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IDLE is the priority of a process that runs only when the system is otherwise idle. It shouldn't be preempted by zeroing memory.
by bonzini 8y ago
IDLE is the priority of a process that runs only when the system is otherwise idle. It shouldn't be preempted by zeroing memory.
- na412 8y agoBut then under what circumstances will the zero page thread ever be scheduled?
- blattimwind 8y agoWhen there are no runnable idle threads.
- masklinn 8y agoIt's confusing, but "idle" is a priority class as well as a state: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/procthread/scheduling-priorities https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/procthread/... The idle task (when there's nothing to run) doesn't have a priority at all, it just gets run when nothing else is available. the "idle" priority is an actual priority, for when there's no higher-priority task to run. The ZPT is prioritized below "idle", so super-duper-low priority.
- dTal 8y agoThank you for this clear explanation. It is confusing!
- chaosite 8y agoSo the zero page process runs when one core is busy but the rest are free?
- klodolph 8y agoIt runs when the there are no higher-priority processes to schedule on a particular core. IDLE processes are higher priority, so as long as an IDLE process can be scheduled, the zero page process won't run.