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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  1. Anonymous
    2010-07-15T05:17:58+00:00

    Andre, I think the manufacturer is SMC Networks.  I've tried downloading a driver for it, but none of the links I find are kosher. 

    Andy, what registry cleaner did you use?  I have tried using Advanced SystemCare Free, CCleaner, and one other I forgot.  None of them have fixed it yet.  But, yes, they do speed up and help your computer.  The first time I scanned I had over 700 the first time, and 400 the second with another program.

    Any more ideas?

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-07-14T19:33:41+00:00

    Yes, maybe the cause. What's the manufacture of the device?


    "A programmer is just a tool which converts caffeine into code" CLIP- Stellvertreter http://www.winvistaside.de/

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-07-14T19:22:09+00:00

    you know that was happening to me to, i have a cpu meter gaget and my cores were always way to high, then one day just for the ____ of it, i ran a registry cleaner and had almost 400 useless entries so i clicked fix on the registry cleaner menu, and that was the end of my cpu problem, its weird because i didnt get the reg cleaner to fix my over active core problems, i just wanted to see if it would speed up my laptop, then the next day i noticed that my cpu cores were running normal and not always between 90 or 100 percent, now at idle my cores are between 5 and 15 percent and when im watching a online video they are at 50 to 70 percent, but i do see them jump to 100 percent every so often, but before i ran the reg cleaner they would be pinned at 100 percent

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-07-14T18:52:24+00:00

    Andre,

    Also, this problem started to occur right around the time I went on vacation and tried accessing the internet using a SMC2209USB/ETH.  The driver never installed though and ever since, my computer's been acting this way.  It could just be a coincidence, but it's the only device on my computer that doesn't have a driver installed.  Could there be a connection?  It doesn't register in device manager, but I've used some driver update software and they show it as a device without a driver.

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