# System Idle Process - Very Slow Computer



## morgandameon22 (Apr 22, 2008)

Just recently my computer has been running slowly so I checked the CPU usage and it is the system idle process running at up to 95%. HELP.


Perhaps related, perhaps not, is that the screen has also been fading out until I have to restart the computer. The dell guy is coming to replace the screen though they couldn't figure out what was actually wrong (he guessed and I'm under warrantee - so the fixings free)


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## chauffeur2 (Feb 7, 2006)

Hi Morgan, Welcome to TSF! :wave:

I suggest that you wait until the Dell™ Tech has looked at your machine.
Fiddling with it whilst its under warranty could void your warranty.
Ask the Tech when he comes if he can look at this issue as well, as they might be related. :4-dontkno

Kind Regards,


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## MegaSvensk (Aug 22, 2007)

The system idle process is usually at around 95-99. That does not mean that it's using all of your CPU power. The idle process is a power saving measure used in Windows.

Here's my taskmgr. As you can see the idle process is at 98, but the CPU usage is only at 5%, so your computer's lagging must be caused by something else. Maybe a virus or other malware or possibly a resource hog application like Norton. What you should look for is which process(es) is using the most memory.


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## morgandameon22 (Apr 22, 2008)

my cpu usage spikes to 60% as well and nothing in my applications is using more than 5 except the cpu one around 90 or higher


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## morgandameon22 (Apr 22, 2008)

also I have run symantec and spyware and nothing is there


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## MegaSvensk (Aug 22, 2007)

When you say "Symantec" do you mean Norton? Because Norton is notorious for slowing down computers. A simple search on this forum for "Norton" would garner many examples of this.

If you do have Norton, you should remove it to see if that'll solve your problem.


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