Is it normal for CPU usage to change almost every second?

[aafusc2988]

So I noticed just tonight that my CPU usage would NOT go below 25% even though I was just looking at task manager trying to see what processes were running. I had 0 applications open btw. Who knows how long it had been this way, my guess is months.

Eventually, I found out it was an issue with my Windows updates (I think because I have it set to 'Check for updates but let me choose when to download and install them' - I did this because I didn't want unwanted updates like the Windows Malicious Software Tool Removal). Somewhere along the way an update didn't DL or got stuck or something as I found out from reading. It could very well have been a messed up update for the actual Windows Update which put my system in a catch-22 so to speak as far as getting new updates goes. I tried to install 19 very old updates and it stayed at 0% indefinitely. I had to manually download two KB3020196 (something files - I made up the numbers after KB) and then it fixed itself. This link saved me btw: http://www.howtogeek.com/247380/how-to-fix-windows-update-when-it-gets-stuck/

My CPU usage after this is now 0-5% when just looking at task mgr, but I noticed it'll go 0, 5, 7, 10, 3, etc almost every second. At least the numbers are low now as they should be, but is this almost rapid change normal?

 

[dudeman509]

Yes, normal now. Windows and other apps have a lot of background processes that occasionally make requests to the CPU when "idle".

 

[atomicWAR]

short jumps to <25% are normal (usually 3-15%). Like you I had a system stuck at 25-30% because windows update was having a meltdown and like you i had to manually install an update to fix it. Best you can do is just keep an eye on your resource usage periodically to see if issues crop up.