What Wrong with "System Idle Process"??

Apparently I have a misconception about what "System Idle Process" is. I assumed that this was system idle time, or unused computing time; time when the CPU wasn't doing anything.

Our System Idle Process keeps growing until the server slows to a crawl. The System Idle Process I'm refering to is found by starting the Task Manager and selecting Processes and sorting by CPU time. Last time before we restarted the server System Idle Process CPU time was around 600, after the restart it was 88. That was on 11/15, now on 11/29, it has grown to 397.

We have a Compaq with a Pent. Pro, 256Mb DRAM with six 4.3Gb SCSI RAID drives using NT 4 with all but the latest service release. I think we have SP5, and SP6 was just released. We have a synchronizing program running that is synchronizing copies of a custom MS-Access application, DisKeeper Defrag Scheduler, and a time utility that manages employee time for payroll (electronic punch clock).

Even if you don't have an answer, I'm open to general comments on the subject.

System Idle Time is exactly what it says it is. If you look at the Performance tab while this process is running at 98% or whatever, you will see that the processor graph is showing only 2% activity.

Whatever is causing the slowdown in your server, it is NOT the System Idle Time process.

I have recently configured a client's servers and all network nodes to automatically re-start at 5am on Monday morning. This is because of reported memory leaks with NT4 and some programs plus other minor hiccups that make it a good idea to reboot on a regular basis.

You could try the same sort of thing, using AT with the NT Resource Kit shutdown.exe to see if it solves your problem. One of those apps you mention may be 'leaky'.

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Howard Marsh
HWM Consulting Pty Ltd
Queensland, Australia

Thanks for the reply, this isn't System Idle Time; it's System Idle Process which I always assumed were the same thing, but now I have my doubts.

There are two measurements in the Task Manager Processes related to the CPU; one just says CPU and I don't think I've ever seen it go over 99. The other is CPU Time and I've seen it range from less that 100 to nearly 800; when it was at 800, the system was in a coma.

We have a smaller Compaq at our manufacturing plant that runs pretty much the same software and it doesn't have any problems.

I'm still open to any comments.

The System Idle Process' "CPU" reading maxes out at 99 because it is a percentage (of CPU that is not being used by anything else at the moment.

The other figure is the cumulative CPU time for the System Idle process, which in this case is the total CPU time since the last reboot not consumed by anything else.

Hints on some unrelated subjects:
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Thanks everyone. Several sources have confirmed what's been said here. So I guess my real problem is something else.

We are going to install the latest service pack and some software upgrades, and see where we stand then.