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View Full Version : Processor overload when loading "cron.php" page



DavidY
25th-December-2006, 02:19 AM
Sometimes, when I have the forum open, the processor usage on my PC goes up to 100%, and the PC suddenly gets very slow to respond.

Often, the status bar says something like:
"Downloading picture http://www.cerocscotland.com/forum/cron.php?&rand=942109" (with a different number every time).

Closing Internet Explorer lets the processor go back to normal again.

Anyone else notice this? What's the "cron.php" bit mean (it seems to be a common factor)?

Thanks :hug:

ducasi
25th-December-2006, 11:56 AM
The forum software needs to run periodic tasks occasionally (typically hourly and daily.) It could do these tasks during normal page loading, but some of them take a while, so when it needs to do something which takes longer, it including a link to the cron.php "picture", so that when your browser loads it, the longer-running tasks can be performed without the normal page loading taking too long.

While it is loading, the cerocscotland server is performing some relatively long processor-intensive tasks. However, your computer should just be happy to sit and wait for it – no processing is happening on your cpu.

(Hope this explanation makes some sense! :))

If Internet Explorer gets upset waiting, I'd say that's a bug.