CPU usage avg over 75%.. need to upgrade

[sixfortyninemx]

My system is certainly underpowered. Right now I simply use it for a internet,word processing and graphic design box. CPU usage is typically very high. I have already maxed out the ram option to 1gb. What can I do to speed up the pc? If I free up hard-drive space will it run any better?

:confused:

[saphalline]

Need info on your hardware and software first. What do you have? What OS are you using? Is your system infected or otherwise bogged down with junk?

[sixfortyninemx]

XP, AMD AMD Duron(tm) Processor 896 MHz
800 x 600 in 64K Colors, NVIDIA Ge

[ski]

Update your antivirus program, and check for viruses.
Also, run Ad-aware and Spybot to remove any spyware.
If no luck, then run Hijack This, and post its results.

[mondsi]

you may also investigate the task manager processes by pressing ctrl+alt+delete. Go to the Processes tab and observe what .exe use a lot of cpu usage. once you locate the .exe that uses a lot of cpu usage try to identify if you have this software running in your machine but if not, most probably it is a spyware.

try to end process the suspicious .exe.

one more thing before you go to the task manager processes dont open any program.

[saphalline]

You shouldn't be at 75% CPU usage if you're running WinXP on a Duron 900. Your system is infested with junk. Follow the above advice and come back if you have any more questions. If it's been more than 2 years since you reinstalled Windows, it might actually be time for a wipe & clean install.

[sixfortyninemx]

My system is updated with Norton systemworks, and a handful of spyware,cleanup tools.

[saphalline]

Then run HJT or check the task manager. There's no reason you should be at 75% CPU usage with WinXP on a Duron 900. This isn't even a RAM problem, either. One of my office machines is a Celeron 400, and it never goes above 6% CPU usage with WinXP Pro with nothing running. And a Duron 900 is powerful enough to blow that Celeron 400 out of the water! With nothing running on boot-up, your system shouldn't be higher than 6% at the most.

[jlreich]

My system is updated with Norton systemworks, and a handful of spyware,cleanup tools.
What about a firewall?

[sixfortyninemx]

at bootup its not over 5%... once i get aim, a couple windows popped it jumps right up...

[saphalline]

Ohhh! I get it now! Your system isn't infected or anything, you just want a CPU upgrade? Ok, there's a big difference there vs how you made it sound. We were all under the impression that your CPU usage was at 75% at boot up! 75% with multiple apps running is an entirely different story!

Ok, upgrades...

First, we need to know the model of your mobo. It's entirely possible that you can upgrade to a much better CPU with merely a BIOS upgrade. Let us know what mobo you have and we can tell you how far you can go.

Second, what vid card do you have? Is it a dedicated vid card or onboard? This can greatly affect your system's performance, especially with all the eye-candy that WinXP has.

Third, have you defragged your hard drive lately? I do this every 2 days or so and when I install something new. A heavily fragmented hard drive can really drag your performance down when opening apps/files and when loading levels in a game.

Fourth, what size is your swap file (virtual memory)? Setting it to one size (ie max size = min size) can significantly speed up Windows on a slower hard drive. Also make sure your swap file is all together. A fragmented swap file is nearly as bad as a dynamically-sized swap file.

[sixfortyninemx]

800 x 600 in 64K Colors, NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400 (Microsoft Corporation) Ver. 6.14

mobo???

Defragmented- Both drives I've defragmented recently. Although their both small and almost full. (Cannot get cd-rw to write disks to remove some of the old files that are to be saved) (20gb/7gb)

Initial size-1534mb
Max size- 3500mb

[saphalline]

Ok, so you have a GF2 MX... Is this an actual vid card or onboard? I still can't tell by what you listed. It looks like you took that info off of Windows, and you don't have NVidia's drivers installed, either. Ummm... ok try this: is your monitor connected to your computer in the area where the USB/parallel ports are, or is it connected to a slot away from the other ports?

Mobo = motherboard. If you open up your case, you can't miss it! :p

Ok good. Defragged is always best!

With 1GB of RAM, you don't need a swap file that big. Set the min & max size to 800MB. That's plenty.

[sixfortyninemx]

Adjusting the min & max down to 800mb, will this affect anything?

Looks like it's T-Bird AMD K7


Pictures may help you better....

Can only upload 19kg size files??? Thats a small pic

[sixfortyninemx]

The monitor is not plugged into stock card, it is pluged into a different one.

[sixfortyninemx]

anyone able to assist this issue?

[saphalline]

Yeah, only small pics can be put in a thread. You got a website you can upload the pics to? Or perhaps make some ASCII art? :p Maybe we can find some pics online that will help you understand what we're asking...