Windows XP Slowdown

[Craig]

Recently Windows started slowing down during printing and
other processes. Looking at the task manager, I see that
a process called CIDAEMON.EXE is taking up to 98% of the
processing time. Any information on this?

Thanks.
Craig.

 

[Tom Swift]

Cidaemon.exe is part of XP's Indexing Service. The Indexing Service runs in
the background and catalogues files so that you can search for files
containing a specific text string. This process builds and updates the index
catalog and typically uses a lot of CPU time. However, cidaemon.exe is also
set to run at a low priority, so it usually doesn't degrade the performance
of the system even if it's at a high CPU level. You may have something else
going on. If the problem typically occurs during printing, you may want to
look at your print spooling options.

Tom Swift

 

[Craig]

Thank you Tom. However, it does seem to be interferring
with other activities as well such as normal use of Word,
Powerpoint, etc. I've been tracking it today and anytime
Cidaemon.exe is running, the machine drops performance
tremendiously - almost hangs in several instances.
Several instances of opening the task manager revealed
that multiple copies of Cidaemon were running, with only
one pulling the CPU time. It does eventually stop on its
own, but sometimes after 3-5 min. Anywhere to look that
may be suspect?

Note: updated virus software is installed and running -
did find one file infected but not Cideamon. Only other
recent events are Microsoft XP and Outlook 6 updates over
the last week - nothing immediately prior to the onset.

Craig.

 

[Tom Swift]

Well, you could always try the 'low tech' approach: Uninstall the Indexing
feature from Add/Remove Programs, if you're not using it. (Warning: Doing
this will permanently delete the existing indexes.) If your computer runs
better, you've found the problem.

Tom Swift