Rainmeter High CPU useage

[ArcheKruz]

I have no idea what happened, but starting today, Rainmeter suddenly started to spike CPU useage very frequently. I have no idea what happened or why it is doing it. I have set up the virus scanning white list to allow the rainmeter program directory to run unchecked but the problem still persists. Any help would be appreciated!

[Falconer]

Hi ArcheKruz,
More info would help: Windows version, computer hardware specs, what skins you are running, is it a portable installation, etc. And is this a spike (up down up down) or a more constant usage issue?

[ArcheKruz]

Windows Vista SP1
CPU : Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 Conroe/Allendale
GPU : Geforce 8400
RAM : 3 GB DDR2 667 MHz
Skins : LuaTorrent, Enigma (Customised for Size Sidebar, Customised for Size RSS Reader, Sidebar Toggle, Taskbar Launcher w/ Toggle Button, System Compact w/ HD reading customized to give a single point decimal reading) Illustro (Disk, Network & Recycle Bin), Steam Wheel, Side Tabs (5 Items-Right Customized to hold 8 items)
Installation is standard.
The issue is a spike, but it looks like a forest of thick spikes in the CPU utilization graph in Windows Task Manager and Proccess Lasso.

[Falconer]

Resource usage bugs are tricky. Note that I am not a program dev, so I'll just be throwing out some suggestions.
My first course of action, if I were you, would be to start closing skins one by one while monitoring my resource usage. Sometimes it is one particular skin or two skins conflicting. It'll be tedious because you have lots of skins running, but you might be able to narrow it down to a particular skin. If you find a skin that is causing the issue, I would start looking through the code yourself for noticeable problems, contact the maker of that skin, or just don't use it.
If you cannot narrow it down to a certain skin and the Rainmeter process is still giving you issues, I would backup my skins with RainBackup and do a clean re-install of Rainmeter. Yes, that's a bit of nuclear option, but sometimes you've got to hit a fly with a sledgehammer...

[ArcheKruz]

Okay this is strange. I started up the app today and found that its resource useage is back to normal.

[Falconer]

Okay this is strange. I started up the app today and found that its resource useage is back to normal.

Very odd indeed. But I'm glad it is working again for you.

[dragonmage]

Just out of curiosity do you run a Recycle bin skin? Because of the way the plugin checks the bin it can cause CPU spikes as the number of items in your bin grows.