Is this normal? System and compressed memory process ALWAYS at 20% cpu

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  1. Posts : 116
    Windows 10
       #21

    I like your philosophy, Dalchina. While I am not a tech, I've been around since the beginning of home computing, and I've always tried to keep my data on a separate partition, if not drive. Programs too where possible. Remember Lotus Smartsuite? The whole suite of programs could be installed on D:. It drove me nuts that each new version of Windows forced more and more User info onto C. I wonder, if IBM had emerged as King of the home computing world, instead of MS, would things have been different? Remember OS/2? Too bad that didn't catch on....

    The Performance tab of TM is fun to look at (and BTW, my "(Compressed) Memory" figure is 0 every time I look at it), but it doesn't give a breakdown of what is happening under System. (I am also still not clear if System is actually the same as what was, for a short time, System and Compressed Memory.) The Processes tab gives some breakdown, but not enough. While not really wanting to become a Tech, I guess I need to get better tools to look at what is happening.

    Since I find I don't have a "System and Compressed Memory" process, I need to understand better what is going on with the "System" process. Mine runs at what appears as "full disk use" a lot, particularly right after resuming from sleep--making it difficult to start working when you want the computer to be available. --And even after disabling Superfetch and doing some of the other things different folks often suggest. Since all this discussion here has been between you and me on an old thread, my sense of this is that I should start a new thread if I want help looking into the System process, as that might get more input from more people. Do you agree?

    Michael
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 42,738
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #22

    Hi, yes, a separate thread would attract appropriate attention, perhaps from Kari, for example.
    Meanwhile:
    Is this normal? System and compressed memory process ALWAYS at 20% cpu-snap-2016-12-30-07.16.13.jpg
    is of interest, as maybe memory compression has been reassigned there.. just a guess from looking at that.

    And for comparison, you can see I do have compressed memory:
    Is this normal? System and compressed memory process ALWAYS at 20% cpu-snap-2016-12-30-07.19.26.jpg

    My preference would be to reverse any changes in OS functions unless extremely well justified, and suggest you create a thread, say,
    Why have I no compressed memory? Is System responsible? or similar, with screenshots as those above.

    I'd suggest you include a screenshot of your page file details too (thinking of the unexpected high disk usage you are experiencing. Also it's worth researching
    system process high disk usage
    as there is a good number of reports.
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 116
    Windows 10
       #23

    Yes, thanks, it does look as though memory compression is now listed under "System" and they've dropped the MC part of the title of the process. Again, I'm really surprised I haven't come across references to that change.

    It will take me a little while to put together a concise question/report for a new thread. Should I ask it under this area of "Performance and Maintenance" of the Forum, same as this thread? Or is another topic area better?

    Here is a current snip of my memory. Note that the Disk usage is low here, but about 15 min. ago it was frequently at 99%, and most often when I look at the processes at that point, #1 disk use is Systems, sometimes for quite a while. What is most annoying is the inability to get the computer to respond much while the disk is being accessed so much. We have two laptops in our house (with HDD's), and they both tend to do this--it seems an issue of prioritizing for what the user is trying to do, but I will say that the one desktop machine we have that does have an SSD seldom has such problems. I guess Microsoft figures we all just ought to have an SSD installed.

    Is this normal? System and compressed memory process ALWAYS at 20% cpu-2016_12_30_18_34_261.png

    dalchina said:
    ...I'd suggest you include a screenshot of your page file details too (thinking of the unexpected high disk usage you are experiencing.
    Not sure what you meant here--is that what I just showed above? Or something else?

    Michael
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 42,738
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #24

    This section should be fine.
    Like this:
    Is this normal? System and compressed memory process ALWAYS at 20% cpu-snap-2016-12-30-19.23.17.jpg
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 116
    Windows 10
       #25

    Update: I posted some questions on Superuser at: What happened to the "System and Compressed Memory" **PROCESS** in Windows 10? - Super User

    Apparently, it looks like when you turn Superfetch off in Services by disabling it (as I had) this causes there to be no Compressed Memory shown in Task Manager:Performance Tab:Memory. But at this point I still don't understand why this should happen. I'm also wondering now about the current thinking/arguments about turning Superfetch off. The reasons people were doing that at one point may no longer be valid.

    As I just wrote in another thread, it's hard to know the relevance of what you find in earlier posts, because as Win 10 evolves, they keep changing how things work. So we are no longer dealing with a stable "version" of Windows when we talk about issues we are having or how things work, as we might have been with XP, Vista & 7.

    @dalchina: Also, it was interesting to see your page file details. I see you have a stable 400 MB size on C: and have moved any further paging to another disk that is System Managed. I presume what you have on C: is to make sure you capture any dump files. My recent understanding is that Win 10 does much better with a System Managed setup than with setting a single sized large Page file which used to be recommended by a lot of people. Is that your rationale for your PF setup?

    Michael
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 42,738
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #26

    Actually my main page file is on E: - the idea being to move it off my SSD avoiding a lot of writes and reads, perhaps in one area. However I think you have to have a minimal page file on C - I forget the details now- would have to revisit it.

    It seems these days that memory compression is handled under System, rather than by System and Compressed Memory-
    Is this normal? System and compressed memory process ALWAYS at 20% cpu-snap-2017-01-09-22.53.24.jpg
      My Computers


  7. Posts : 116
    Windows 10
       #27

    dalchina said:
    Actually my main page file is on E: - the idea being to move it off my SSD avoiding a lot of writes and reads, perhaps in one area. However I think you have to have a minimal page file on C - I forget the details now- would have to revisit it.
    Yes, the main rationale is that a dump file needs at least around 200-300 MB, I think, and Windows will only dump to C: ...Still, other sources say Win 10 does not handle well setting a fixed size for paging--which used to be highly recommended by some. (When I changed mine back to "System Managed", things improved a lot.) So I figure if Win 10 has a small fixed-size file on C: but also has another disk to manage the page file in, maybe paging will function smoothly and 10 won't balk? And note that this makes sense if you have more than one disk--even if the OS disk is not an SSD.

    It seems these days that memory compression is handled under System, rather than by System and Compressed Memory-
    Right, that looks clear to me now. But when I started trying to figure this out, I could not find any threads at first that confirmed this. MS renamed "System" to "System and Compressed Memory" at first "to avoid confusion," but then put it all back under "System" process again to re-confuse us....

    But it looks like they did deduct the large figure for how much memory was compressed there from the previous total they indicated for this process.

    Michael
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 116
    Windows 10
       #28

    Interactions of System, Paging, Compressed Memory and Superfetch


    I want to add here that it looks like there are a number of different processes that interact and confuse users who are sophisticated enough to try their own repairs. These processes may well affect each other.

    People have--variously--turned off or set a fixed size for paging, turned off Superfetch, and tried a number of other solutions for high CPU, Disk usage or Memory. They report in these forums sometimes that their solution works and sometimes that it doesn't work.... But if these things interact, a solution may not really be a solution. It might only make up for another solution that solved another problem earlier, and down the road created a new one.

    Layered on top of that we have the fact that Windows 10 is an evolving OS, and Microsoft often changes how something works. Most often users have no real notification and are none the wiser about what this means. So we are caught in a trap between trying to correct a problem, or waiting for MS to correct a problem, that we may or may not know exists. If we have made our own changes, it could be that once MS makes a correction, we are now into a new problem that is very difficult to untangle with the changes we made.

    Michael
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 42,738
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #29

    Agreed- should the problem arise it's necessary to try to find the trigger. It's only my assumption that System and Compressed Memory is handled in that way, a thought based on a recent thread - the first for a long time- where the process I showed under system was involved. Together with the lack of reports for some months on System and Compressed Memory, it seems a reasonable tentative idea. We'll see.

    I forget quite where I got the idea to move the page file, but I didn't do that to solve a problem- thought I'd try it, and all has been fine for months.
      My Computers


  10. Posts : 116
    Windows 10
       #30

    dalchina said:
    ...based on a recent thread - the first for a long time- where the process I showed under system was involved.
    Can you point me to that thread, if you remember which one it was? Oh,...it could possibly have been here above?...I think we talked about this.
      My Computer


 

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