System idle process 70% from CPU and system is slow

[zillah]

I have got win2003 server SP1 installed. Recently I have noticed the system is very slow.

Whenever I checked the Windows Task Managet (Ctrl+Alt+Delete), I found the "System idle process" consumed 70% of CPU energy.

Though I have been using many utilities to disable all programs that start with windows OS.

Do I need to disable some services as well (I am not familiar with this )?

Kindly look at the link below for details
http://img92.imageshack.us/my.php?image=taskmanager9bc.jpg

http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/8739/taskmanager9bc.th.jpg (http://img92.imageshack.us/my.php?image=taskmanager9bc.jpg)



The process that I have got intel pentium M 1.88 GHz, RAM=512MB

[foxyshadis]

Everything has to add up to 100%. "System Idle Processes" is just the name for the extra time (consisting of HLT instructions - do nothing and cool the chip down) filling in the gaps between real processes. Something else is cutting into your performance, and it's probably spyware/adware. Try getting Windows Defender and Lavasoft Adaware, they'll do a thorough job of cleaning out any malware.

[mod]

The only thing I can see is "20%" on task manager..
"IDLE" means "hey I'm here to be used!" :D

[CWR03]

The only setting I can find within Task Manager is the update speed, and only with all columns under all tabs selected and the update speed set to high did I ever show any significant usage by it. Click View > Update speed > Low, and see if that changes anything. If not, I'd look for adware or something running in the background that may be masking itself by using resources under taskmgr.

[HardwareGeek]

The only thing that looks amiss is that your task manager is consuming 20% of the CPU! That's alot.

BTW, if you click two times on the CPU column heading, you can sort the threads by which ones are using the most CPU, like so: Task Mgr (www.AskAboutComputers.com/task_manager_2.gif).

If you had a virus or worm or spyware or adware that was hogging CPU (& slowing down your computer), it should show itself here.

You seem to have several windows open. Try clicking on the performance tab of Task Manager and seeing how much physical memory you have available.

Also try upgrading to SP2. Service packs and patches are not just for security but are supposed to be for performance & stability as well. So Microsoft says anyway.

Also does your hard drive need to be defragged and do you have plenty of hard drive space available (at least 20%). These things can affect performance.