Process showing high CPU utilization on only one system

SonOfPirate · 06-25-2009, 01:35 PM

I have a server running Windows 2008 with eight processors. This is the production server for a business-critical third-party application. Everything appears to run fine and the system is responsive, other applications run as expected but when I view Task Manager, the specified application is showing 70% CPU utilization even when no users are accessing the application.

What makes this confusing is that I have another server running Win 2k8 with 2 processors in a test environment which is used to qualify updates, etc. before moving them into production. I do NOT see the same utilization on this server. Furthermore, I've setup a third box (Win 2k3 w/ 2 procs) and worked with the vendor to try and recreate the situation but we have not been successful.

Can anyone tell me what may be taking place or what I should look into on the production server to determine why the CPU utilization is so high in this one case? Clearly, something is different with our production server.

machinetech · 06-29-2009, 10:35 AM

Which process is it? Look under the Process tab in the task manager.

SonOfPirate · 07-01-2009, 11:29 AM

It is the process for the "business-critical third-party application" as I stated. Looking at the Processes tab in Task Manager is exactly where the high utilization is being diagnosed. This is only the case one one system - our production box.

machinetech · 07-02-2009, 09:24 AM

I don't know. Could be many reasons. Malware, software bug, registry errors.
I am assuming that your "buisness critical" software is up to date with the latest updates, if your test machines are working fine without the high CPU usage. It could be opening a lot of ports, and keeping them open, even if they are not being used. A large registry with no longer needed entries maybe could cause this, to some degree, with .exe files. Have you tried cleaning and defragging the registry with a good, tried and tested program? Scanned for malware or trojan? I wish I could be more of a help.

06-25-2009, 01:35 PM	#1 (permalink)
SonOfPirate Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 2 OS: Win 2003, 2008	Process showing high CPU utilization on only one system I have a server running Windows 2008 with eight processors. This is the production server for a business-critical third-party application. Everything appears to run fine and the system is responsive, other applications run as expected but when I view Task Manager, the specified application is showing 70% CPU utilization even when no users are accessing the application. What makes this confusing is that I have another server running Win 2k8 with 2 processors in a test environment which is used to qualify updates, etc. before moving them into production. I do NOT see the same utilization on this server. Furthermore, I've setup a third box (Win 2k3 w/ 2 procs) and worked with the vendor to try and recreate the situation but we have not been successful. Can anyone tell me what may be taking place or what I should look into on the production server to determine why the CPU utilization is so high in this one case? Clearly, something is different with our production server.

06-29-2009, 10:35 AM	#2 (permalink)
machinetech Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 36 OS: XP Pro sp3 Server 2000 sp4	Re: Process showing high CPU utilization on only one system Which process is it? Look under the Process tab in the task manager.

07-01-2009, 11:29 AM	#3 (permalink)
SonOfPirate Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 2 OS: Win 2003, 2008	Re: Process showing high CPU utilization on only one system It is the process for the "business-critical third-party application" as I stated. Looking at the Processes tab in Task Manager is exactly where the high utilization is being diagnosed. This is only the case one one system - our production box.

07-02-2009, 09:24 AM	#4 (permalink)
machinetech Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 36 OS: XP Pro sp3 Server 2000 sp4	Re: Process showing high CPU utilization on only one system I don't know. Could be many reasons. Malware, software bug, registry errors. I am assuming that your "buisness critical" software is up to date with the latest updates, if your test machines are working fine without the high CPU usage. It could be opening a lot of ports, and keeping them open, even if they are not being used. A large registry with no longer needed entries maybe could cause this, to some degree, with .exe files. Have you tried cleaning and defragging the registry with a good, tried and tested program? Scanned for malware or trojan? I wish I could be more of a help.