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I'm pretty bad at Dual Core Management [solved]

IcemopperIcemopper Registered User regular
edited May 2009 in Help / Advice Forum
Apparently

When I run task manager, it shows my CPU usage idling at 50%, never dropping below that.

This leads me to believe that my computer thinks it should only use one processor in my dual core setup, but I'm not sure. I have an AMD, if that helps, so, any ideas on what this is or how to fix it?

Icemopper on

Posts

  • FirebrandFirebrand Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    What happens if you run two CPU-intensive processes at once, does that utilize >50%? One single-threaded process can't run on multiple cores.

    Firebrand on
  • JasconiusJasconius sword criminal mad onlineRegistered User regular
    edited May 2009
    A lot of stuff can cap out a core, even in your web browser. Why don't you look at your process tree and see which process is doing it?

    Jasconius on
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  • IcemopperIcemopper Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    The top two things are System Idle Process, and explorer.exe...

    I'm not sure I can end those processes, right?

    Icemopper on
  • Iceman.USAFIceman.USAF Major East CoastRegistered User regular
    edited May 2009
    You *could* end explorer, though I wouldn't recommend it. Here's some fun instructions to try it for yourself!

    Open task manager

    Quit explorer!

    Freak out*

    In the task manager, click file -> run

    type "explorer" and run that

    BAM! it's back.

    Fun, no?


    *freaking out is optional.

    Iceman.USAF on
  • eternalbleternalbl Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    All your processor and mobo drivers are installed in device manager? What version of windows are you using?

    eternalbl on
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  • IcemopperIcemopper Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Umm... not sure the drivers are installed, but I'm quite certain they should be. I've had this computer almost a year with nothing like this, but I'm not sure when the problem started.

    And I'm on XP.

    Icemopper on
  • IcemopperIcemopper Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Iceman.USAF wrote: »
    You *could* end explorer, though I wouldn't recommend it. Here's some fun instructions to try it for yourself!

    Open task manager

    Quit explorer!

    Freak out*

    In the task manager, click file -> run

    type "explorer" and run that

    BAM! it's back.

    Fun, no?


    *freaking out is optional.

    Actually... that seems to have fixed it... Wow! Thanks!

    Any idea why this worked though? I am certainly curious.

    Icemopper on
  • SoulStalkerSoulStalker Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Explorer was probably tying up your CPU for some reason. The most common cause I've heard of is browsing folders with video files, typically AVIs. Windows tries to generate thumbnail cache files (thumbs.db) when you enter these folders, and sometimes it can't read a video and ends up in an infinite loop. There's a registry fix for this, you can read about it here:

    http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/140022-45-explorer-hangs-large-files

    SoulStalker on
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  • Iceman.USAFIceman.USAF Major East CoastRegistered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Icemopper wrote: »
    Iceman.USAF wrote: »
    You *could* end explorer, though I wouldn't recommend it. Here's some fun instructions to try it for yourself!

    Open task manager

    Quit explorer!

    Freak out*

    In the task manager, click file -> run

    type "explorer" and run that

    BAM! it's back.

    Fun, no?


    *freaking out is optional.

    Actually... that seems to have fixed it... Wow! Thanks!

    Any idea why this worked though? I am certainly curious.

    Whatever gets it done man. It's an art, not a science.

    Iceman.USAF on
  • IcemopperIcemopper Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Thanks soulstalker,

    and yeah, it worked, so oh well, I'll have to remember that one.

    Icemopper on
This discussion has been closed.
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