The CPU is from 2005, and you're running Vista on it. When the CPU jumps to 70%, what can you see in the task manager that's causing it? What virus scanner/protection do you have? Vista/7 (not sure about 8, don't own it) runs at 100 on a minimal level) What Windows do you use? (I presume XP, 70~ processes is very low. Likewise, I can easily spot a foreign task/object running in the task manager by only giving it a brief look.
What XGargoyle said works, but needs effort on your part and will bring about overall a smoother machine.įor example, I can safely say all machines I use on a day to day basis (my laptop at work, my servers, and my home PC) I know intimately, if something is disabled/missing in the task manager I can usually spot it I know what I can safely disable to tune my machines to the max without affecting day to day use. It'll help, but requires what I would describe as intimate knowledge of your own machine (and if you're just starting out, a lot of reading/research). Hmm in my opinion besides maybe Indexing Service/Windows Update, I don't think stopping the Windows built in services would reduce CPU usage that much.
