I have a 1ghz hp pavillion with an AMD processor on a 200 mhz bus along with 128mb ram running Windows ME. The cpu usage remains between 90% and a 100% all of the time even when nothing is open, according to the system monitor. This can't be normal? There doesn't seem to be anything running in the background that I can tell, althought there is 7 or 8 programs in the task bar loaded on boot up, including NAV, a firewall program, adaptec direct cd wizard, and monitor res. Could the programs in the task bar be using a that high amount of the processors usage?

yes. remove everything from startup folder, then run msconfig, click startup and remove everything from there except system tray. i only have one program in my systray and that's for freeing up more memory : )

mainly antivirus programs that are running constantly take too much cpu usage... just run the virus scan on as needed bases Regards Miro

I never use those crappy bloatware antivirus apps. All you truly need is a good firewall and enuf sense not to open email attachments from people you don't know. The norton firewall is great, but it could be a trick to leave it on while disabling all other norton utilities, especially if they came preloaded. You may check out Black Ice.

yeah if its mcafee antivirus but norton does a pretty good job i would say dont give up your antivirus even while using common sense and firewall all that because believe me it can still happen i would have been infected a couple of times if it was not for norton

Better yet, if you're using cable or DSL for internet access consider a Cable/DSL Router, (link below) it includes a built-in hardware firewall and then you can uninstall your CPU gobbling firewall software. Leave AutoProtect enabled you can still transfer viruses to your PCs with floppies, Zips, and CDs. http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=273755