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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
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/

Was this answer helpful?

100+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

253 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2011-07-10T12:55:48+00:00

    I selected "Adjust for best performance" long ago, when I first got Win7 and had terrible performance. I stated that in my last response.

    My "Custom Option" is the setting to not let it sleep. That is the successful workaround I have reported repeatedly. You seem to be missing that point.

    Thank you for your efforts, but the issue is NOT the bios, or the number of apps I run at once, or whether I leave the computer on 24x7, or needing a graphics card, The computer performs JUST FINE with everything I do as long as I don't let it sleep. If it goes into "sleep" mode, the hardware abstraction layer dll then goes into a babbling state that cannot be stopped without rebooting. I have repeated this behavior several times, and documented it with screen captures of the taskmgr traces.

    While it is possible that some peripheral is causing this when it tries to wake up, that same peripheral does not cause issues at a fresh boot startup. The problem started when halmacpi.dll was updated by Microsoft on may 17, 2011. I did not change any hardware or software at that time.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2011-07-09T13:22:05+00:00

    As you say you have the latest BIOS update.

    The processor seems to be bottleneck that cannot be unblocked.

    The computer relies on in built graphics. You could change to a graphics card, which brings me to another thought.

    Type "Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows" in the Search Box above the Start button and press the ENTER key. You probably have the box the "Let Windows choose etc" option selected. You could try checking the box before "Adjust for best performance", click on the Apply button, exit and restart your computer. Test to see whether it makes any difference. You also have a Custom option but that needs an understanding of all the options.

    Do you multi-task i.e. run a number of applications at the same time? Do you leave the computer on 24/7?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2011-07-09T11:47:52+00:00

    BIOS Version/Date: 1.0.18 2/24/2009 (this is the version Dell currently offers for download).

    processor 4.3

    memory 4.9

    primary hd 5.9

    graphics 3.8

    gaming graphics 3.0

    I don't do gaming and have disabled all the fancy graphics in win7 (spinners and such) which did improve performance early on

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2011-07-09T06:21:24+00:00

    What is the BIOS version?

    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.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments