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
    2011-07-09T04:21:29+00:00

    Bought it new with Win7, early in 2010. 2 Gb RAM

    Registry cleaner is not running.

    before isolating the trigger (emerging from sleep) I studied what services were most active when the issue existed. Windows search was one, Media player search was another. McAfee was another. I disabled all three, completely deinstalled McAfee. Even stripped of all these, the same behavior persisted. Great performance, minimal cpu usage after boot and as long as it stayed awake. Straight to 100% cpu, horrible response, freezing windows after sleep. After  I finally identified the trigger, I reinstalled McAfee, activated WMP and search. Performance is fine.  I'll follow your guidance on fixing search. Thanks

    But the issue still exists, and I am using a workaround by not letting it sleep.

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-07-08T23:31:00+00:00

    Did you ever find out your answer?  I have found a couple of items in Vista and Win 7 that kill my processor from time to time -- PresentationFontCache.  If you delete the file associated with this -- and it is a file with .db, it will rebuilt itself fresh and won't clog up your processor.

    Also -- audiodg.exe -- Just read about this one today.  it gives you fancy-schmancy audio sounds that work fine with out it.

    These can be disabled by right clicking on the audio speaker icon in the lower Right hand corner in the task bar, choose playback devices,   Choose the driver with a green checkmark,  Rt click and choose properties, and choose Enhancements.  Disable all devices.  You can turn this on  or off at will.  the audiodg.exe running in task mgr won't hog the CPU any more.

    Sincerely,

    hoosiermary

    tech w/o a cert but 20 years practical exp.

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-07-08T22:26:09+00:00

    When did you buy the computer?

    Did you buy the computer with Windows 7 preinstalled or was there an earlier version of Windows on the computer when it was new?

    How much RAM does the computer have?

    What is the BIOS version?

    McAfee is a poor choice and you could see an immediate improvement in performance if it were replaced with any of a number of freeware options.

    Your Windows Search is clearly not working properly so that needs fixing. Also to get the search engine working efficiently the Indexing Service needs to being configured to  find only what the user wants to find. Searching the wrong areas and for the wrong things waste memory and CPU capacity.

    I would check the status of Services.

    Click on the Start button and select Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services. Locate Windows Search in the list. Check that it has started and that the StartUp type is Automatic. If it is not set to Automatic right click and select Properties, General tab. There is a box after StartUp type. The options are available on a drop down by clicking on the arrow down to the right of the box. Make the change and click on Apply and OK. Restart the computer and check whether it has started.

    Are any registry cleaners still installed. Registry cleaners provide negligible benefits and rather than solving problems they can create new errors which are difficult to solve without reinstalling the operating system with all that entails. I recommend uninstalling.

    1. Open the registry and go to "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID{<CLSID in the event message>} to find out friendly name of this component. In my case, this is "Machine Debug Manager” (CLSID: 0C0A3666-30C9-11D0-8F20-00805F2CD064).
    2. Go to Component Services via Start -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Components Services. Expand the Component Services branch then expand "Computers", "My Computer", and "DCOM Config". Right-click on "Machine Debug Manager" (or whatever your CLSID represents) and choose Properties. Click on the Security tab and under “Launch and Activation Permissions” select "Use Default". Click OK, close the Component Services window. The error should disappear now.

    Source: http://www.eventid.net/display.asp?eventid=10016&eventno=4718&source=DCOM&phase=1

    The other guid {9209B1A6-964A-11D0-9372-00A0C9034910 also could refer to the Machine Debug Manager. I most likely need to do further some research regarding Event ID: 10016.

    When it says open the Registry it means you should select Start, Run, type "regedit" witout quotes and press the ENTER key. Place the cursor on Computer, select Edit, Find and paste the guid in the Find box and press the ENTER key. To find the next entry press the F3 key. To return to Computer press Ctrl+Home. The objective is to confirm what is the name of the application the guid represents.

    It could help to know the Windows Experience Sub-scores your computer achieves. Type Windows Experience Index in the Search Box above the Start button and press the ENTER key. Click on Re-run the Assessment in the bottom right corner of the Window. Please advise the new sub-scores.

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-07-08T21:07:58+00:00

    Dell Inspiron 530s

    McAfee

    Yes, I have run registry cleaners, but after the problem started.

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