hey folks -

you've been kind enough to help me before, i hoping you can tell me whether, as the subject line says, this is normal. for minutes at a time, when no apps are running. yes, the "usual" processes, there's a list of about 30 running at any given time, and though i can't identify all of them, they've been there since day one.

i'm concerned that Mozilla is the cause. it's the only thing i've DL recently. i love this browser, and i can't be sure if it's causing the problem, b/c i didn't get a baseline before i DL it.

anyway, is it okay for this Intel, 2.2 P4 (WXP Home, SP1 512Mg) to be chugging along at 100% for 5 minutes at a time?

any thoughts would be appreciated. thanks! and thanks for a great site.

If you open Task Manager and click Processes you should be able to see what process is using the most cpu cycles. If it is anything other than System Idle Process (should be around 99 depending on what you are doing) then you have a problem. Please post the file name of the process which is at 100.

Thanks Parputt...

looks like it's the System Idle Process, though when i ran a NAV full scan, Navapw32.exe got up to 97, which i know is the scan running.

so it's okay for Sys Idle Process to hog 100% of the CPU, even when "nothing" is running?

this laptop is only 6 months old, and other than my concern about this problem, i'm really happy with it (Toshiba 5205-S505). guess i'll stop getting crazy about this...

here's the "one more thing:"
can i trouble you for an opinion? i was wondering if there's any benefit to partioning my hard drive. this 60G HD, though defragmented weekly, is getting loaded with near empty sectors (if i understand correctly what i'm reading). i've got 49.9G free space right now. should i just leave well-enough alone? maybe PowerQuest's PartitionMagic 8?

is it a healthy thing to do in general, or should i have some specific purpose in mind? truth is, i just feel like tinkering, and learning something in the process.

if this isn't a good idea, could you maybe suggest another "task?" something maintanence/performance related. i've done the TweakManager thang - ready for something else...i would love to clean up the registry, but i DL a trial of Registry Drill, and i got lost pretty quickly.

thanks for taking the time to read all this (if you made it through!). and thanks again for your help with the crankin' CPU.

Yes, system idle process being at 97-99% is normal and a good thing. Basically all it is showing is that the CPU is not doing anything. I could find some technical reads on the subject for you, but most of it is way over the top in technicality. Just accept it as such that System Idle Process with high numbers is OK. I have a very, very healthy system and mine is at 99% as I type this.

Partitioning: It is never a good idea to partition a drive that currently has data on it. The next time you format you may want to think about partitioning, but not right now. I have my 120G HD partitioned as follows: 20G for OS and Programs, 100G for storage and backups. Some people will go as far as doing it like this:
Partition 1 - OS only
Partition 2 - Programs
Partition 3 - Miscellaneous storage and backups etc.

Do a google search on "partitioning" and you will find days of reading an opinions. In the end it all come down to personal opinion and how you use your computer.

Now for tweaking your system. Take a look at this thread and the links I provided. Some great information that I use every day.
/postt7885.html

If you have ANY questions please feel free to ask!

Thanks Parputt!

haven't checked out the link yet, but i will.

re: partitioning. i read the sell sheets for the software, and they all claim you get better performance, file access, etc. Thanks for setting it straight. like you say, personal preference. since i don't plan on formatting this drive anytime soon, guess i'll just leave it be.

appreciate the link and your thoughts. soon as i've got time, i'll check it out. maybe at that point i'll have another question (i'm sure i will), and as long as you offer, i will certainly post it here. can't tell you how much this helps me, being able to use this forum.

Thanks again!

You're welcome