are you running mine is using 233,748K and 6.6% average cpu
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinkpad T400
    CPU
    Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8700 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    LENOVO 64734VM
    Memory
    2.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
    Sound Card
    Conexant 20561 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    1x 180GB Intel 530 series SSD
    1 x 120GB Hitachi 5400rmp
    1 x 650GB Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    1x 1Tb Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    Internet Speed
    Medium for New Zealand
    Other Info
    Weakest part of my computer is the graphics chipset.
    Only ever used a laptop.
    Also use USB Freeview TV Card
    Lenovo Docking Station
    External Speakers
    Other bits a pieces as needed
awakened1107 said:
Is very slow when simply surfing
Click to expand...

I think ilikefree has hit the nail on the head: Running AVG and Norton at the same time would inevitably cause performance issues. The recommended way to uninstall Norton is with Norton Removal Tool. Since Norton costs money whereas AVG was hopefully free, you may prefer to take the other route. In that case, you should first go to Advanced Settings and turn off AVG Self Protection. I was then able to uninstall an early build of AVG 2015 via Control Panel without resorting to their removal tool, which probably isn't as dependable as Norton's. Removal tools should of course be run as administrator.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x86 SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion Elite m9150f
    CPU
    Intel Q6600
    Memory
    3 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
I would use autoruns and maybe process explorer both are portable (don't install) and are free

My computer is using more memory than you and less cpu

You could also do without rapport management service

RapportMgmtService.exe Windows process - What is it?
 
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My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinkpad T400
    CPU
    Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8700 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    LENOVO 64734VM
    Memory
    2.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
    Sound Card
    Conexant 20561 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    1x 180GB Intel 530 series SSD
    1 x 120GB Hitachi 5400rmp
    1 x 650GB Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    1x 1Tb Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    Internet Speed
    Medium for New Zealand
    Other Info
    Weakest part of my computer is the graphics chipset.
    Only ever used a laptop.
    Also use USB Freeview TV Card
    Lenovo Docking Station
    External Speakers
    Other bits a pieces as needed
How many tabs do you have open on Firefox. The more you have open the more memory is consumed.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 8.1 Industry Pro x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion Elite HPE-250f
    CPU
    Intel i7 860 Quad core 2.8 ghz
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 gb ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Alienware 25 AW2521HF
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 &1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pavilion-elite-hpe-250f/
  • Operating System
    Windows 2012 R2 Data center/Linux Mint
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Poweredge T140
    CPU
    i3 9100 3.6GHz, 8M cache, 4C/4T
    Memory
    8GB 2666MT/s DDR4 ECC UDIMM
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB & 360 GB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetailstxn/poweredge-t140?~ck=bt
Your last screenshots looked normal for Firefox.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 8.1 Industry Pro x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion Elite HPE-250f
    CPU
    Intel i7 860 Quad core 2.8 ghz
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 gb ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Alienware 25 AW2521HF
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 &1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pavilion-elite-hpe-250f/
  • Operating System
    Windows 2012 R2 Data center/Linux Mint
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Poweredge T140
    CPU
    i3 9100 3.6GHz, 8M cache, 4C/4T
    Memory
    8GB 2666MT/s DDR4 ECC UDIMM
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB & 360 GB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetailstxn/poweredge-t140?~ck=bt
My laptop circa 2007 running Vista, Norton Internet Security (2014), and Firefox with a few tabs open shows about 1.2 GB memory used. My laptop is somewhat pokey with 2GB, but better than new when it had only 1GB!
Just a guess, since I know nothing about AVG, but Norton might actually be lighter on resources. Norton was a heavy burden back in, say, 2007, but since a redesign in 2009, it is one of the lightest suites.
Also, the Firefox-based Pale Moon browser offers some efficiencies over Firefox, so you might want to try it.
 

My Computer

System One

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