no control over CPU activityI

[tidas1118]

   I have recently acquired a new HP 2000 with windows 8 installed,a AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD graphics  1.40GHz, 4.00 GB (3.60 usable) memory, and 64bit OS, x64based processor. I hope I have included the required information in order to deal with my problem easily. Now, the problem as best as I can describe it is that the CPU usage is off the charts no matter what I wish to do with this computer. I tried using the task manager to cipher out the bad actor with no positive results. It seems to recycle itself back to 99% on the CPU monitor. The number of processes and backgrounds are astoundingly high and I don't know why. My acer windows 7, which I still have, as never done this kind of act before.  Any way, at this point, I just can't use my new laptop due to this problem. I have been helped from here before and was sincerely grateful as I will be for this situation of mine as well. Thank You and your time is greatly appreciated.

[Geek-9pm]

Welcome to CH. Lots of good volunteers here will try and help.
High CPU usage is NOT normal with Win 8. When idle it is about the same as windows 7 , unless  something strange is going on.

You said new. How new? You need to take it back right away.
It may be hard to believe, but even the best makers of PCs have lemon once in awhile. It happens.

If it is new, .you must get in contact with the vendor or maker as soon as posible.

[Allan]

Which process us using the cpu?

[soybean]

If it's new, it's under warranty.  Call HP about this. They should help troubleshoot the problem.  If they ask to remotely connect to your computer, I think I'd allow that in this case. 

The culprit could be their software; HP installs some software on their computers.  One of their programs/apps is HP Support Assistant.  When I bought my HP laptop in early March 2013, that software was causing some problems.  I called HP.  They had me uninstall it and download and install the latest version.  That solved the problem.

As Allan mentioned, look in Task Manager and see what process is causing heavy consumption of CPU resources.

[tidas1118]

  Well, It seems to be the norton anti-virus with the most / highest cpu numbers. I have installed Iobit and Malwarebytes anti-virus and Iobit fighter2 , and system care6. What would be the best combination of security because norton will be uninstalled never to return? Thank you

[DaveLembke]

Recently acquired brand new ( clean ) or used ( could be malware on it from prior owner etc )?

Have you left the computer on to run through to the end of the CPU hogging process and come back to it later to find that its idling and ready for use?

This APU is not very powerful at 1.4Ghz and I have seen slow APU's cause a computer like this to run slower than death for say the first 5 to 10 minutes or longer if a virus scan starts and runs. I have avoided buying slow APU's because of what I have seen in the field working on them. They are designed to be low cost, power efficient, cool running, and unfortunately slow when it comes to APU's that are lower than 2Ghz in speed. I have seen some desktops with APU's that are decent gaming machines but they are not low cost laptops or computers with weak APUs.

I have an older laptop that runs about as slow as my friends newer APU laptop. Mine is a Dell Inspiron Celeron M 1.6Ghz running Windows 7 32 bit on 2GB RAM ( single-core ) and his is a ASUS AMD C30 APU 1.2Ghz on 2GB RAM also running Windows 7 32-bit. Both laptops you have to turn them on and walk away for a good 5 or 10 minutes  as for the APU and CPU are busy getting Windows 7 and all services to their idle state in which the computer use is acceptable. Trying to do anything during this time when its still loading services, performing quick scans, etc will make for frustration and applications hang because the CPU and APU are both at 95-100%

[soybean]

  Well, It seems to be the norton anti-virus with the most / highest cpu numbers. I have installed Iobit and Malwarebytes anti-virus and Iobit fighter2 , and system care6. What would be the best combination of security because norton will be uninstalled never to return? Thank you

I'm surprised to hear that; it runs counter to my experience earlier this year with my HP laptop (purchased early March).  It came with Norton Internet Security and it ran quite well.  Norton even displayed its CPU usage right on its own main screen; this mirrored what Task Manager showed for Norton.  I would have kept Norton when the 60 day free trial period expired if I were going to use a paid antivirus app.  But, I installed avast Free Antivirus, which I had been using on my Windows 7 PC.

I had an issue with HP Support Assistant, one of the HP programs installed when I bought the laptop.  I called HP.  They had me remove it and download and install the latest version.  That solved the problem.

[Allan]

Pick one anti virus app and uninstall the other. You should never have more than on AV app installed.