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
    2011-08-29T02:02:20+00:00

    This may not be a solution, but it may help?

    IN "search" tpye " %Temp%", click on temp file and delete contents, this frees up Memory as cookies etc. I got this from Symantec Tech Support, and they assure me that Norton will not cause the issue that plagues me. it may even have solved the problem with the Kapersky issue, as In Norton he increased my MISC Tasks "auto resume to 20 mins, Auto task to 20 mins and Idle time to 30 mins. A lot more help than Microsoft who just palmed me of to their partner "Gizmo" for a solution, who charge like a wounded bull.

     Pisces

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-08-28T08:21:08+00:00

    Jack,

    I have an IT Cert..3 Certificate on my wall, for System Builds and Microsoft Vista Configuration Course and IT Essential PC Software and Hardware. So I know the meaning of compatibility, as stated before I read this could just be related to Motherboards with RealTek sound cards, in my case so I have been through my PC and updated all the drivers and even a BIOS flash. I won't change my Anti Virus unless it fail me badly, and revert to what freeware??

    http://s1113.photobucket.com/albums/k515/Pisces19522000/?action=view&current=freezing1.png#!oZZ3QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1113.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fk515%2FPisces19522000%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3Dfreezing.png

    There are some screen shots of my CPU going Hyper, for your info : Asus P5P43TD Pro motherboard, Intel dual core 3.0 Ghz CPU, WD SATA hard drive,and Nvidia Graphics and LG SATA optical drive. I will contact Microsoft again tomorrow. You here a lot of thing how Bill "borrowed" WMP from Apple, an out of court settlement etc solve the issue, FF started it's life as IE changed 30% to avoid copyright, you look at IE9 and FF5 and see how similar in looks they are? I have a crude fix for myself, but I am planning to rebuild my desktop to a 64 bit system, SSD main drive and either a RAID configuration , or a 1TB for storage. I will use Resource monitor to see if it throws up anything else?

       Pisces

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-08-28T04:54:59+00:00

    These issues are a pain to isolate. Very frustrating. Since you built your own system, there may also be some hardware driver compatibility issues. Dell, HP and others usually try to ensure all their drivers work well together. I mention this as I have seen a couple other forums where audiodg.exe was taking 50% or more of CPU cycles on Win7 x64 systems and reinstalling the drivers for the systems was the cure. When you build it your self (something I too enjoy doing) you don't have much recourse in this department. Still (and I haven't read all the messages in this thread, so forgive me if I'm repeating what someone else said) I'd look to the vendors of your system's components for driver updates.

    I'd still suggeswt looking at Resource Monitor when your CPU goes into hyperdrive as I find it shows more processes than Task Manager or the Processes tab. Audiodg.exe may not be your only problem.

    My friend with Kapersky has been using Kapersky on his Win7 x64 system for nearly a year without any issues. Then all of a sudden, his CPU was slammed. So, even though a program like Norton has worked well for you for years, you never know when MS releases a fix that trashes a dependency Norton's relied on or when Norton releases a fix that introduces an issue in your environment. Not that I'm an Apple fan, but thier strong control over system components makes the software developer's task a bit easier in this department.

    Good luck!

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-08-28T03:17:37+00:00

    dbcii,

     do you know what update this came down in? got a KB number??

     

      Pisces

    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.

    I got the date from the date the file was installed on my pc. I had many updates installed on that date; most were application updates. I expect this probably came in with Win7 Service Pack 1. KB976932

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