Question

Maxtor system process (maxbackserviceint.exe) eats 50% CPU cycles, is this OK ?

Asked by: RetroRocker

Hi
  Recently installed a Maxtor One Touch III external backup HDD. Noted that the process maxbackserviceint.exe is using 50% CPU cycles all by itself (there are 59 other processes running which at any one time take a mere fraction of this capacity)
  My CPU is a dual core Athlon 4200 and I'm wondering if the task manager is incorrectly reporting this figure because the Maxtor process is perhaps not 'coping' with dual CPUs - pure speculation on my part ! A google on 'maxbackserviceint.exe' says that it should not be suspended ( presumably backups would stop working ;-). So any ideas please ? , this cannot be correct.

best wishes always

RetroRocker

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Asked On
2007-01-15 at 07:21:32ID22122976
Topic

Miscellaneous

Participating Experts
2
Points
250
Comments
10

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Answers

 

by: giltjrPosted on 2007-01-15 at 07:34:08ID: 18316708

Where are you getting the 50% CPU measurement from?  Task Manager?

If so you need to be carefull. When you look at the % CPU for an indvidual task, this is the % of the currently used CPU of the system.  That is:

     If in the bottom status bar it shows 50% CPU and maxbackserviceint.exe shows 50%, then maxbackserviceint.exe is using 50% of 50%, or 25% of the total system.  

     If the status bar shows 10%, then it is taking up 50% of 10% or 5% of the total system.

     If the status bar shows 100%, then yes maxbackserviceint.exe is using 50% of the total system.

As for dual core, I am not 100% sure it is still true, but most backup processes are not multi-threaded so they can't take advantage of multiple CPU's, which a dual core processor is.

Normally a backup process does not use a lot of CPU for the whole backup run.  It uses a lot of CPU to figure out what files should be backed up and then very little to do the actual backup.  Unless you have enabled the backup software to compress the data as it backs it up.  Then it will use a lot of CPU to do the compression.

 

by: RetroRockerPosted on 2007-01-15 at 08:33:17ID: 18317184

HI giltjr
  Yes, it is task manager as mentioned in the original post. Your first statement is correct (status bar 50%, maxback... process 50%, therefore 25% CPU used) BTW thanks, I didn't realise it worked like that.
  But isn't even 25% CPU time an awful lot for an IDLE process because I'm not backing up at the the time and this CPU % display is always showing these values. Surely this cannot be correct ? It seems a huge amount for a single, idle process.

RetroRocker

 

by: RDAdamsPosted on 2007-01-15 at 08:47:57ID: 18317313

Are you running the backup at this point?

 

by: giltjrPosted on 2007-01-15 at 09:01:54ID: 18317439

If you are not backing up at that time of day, then why is the process running?

If it is using that much CPU all day everyday, then I would say something is wrong or it is doing something that you are not aware of.

 

by: RetroRockerPosted on 2007-01-15 at 10:07:40ID: 18317883

RDAdams
  No, I am not backing up at the time as stated in my previous comment.

giltjr
  Yes this is really strange and hideously processor intensive. There is also another Maxtor process running called 'onetouch.exe' which is idle and shows no CPU usage unless a backup is running. The process 'maxbackserviceint.exe' is perhaps related to backup scheduling - again pure speculation on my part - so I'm going to go away and try reconfiguring some backup settings to see if it will go away. Will report back soon.

Thanks

 

by: giltjrPosted on 2007-01-15 at 10:42:13ID: 18318095

I would call maxtor.  I did a google search and found a few other people reporting this process using a lot of CPU (in one case 100%), but no good answers.  Nothing seems to describe what this is for, other than it is part of the Maxtor One Touch backup system with external drives.

As I have never used this, does the external drive look like a "normal" drive to Windows?  If so, are you storing any normal files on this drive?  Could be the processing overhead of attempting to use this drive as a "normal" drive.

 

by: RDAdamsPosted on 2007-01-15 at 11:54:13ID: 18318607

Did you have to install any software?  I would try removing and reinstalling.

 

by: RetroRockerPosted on 2007-01-15 at 13:22:01ID: 18319408

I tried various configuration options but to no avail.

Have put out a support request to Maxtor - will report back - but don't hold your breath(s) ! You know what first line tech support is all to often like.

This drive looks exactly like a 'normal' drive to Windows (I use a USB2 connection) and you use it just like any other drive. I store 'normal' files on it and of course it is a backup drive as well used by Maxtor's backup software which I believe to be a disguised version of Dantz Retrospect (if that makes sense).

I really think that Maxtor could do a hell of a lot better than this ! and this is their 3rd generation of 'one touch' back up systems. Hmmmm ... they tried to make it so simple, it's stupid !  ;-)

RetroRocker

 

by: RetroRockerPosted on 2007-01-17 at 02:15:39ID: 18330873

 I approached Maxtor about this. The bottom line here is that they suspect conflict between their process and anti virus and /or firewall software (I use Zone Alarm Security Suite - wouldn't be the first time ZASS has been implicated in an issue would it ? !!!)
  As far as Maxtor are concerned, their process can be removed as long as you accept reduced functionality with backup facilities. This would be loss of the 'sync' feature and loss of the 'M' icon from the taskbar system tray. Oh well, live with that.
  So there you have it. Sort of self resolution really but I will allocate the points happily because I am grateful for the time taken and effort made by you guys in an attempted resolution.

best wishes

RetroRocker

 

by: giltjrPosted on 2007-01-17 at 06:12:20ID: 18332198

Um, the "sync" feature?  Jumping to conclusions this sounds like a feature that would automatically keep file files on the external drive in sync with files on another dirve.  This would require monitoring for all file changes which could chew up a lot of CPU.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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