# Computer Question: windows XP specific (I think)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-question-windows-xp-specific-i-think/223588>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 9, 2004, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-question-windows-xp-specific-i-think/223588 "2004-01-09T04:49:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mog16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4da419/32.png) [@Mog16](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mog16)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-question-windows-xp-specific-i-think/223588/1 "2004-01-09T04:49:08Z")

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For the past few months my explorer.exe file has been doing some crazy things, seemingly at random. What it does is jump from mem usage of 20k (its usual while running) to anything above that (I’ve seen 200k) and it will fluctuate constantly, usually increasing, even though I’m doing nothing that would make it do so (in my knowledge). Anyone have any ideas on the problem?

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**Author:** ![Qwisp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qwisp/32/397_2.png) [@Qwisp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwisp)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-question-windows-xp-specific-i-think/223588/2 "2004-01-09T04:55:58Z")

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Usually if your processor is jumping around it is because you have a lot of “invisible” threads running. Try looking at your task manager and see if you can figure out what process is causing your processor to slow down, it could be as simple as an automatic update schedule on windows or your virus software.If you find a process that is using a lot of memory and you are not sure what it is, google is a wonderful resource.

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**Author:** ![Mog16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4da419/32.png) [@Mog16](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mog16)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-question-windows-xp-specific-i-think/223588/3 "2004-01-09T05:01:29Z")

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Its the actual explorer.exe program in task manager itself that is doing this. Could it possibly be a virus or something of that odd nature?

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**Author:** ![Mog16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4da419/32.png) [@Mog16](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mog16)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-question-windows-xp-specific-i-think/223588/4 "2004-01-09T15:34:18Z")

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one bump because I really need help.

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**Author:** ![Petter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dbc845/32.png) [@Petter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petter)\
**Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-question-windows-xp-specific-i-think/223588/5 "2004-01-09T16:46:12Z")

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Are you sure you’re looking at the right process? 20k sounds awful low for explorer.exe (on a freshly booted Windows 2000 it’s at 4700k and I’ve seen it go as high as 10 megs)

Unless it’s consuming exponentially more memory without you doing anything I wouldn’t worry. Explorer is tied to many inner workings in Windows and its memory use is affected by many things.

If you’re concerned about viruses, get a virus scanner. [Grisoft](http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php)’s got a free version. Couldn’t hurt to run Adaware and Spybot either.