[ale] take a trip through your process list - hot pc

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

Hi all,

I just picked up my laptop running Windows 7 and Firefox plus about 70 
open tabs.  This applies to Linux too.  The bottom of the unit was so 
hot that it was uncomfortable to touch.  The fan was running furiously.  
The first thing I thought was ventilation.  The unit had been sitting on 
some loose papers, so that might have had an effect.  I have speedfan 
running to monitor temperature.  It's norm is 62 C and it was up to 75 
C.  I removed all the loose papers.  Then, I looked at the cpu meter.  
It was pegged at around 70%, and Firefox was the main culprit.  Probably 
flash.  I closed Firefox.  The cpu was still sitting around 15 % with 
nothing happening.  I loaded msconfig to see what was starting up.  On 
Linux, you could use top, htop, or system monitor.  However, those only 
tell you what's running, not what's in the startup sequence, as far as I 
know.  I found a number of things in the startup sequence that I didn't 
want there, like a Citrix app for the once in a year time that my wife 
uses my computer, adobe reader quickstart, something related to 
cyberlink dvd programs, a daemon for updating the firmware in my Sansa 
mp3 player (which I've done exactly once and will probably never 
repeat), and several items from the manufacturer of the pc, etc.  I 
don't think anything is malicious, but, they're sitting there using cpu 
time and electricity and creating heat.  I hid all the microsoft stuff 
in the list, then unchecked all the processes AND SERVICES that I didn't 
think need to be starting.  Be careful though.  You can break critical 
parts of your system, like updates, or sound, or your touchpad.  I 
rebooted and my idle cpu usage dropped to 1 % - 2 %.  Now that's more 
like it.

So, the moral of the story is that it pays to look at your process list 
occasionally and trim the fat.  The other moral is that it pays to keep 
one eye on Firefox, especially if you have lots of tabs and especially 
if you have flash or html 5 animation.  I did some reading in the past 
that indicated flash could bring a mobile device's battery to its knees.

Sincerely,

Ron

-- 

(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very quickly.)

Ron Frazier
770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
linuxdude AT techstarship.com