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
    2011-11-07T00:22:20+00:00

    To my Friend having this sort of problem, please try these;

    1. From your Windows Media Player, go to Tools then Option.
    2. Select Library.

    3. Unchecked  "Retrieve additional information from the internet".

    1. Apply, then OK.

    You will noticed a remarkable drop of CPU usage from over 90% to not more than 30%. You can use these options only if you don't need extra details from the music you are playing, because if this is enabled you will automatically get information or details of the song you are playing from the internet. (i.e.) Album, Genre, etc...

    These works both on WinXP/Vista or Windows7.

    Wished I had looked here first,

    Fixed in seconds     Many Thanks

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-11-22T04:39:57+00:00

    Hi all.

    My Laptop is G62 i3 3GB. I did install Win7 64bit Ultimate my self. I install all the drivers in the Drivers CD. After begin to update Automatic Updates my CPU usage is High. I add CPU Usage Gadget to my desktop. When the CPU usage is High i saw the Clock rate is reduced to 90Mhz (Ninty). In the Task Manager it has no High CPU usage programs either.  Any one has a reason for this ?

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