Member Avatar for Roebuc

When ever I open the task manager on my machine, it shows the CPU usage at least 46%. However, when I look at the processes, the idle process is at 96, meaning the other processes are only taking 4%. I have a dual 2.4GHZ running XP SP 3 with 2GB of RAM. I re-imaged this machine from Vista to XP. I installed all the drivers from dell (all though my device manager still shows a ? for a PCI Device.) I am curious if it does not recognize the second process? What could be eating up the CPU but not show in the process list?

The reason this is a problem is because I am trying to play a game that is going slow. When ever I look at the cpu usage at that point it is pushing 99%. My thinking is, if I find what is eating up the cpu and stop it, it would help. I have a second laptop that is almost the identical setup, but 3GB of ram. My CPU on this machine sits around 4% when idle.

Any advice?

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A short diagnostic note for : the numbers you quoted (Task Manager showing ~46% overall while the Processes tab shows System Idle at ~96%) are internally inconsistent and usually point to two things — a filtered Task Manager view or CPU time being spent in kernel-level activity (hardware interrupts / DPCs) that the Processes list does not show as ordinary user processes. was right to suggest the built‑in filter; the System Idle Process itself simply measures unused CPU time. (howtogeek.com)

If the problem persists after confirming the full process list, verify that Windows actually shows both cores (Performance → View → CPU History → One graph per CPU). If both graphs exist but total CPU still looks high while no process accounts for it, inspect kernel activity with Sysinternals Process Explorer — it will show “Hardware Interrupts” / “DPCs” and split kernel vs user time so you can see whether drivers or hardware are to blame. Microsoft’s perf/debug guidance explains how high DPC/interrupt time is diagnosed and captured. (learn.microsoft.com)

Quick, practical diagnostic sequence (follow in order):

  1. From Task Manager -> Processes click Show processes from all users (see @CimmerianX).
  2. In Performance tab set CPU History to one graph per CPU to confirm dual‑core recognition.
  3. Run Process Explorer (admin) and watch for entries named “Interrupts” or large red (kernel) CPU usage.
  4. If interrupts/DPCs are high: unplug USB peripherals, update chipset/audio/network/video drivers, install the correct driver for the “Unknown PCI Device” (use Device Manager → Details → Hardware Ids to look up VEN/DEV).
  5. If still unresolved, do a clean boot via msconfig (disable non‑Microsoft services/startups) and retest; for deeper traces capture a DPC/ISR trace per Microsoft guidance. (learn.microsoft.com)

Notes tied to thread replies: ’s driver/msconfig suggestions are on point for the typical case; ’s idea to identify the unknown PCI device is also useful (use the hardware IDs shown in Device Manager rather than random driver sites). If kernel interrupts are the culprit they usually indicate a bad/missing driver or failing hardware rather than a regular process.

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Member Avatar for CimmerianX

When you look at the processes in the task manager, by default, you only look at your own session. Near the bottom should be a check box for "Show Processes from all users" (or something to that effect). That will list everything running on the machine, not just your own.

Member Avatar for edgaaa

When ever I open the task manager on my machine, it shows the CPU usage at least 46%. However, when I look at the processes, the idle process is at 96, meaning the other processes are only taking 4%. I have a dual 2.4GHZ running XP SP 3 with 2GB of RAM. I re-imaged this machine from Vista to XP. I installed all the drivers from dell (all though my device manager still shows a ? for a PCI Device.) I am curious if it does not recognize the second process? What could be eating up the CPU but not show in the process list?

The reason this is a problem is because I am trying to play a game that is going slow. When ever I look at the cpu usage at that point it is pushing 99%. My thinking is, if I find what is eating up the cpu and stop it, it would help. I have a second laptop that is almost the identical setup, but 3GB of ram. My CPU on this machine sits around 4% when idle.

Any advice?

Hello! I think you don't have compatible drivers for windows xp, so it might be the most serious problem for both things. You know, windows vista is compatible with more hardware, and windows xp is having compabillity issues with the same devices.. Firstly, make sure that your windows is set up to work with two cores processor. If it is, you're facing drivers incompatibility problem, it was on my laptop too, now I'm using windows 7. And there's one more oportunity if you still fell like you wanna keep on running windows xp, you might solve this problem partly, by running msconfig and turning off some unnecessary services or startup programs.. And if you need CPU drivers look at AMD or Intel sites, they should be there

Member Avatar for caperjack

When ever I open the task manager on my machine, it shows the CPU usage at least 46%. However, when I look at the processes, the idle process is at 96, meaning the other processes are only taking 4%. I have a dual 2.4GHZ running XP SP 3 with 2GB of RAM. I re-imaged this machine from Vista to XP. I installed all the drivers from dell (all though my device manager still shows a ? for a PCI Device.) I am curious if it does not recognize the second process? What could be eating up the CPU but not show in the process list?

The reason this is a problem is because I am trying to play a game that is going slow. When ever I look at the cpu usage at that point it is pushing 99%. My thinking is, if I find what is eating up the cpu and stop it, it would help. I have a second laptop that is almost the identical setup, but 3GB of ram. My CPU on this machine sits around 4% when idle.

Any advice?

this program will help identify the pci device .
http://www.zhangduo.com/udi.html

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