What's the use of cpuidle?

[KimLeece]

Hi all -
Can anyone explain to me something about cpuidle.exe. Is it really worth to have this program running? Why, if it is only for CPU cooling, does it access the net? - (as reported to me by my firewall)
It seems to use a huge amount of memory - and I really wonder if it's worth it. I'm very curious!

Thanks -

Kim Leece.

 

[gargouille]

What message, exactly, did your firewall give you to sound the alert?

 

[KimLeece]

The message was something like:-
cpuidle is trying to access the internet over port ???? do you want to allow this connection (Sygate Personal Firewall)

I'm not at my XP computer at present but I do know that for some reason it maintains a connection - which I don't understand - I'll post the exact message later when I get home.

Kim Leece.

 

[gargouille]

Forgive my disbelief, just never heard that 1 before.
Ever heard the song "Oh No, Not My Baby"?
Sorta' like that one.
The guy who wrote it is a well-known figure on the internet and I'm surprised his app would do that.
Did you download it directly from his site? (others may be involved)
That being the case, do you run adaware or something similar? (my thought being it should reveal it)
Let us know
(by the way, to my chagrine, I find that it's been reported elsewhere)

 

[KimLeece]

The software came with the mobo (Asus A7V333) as far as I can remember - I definately didn't download it. I use ad-aware and even ran it last night - doesn't see anything strange about cpuidle. The machine is behind a router as well as Sygate - and runs realtime PC-Cillin 2000!(virus signatures completely up to date). I suppose it could still be something strange - but I do try to protect my system - which is why I'm asking this question! I'll collect all the exact details later and repost - maybe someone has a decent explanation (not a dig at you gargouille - your first thoughts matched mine exactly).
I'll keep you posted -
Kim Leece.

 

[ceh4702]

I have heard of free downloads that keep statistics and then send them back to a website. Some information could be used for Marketing Purposes. If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[KimLeece]

Well here is something interesting. Last night I stopped cpuidle so that I could restart it and wait to see the Sygate message when it tried to connect. My CPU temperature dropped 5 degrees from 46 to 41! This morning I have done it again but with the heating in the room on - this time it dropped 4 degrees from 49 to 45.
As far as the internet connection goes at the moment it isn't asking to connect - but the Sygate log shows that it has connected 54 times in the last 6 weeks!?!? Maybe it is to do with statistics as ceh4702 says - I have no idea.
I did notice though that XP runs another process called System Idle Process - when cpuidle is running it uses 99% ofthe CPU and about 15MB ram - when you turn it off SystemIdleProcess uses the 99% but only 20K ram so it's clear to me now that I don't need cpuidle at all - in fact my CPU is cooler without it. Maybe this is only true in XP - I don't know - but it is a fact! (Anyway I object to things happening without my knowledge - even if it's for "marketing" purposes)

Kim Leece.

 

[gargouille]

Congrats, kim, for being so diligent. You don't know how nice it would be to call on a customer (come to think of it, if they were as good as you, they wouldn't be calling)
that had things under control. (a few do)
Unfortunately, with advertising being a bust (people either ignore or turn off or otherwise disable with pop up killers) marketers are being more aggressive...and that's just for starters. The newest marketing ploys hijack the browser/home page.
I do try to steer (unsuccessfully, mostly) customers away from 3rd party apps...especially IF they'd learn the software, they'd have no use for it.
But I'm with you...I wanta' tell it to do it...otherwise, don't!
Thanks for the heads up...

 

[crwpulsar]

Kim,

http://www.cpuidle.de/

Its CPUIDLE's website in Germany,one of the FAQ's has "how come it used 99% CPU time??" Their answer is that it used HLT commands on cpu idle which windows doesnt reconise??
Anyway I tried searching the site for reference to Ports but could find anything!