BleepingComputer.com: Vista explorer.exe very high CPU usage

I am very novice at PC issues, but, I've already run Ad Aware, done a system restore, and disabled my anti-virus that is outdated, but none have lowered my CPU usage problem.

I noticed the problem increasingly over the last week. It started when I started visiting Facebook, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it. I know that when I play 'Hell's Kitchen' on there, my usage is at about 100 percent.

Regardless of whether I have an explorer window open or not, my usage fluctuates between 30 and 80 percent.

Any help would be appreciated.
Patrick

You should probably check what services and processes you have running in the background. Ctrl+Alt+Delete and then click on the different tabs.

Process:

AAWTray.exe
Ati2ecxx.exe
csrss.exe
dwm.exe
eDSloader.exe
explorer.exe
FlashUtil10b.exe
ieuser.exe
iexplore.exe
ImApp.exe
jusched.exe
mobsync.exe
Mouse32A.exe
MySpaceIM.exe
PCMMediaSharing.exe
RtHDVCpl.exe
sidebar.exe
sm56hlpr.exe
taskeng.exe
taskmgr.exe
winlogon.exe
wmpnscfg.exe
wuaudt.exe
Ymsgr_tray.exe

Services:

SamSs
ProtectedStorage
NetTcpPortSharing
Netlogon
LiveUpdate Notice Ex
KeyIso
idsvc
CLTNetCnService
ccSetMgr
ccEvtMgr
PlugPlay
DcomLaunch
WinHttpAutoProxySvc
WebClient
wcnsvc
W32Time
upnphost
THREADORDER
TBS
SSDPSRV
SLUINotify
SCardSvr
QWAVE
nsi
netprofm
Mcs2Svc
lltdsvc
LanmanWorkstation
FDResPub
fdPHost
EventSystem
wscsvc
WPCSvc
PNRPsvc
PNRPAutoReg
p2psvc
p2pimsvc
lmhosts
Eventlog
Dhcp
Audiosrv
pla
MpsSvc
ehstart
DPS
BFE
wudfsvc
WPDBusEnum
Wlansvc
WdiSystemHost
UxSms
TrkWks
TabletInputService
Sysmain
PcaSvc
Netman
IPBusEnum
hidserv
EMDMgmt
dot3svc
AudioEndpointBuilder
WSearch
WMPNetworkSvc
wmiApSrv
VSS
vds
usnjsvc
UI0Detect
TrustedInstaller
SymAppCore
Symantec Core LC
swprv
stisvc
Steam Client Service
Spooler
SNMPTRAP
slsvc
ServiceLayer
SDRSVC
RpcLocator
RichVideo
ose
odserv
msiserver
MSDTC
LiveUpdate Notice Service
LiveUpdate
LightScribeService
Lavasoft Ad-Aware Service
ISPwdSvc
gusvc
FontCache3.0.0
eRecoveryService
ehSched
ehRecvr
eDataSecurity Service
DFSR
COMSysApp
comHost
clr_optimization_v2.0.50727_32
Automatic LiveUpdate Scheduler
Ati External Event Utility
ALG
AcerMemUsageCheckService
Acer HomeMedia Connect Service
wuauserv
Winmgmt
wercplsupport
Themes
ShellHWDetection
SharedAccess
SessionEnv
SENS
seclogon
SCPolicySvc
Schedule
RemoteAccess
RasMan
RasAuto
ProfSvc
MSISCSI
MMCSS
LanmanServer
ighlpsvc
IKEEXT
hkmsvc
gpsvc
EapHost
CertPropSvc
Browser
BITS
Appinfo
AeLookupSvc
WinRM
Wecsvc
TermService
TapiSrv
NlaSvc
napagent
KtmRm
Dnscache
CryptSvc
PolicyAgent
RemoteRegistry
RpcSs
WinDefend
WcsPlugInService
WdlServiceHost
WerSvc

You can turn off the Sidebar and Vista Aero, and that should help somewhat.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vis...-windows-vista/

You also have a LOT of services. Is the status of them all 'running'? Because if so then that's taking up a lot of resources. What you need to do is figure out what certain services are for, and whether or not they can be disabled. This site actually has a list of startup programs, and whether or not they're essential. http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/M....exe-17198.html

I don't know if there's any easy way to do this, as it's usually a long and tedious process, searching for them one by one. I use WinPatrol FREE which has a filter that doesn't list Windows services. It make things a little easier, but I'd still suggest being very careful. You don't want to accidentally disable an essential Windows service.

There are however certain obvious things that you can close when you're not using them. MySace IM for example. There's no reason to have that running if it's not being used. Research them and figure out what's what, and if you can turn some of those programs off it should definitely help you.