Windows Task Manager shows CPU usage in red, need a help.

[egghead321]

hi, my cpu is P4 2.6GHZ, 512 mb ram, windows XP. the PC is less than 2 yr,

when i hit Ctrl+Alt+Del keys, the Windows Task Manager shows my CPU Usage in red, not normal green, sometimes in 100% usage even i wasn't running any application. ever since i got this PC, it was very slow and it would take a long time to load any application.

damaged CPU or over heating CPU?

 

[zeroyb]

Did you try scanning for malware,virus,etc?

I personally had success fixing a similar problem by scanning with Trendmicro.

*edit: fixed bad link*

 

[440bx]

Red is used by Task Manager to show the amount of CPU that is spent executing kernel code (ring 0). Green is used to show the amount of time spent executing user code (ring 3).

A healthy system showing both will show the green on top of the red.

You can turn off showing the kernel time by going to the Performance tab and, under the view menu, uncheck "show kernel times".

If once you've done that it is still red, you have a situation I have not run into before.

HTH

 

[defg0003]

six years later, this explanation was - again - useful.

thanks.

 

[tangleweb]

Almost 7 years later and STILL useful.

Thank you 440bx for a succinct and useful description.

~Dave

Red is used by Task Manager to show the amount of CPU that is spent executing kernel code (ring 0). Green is used to show the amount of time spent executing user code (ring 3).

A healthy system showing both will show the green on top of the red.

You can turn off showing the kernel time by going to the Performance tab and, under the view menu, uncheck "show kernel times".

If once you've done that it is still red, you have a situation I have not run into before.

HTH

 

[danibw0i]

9 years later, still helpful

 

[NicoraiP]

was useful when my main system was dead and i had to use this old bad athlon xp 64 bit with windows 7 it could not handle anything. hope it works fine with XP. i wondered what that red bar was about my Athlon XP +3200 didnt showed that up. was it a update from XP later on? this XP is pretty last much Release that was made from XP support was deactivated. thanks for the info i was so glad it didnt had aynthing to do with a defect/bad CPU *phew*

 

[2Fatbear]

Red is used by Task Manager to show the amount of CPU that is spent executing kernel code (ring 0). Green is used to show the amount of time spent executing user code (ring 3).

A healthy system showing both will show the green on top of the red.

You can turn off showing the kernel time by going to the Performance tab and, under the view menu, uncheck "show kernel times".

If once you've done that it is still red, you have a situation I have not run into before.

HTH

10 years later, your info is still helping someone. Thanks!

 

[andrericho7]

Almost exactly 10 yrs later and still helping! This guys is like Ghandi!

Thanks 440BX

Red is used by Task Manager to show the amount of CPU that is spent executing kernel code (ring 0). Green is used to show the amount of time spent executing user code (ring 3).

A healthy system showing both will show the green on top of the red.

You can turn off showing the kernel time by going to the Performance tab and, under the view menu, uncheck "show kernel times".

If once you've done that it is still red, you have a situation I have not run into before.

HTH

 

[aldodzb]

Thank you 440bx, we are 2 days from 10 years ago that you wrote the answer and today it was useful to me. I dont remember have checked that option, and got kind of nervous becuase I have never seen it. Thanks again!

Red is used by Task Manager to show the amount of CPU that is spent executing kernel code (ring 0). Green is used to show the amount of time spent executing user code (ring 3).

A healthy system showing both will show the green on top of the red.

You can turn off showing the kernel time by going to the Performance tab and, under the view menu, uncheck "show kernel times".

If once you've done that it is still red, you have a situation I have not run into before.

HTH

 

[jetpowercom]

Ten years, man! Thanks much for helping rule that out!

 

[Wenger786]

14/12/2016 18:11:54 still good.thanks.

 

[NicoVanNiekerk]

11 years and counting. I assume it's quite harmless leaving it showing the colors.
Thanks
Nico

 

[M_Bodya]

today is 13th of June 2020. Thanks for the explanation, @440bx. I especially registered to let you know, that it is still useful

 

[nikos3194]

Red is used by Task Manager to show the amount of CPU that is spent executing kernel code (ring 0). Green is used to show the amount of time spent executing user code (ring 3).

A healthy system showing both will show the green on top of the red.

You can turn off showing the kernel time by going to the Performance tab and, under the view menu, uncheck "show kernel times".

If once you've done that it is still red, you have a situation I have not run into before.

HTH

More than 15 years have passed and I can confirm that it's the most epic reply I have seen in a long time