Weird XP Task Manager behavior while copying / moving

[Thorz]

This one is a strange one, I have just noticed this today, never occurred me to check this before.

When copying or moving big directories (I was doing it from one physical disk to another, from my internal HD to my external USB2 Western Digital HD) the Windows Task Manager registers between 18 and 25% of CPU usage, but when I check the Processes tab I see 93% CPU allocated to System Idle Process. TC and System don't take more than 5% each. I had never experienced the processes tab inaccurate before.

Any ideas why TC or system are not been shown as using the resources? They are been definitely used as the CPU tab can prove.

Thanks.

[majkinetor]

First, U should use some other process explorer like TaskInfo.

What you tell is something I noticed while copying on external devices or network on my own computer. CPU is usualy 95 % free but computer can be slow and that is something connected to "DPC time placeholder" in therms of TaskInfo. While copying, DPC can jump on 80% (procentage of time CPU spends in DPC) but that is not updated in global CPU percentage although it makes computer slow.

DPC is shortcut for Deffered Procedure Call. It is next step of processing after interupt.

[Thorz]

First, U should use some other process explorer like TaskInfo.

What you tell is something I noticed while copying on external devices or network on my own computer. CPU is usualy 95 % free but computer can be slow and that is something connected to "DPC time placeholder" in therms of TaskInfo. While copying, DPC can jump on 80% (procentage of time CPU spends in DPC) but that is not updated in global CPU percentage although it makes computer slow.

DPC is shortcut for Deffered Procedure Call. It is next step of processing after interupt.

Taskinfo looks like a very interesting program. Is it superior to other solutions like Wintasks Pro for example? I have been looking into getting a program like this for ages but have never investigate well to make a desission.

Thanks.

[jb]

The help of Process Explorer V9.25 says:
"On Windows NT-based systems Process Explorer shows two artificial processes: Interrupts and DPCs. These processes reflect the amount of time the system spends servicing hardware interrupts and Deferred Procedure Calls (DPCs), respectively. High CPU consumption by these activities can indicate a hardware problem or device driver bug."

The Windows Task Manager does not list these artificial processes (= pseudo processes in TaskInfo terminology).

[majkinetor]

I think that Taskinfo is one of the best out there. The only comparable thing is Sysinternals PE but I prefer TaskInfo. One of the greatest thing is that you have tray icon with CPU history, and average CPU tracker so you can see how applications behave in long run, not just in current instance of time. Also, you have "persistent process priority" in which you can set prioty to application whenever it is seen in the system. For instance, SoulSeek tends to overburn CPU from time to time which will slowdown entire computer. I set its priority to be = "idle" once and it is always applied whenever I run SS so it can't freeze entire computer, only itself.

You have every possible information about current system and many tools integrated and bla bla bla.... search yourself.

[Thorz]

Thanks. the program looks really nice. I count on that you can browse directly to a file originating a process for example? This helps a lot to identify a running process.
What I like from WIntask Pro is the huge process database that it has, it gives you info of tons of processes, what they are and if they can be safely disabled for example. Does Taskinfo has something similar majkinetor? I use to Google for finding this info but it is nice to have this kind of database integrated with the program.

Thanks for your help.

[majkinetor]

I count on that you can browse directly to a file originating a process for example? This helps a lot to identify a running process.

Of course.

What I like from WIntask Pro is the huge process database

No for this one.
U heave "Google Process" though. I prefer absence of this database for I want to examine each process manualy. I don't like idea somebody else judging me what is good or not.

I tried Wintasks earlier, and it has several features I find very attractive, like scripting and block list but I guess that all those features makes it slow. Also, WinTaks is very big and memory unfriendly and it doesn't have process icon. It is not in the same league as TaskInfo.

What I like the most about TaskInfo is cpy histogram in tray so U can always tell if something is making trouble since you will see CPU overload in tray. U also have memory tracker in tray icon. Average CPU used by TI is less then 2% with instantious peaks ranging from 10% to 20% when using it. It usees 6MB of system memory (Task Manager uses 5 MB, PE 15MB, WinTaks 25MB !!). PSAPI (Process Status API) applications are known to be slow comparing to some other resident tools since they have to scan all processes every time. Also, TaskInfo can be made not to need installation so it can lay on your data partition on system reinstallation. Also, it heave basic rootkit detection and even famous Hacker Defender in its worst-stealth (bronze) version is detected by TaskInfo.

This is the most important tool for me. It makes U in control of your system and it must be highly optimised since it is very active in the background. I think that there is still no good PSAPI application to what I need, and I am even considering creating one for my own usage. What I miss in all products is "dead processes". Things like apps starting and doing it's job in 100 ms are unnoticed, especialy if you play some game in fullscreen. WinTasks has that log so you can browse it but I prefer some more elegant solution.

Also, U may give a try to AceHelper FS TC plug, which I find to be excelent. It is far for complite apps like TI but I still think it is one of the must-have plugins even if you use some other PE.