Windows 7 has High CPU Usage and slow performance

Anonymous
2009-11-18T04:59:29+00:00

Hello all,

I've searched the forums, but was unable to find anything relevant.  I recently upgraded to Windows 7 from Vista.  It was running fine for about a week then all of a sudden everything started running very slow.  I checked the the processes tab in task manager and I am constantly running at 70-80% CPU usage.  I think this is very high considering the computer is only a few months old.  It seems like others are having this problem as well, but no real solutions.

I have turned off file indexing as well as disabled the HD audio device. 

Please help!

Here are my hardware specs:

AMD 9550 Quad-Core

64-bit

6GB Ram

Thank you in advance for your help.  I am ready to toss this thing from my second story window.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

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Anonymous
2010-01-02T19:29:42+00:00

I think the answer might be the Windows Media Player and Windows Media Network Sharing Services as zxypher suggested.  The fix for that is to adjust were the Windows Media Player services search for media files. 

It seems to be a bad problem for me as well upgrading from Vista to Windows 7.  The default search location for media is set to C:\Users\ instead of down in the My Music folders.

Go into Media Player.  From the menu -> File -> Manage libraries -> select each library (music, video, pictures, recorded tv [if you have]) and check the paths that it is managing and make sure it is not too close to the root of the C: drive.  For example, it should be something like c:\users\Jim\Music and c:\users\Public\Music BUT NOT **** c:\users as they will cause the whole directory tree to be re-indexed over and over (when you surf the web or change any files in your profile).

If you have multiple users who login to the computer, you may need to repeat the process for each user if all users have added managed folders which are actively changing on a regular basis.

If this is your issue and you do it correctly, then the high CPU should drop in minutes (or seconds down to nothing).

This is the CORRECT way to adjust the WMNSS/WMPNetwk.exe process issues.

A little more information can be found here:

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7performance/thread/2fe4901b-2eaf-4a99-b487-e6a6213b10b3/

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-10-18T23:13:29+00:00

    Wes,

     Have you or anyone tried Fix Cleaner?

    http://www.windowsanswers.net/articles/fix-cpuusage?tid=highcpuusagegoogcontausnz

    This you can download and it will scan your PC, tell you that you have X amount of Registry problems etc, claims it is free, well the scan is but to repair cost you $35 ,not sure if USD or AUD , but they are at parity anyway. I refuse to pay that amount for a problem that is not mine? I use System Mechanics 10.5 as a cleaning tool, so I an regularly defragging the registry and memory , harddrive etc. http://www.iolo.com for 30 day trial of System Mechanic, I have used this product since for about 5 years, and can't complain. As for Fix Cleaner I think these that say are free and are not are a scam, but you can decide for yourself?

     As stated before, I will see what happens when I upgrade my hard drives. I was talking to a fellow IT mate and he mentioned Revo Drives, that are SSD , but plug into the PCI-E slot, they are made by OCZ, range from 50 GB - 480GB, down side you need to upgrade your Motherboard to one with multiple PCI-E slots, so you can run a graphics card as well, but you free up the bottleneck of SATA II, cost it over $200, not to mention the cost of a new motherboard? Would be good if you run a small C:\ drive with just your OS , AV and system files, then a RAID configuration or a spindle drive for storage, bootup speed would be super.

    http://www.ocztechnology.com/ocz-revodrive-pci-express-ssd.html

     Any way there is some food for thought? Be interested if anyone has tried Fix Cleaner??

      Pisces

     IT Tech Cert. 3

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-10-18T12:20:02+00:00

    Junlevanza,

    When I went to implement the fix you suggested I found that the option was already unchecked in my windows media player and wasn't causing the problem.

    Any other ideas?

    Wes

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-10-18T08:37:06+00:00

    Julevanza,

     I am already doing this and yes it makes a small diference but not a complete cure for me espescially, playing music, via the soundcard in a chat or music room, using Yahoo Messenger and Y Tunnel Pro, the official chat companion for Yahoo Messenger. I say using the sound card as compared to the people that feed music back from speaker to mic. Audiodg.exe file did not exist in XP so the problem should not exist?

       Pisces

         IT Tech Cert. 3

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