Question about using probalance or default

[kymystic]

Every once in a while I come across a software program that I really like, and Process Lasso is one of those unique programs.  My PC would come to a near standstill when I ran some programs.  The mouse wouldn't even move.  It was very annoying.  With Process Lasso that rarely happens anymore.   

I have a basic question.  If a process constantly eats up a lot of the cpu, is it better to use the default to permanently set it at "below normal" or to just let "Probalance" adjust it on a case by case basis.

[Jeremy Collake]

Especially with v3.80, where ProBalance is faster to react than ever, I'd just let ProBalance handle the process.

This is because ProBalance will only lower the priority when its deemed necessary, so any problems that might arise from running the process in the Below Normal priority class all the time are eliminated. That said, it really depends on the program in question, and the chances of complications because of a persistent (default/sticky) 'Below normal' priority are near zero.

Another reason I suggest this is because I try to discourage users from the idea that they should reprioritize their processes, ranking them in importance to them. Doing so can be detrimental to system performance, and is not the 'idea' of Process Lasso. This has been a common misconception that has been perpetuated by a popular download site where the reviewer misunderstood the intent of Process Lasso, and misunderstood a few other things. They gave it a good recommendation in the end, but completely got the 'facts' wrong... not even mentioning ProBalance. I tried to get them to correct it, but got some push-back from their first level support, so didn't push harder. Maybe I should, though don't want to 'piss them off' and make matters worse, lol.

[Hotrod]

As Jeremy pointed out in other postings elsewhere on the forum, some processes wait on others to finish before they go about their business. If you make one process a low priority which has another high priority process waiting on it to finish, then you have set up a bad situation where the high priority process will not let the low priority process have the CPU time it needs to finish. In essence they both end up waiting on each other. In some instances I have found it works better to raise the priority of an offending process to allow it to finish quicker and let other things get their fair chance at the CPU. This doesn't work in every case but it's worth trying. In general though, it's best to let ProBalance do it's job and not interfere unless absolutely necessary.