Windows 7: Too many processes... Lag?

So, I just recently formatted my HDD, and did a clean install of Windows 7 Ultimate x86. Prior to me formatting, when I wasn't doing anything, when the OS was sitting idle, I'd have 15-20 processes running at the most. My CPU usage was always anywhere from 2%-7%, and I experienced no lag at all. RAM usage was usually around 420MB-ish. I came upon a problem, and had to reformat. After a clean install of 7, I proceeded to go online and re-download and install all of the programs I had. Just recently, I've noticed my CPU usage is jumping from 0% to 50% to 100% and down back to 0% every 2 seconds. I now have 45-50 processes running at any given time, and my RAM usage is 530MB+. What the hell could have caused a slowdown like this? Why are there more processes then before? I already checked startup programs and stuff. What seems to be doing it is about 15 "svchost.exe" processes running at any given time. On my previous installation, I had like 2-3 at the most. I'm not enjoying this lag. Somebody help me out?

Another note:
On my previous installation, for gaming graphics in WEI, I got a 3.0. Now, I've got a 2.0. No change in hardware.



Help would be much appreciated.. thanks..

~TA

You need to get more RAM at least 2gb more otherwise your pagefile is going is going to take over and you will have allot off HDD use witch will show your computer down.

I'm upgrading to 2gb soon enough. I just wanted to know why it was fine *before* I formatted and reinstalled.

There is a problem, but I do not know what it is, other than ram. If you have not tried it already, take the memory diagnostic test by typing same in search. Wish you luck.

Will do, thanks.

There probably IS NOT anything wrong.

Please keep in mind that 7 is NOT Win XP.

They are different, 7 runs completely differently than XP, and it uses more resources than XP because of it.
You will need to add more memory, and yes, 1 to 2 gigs more would be good enough.

Unfortunately, you have an older laptop, you are going to need to upgrade to a newer one to take full advantage of 7 at a smooth pace. Although adding RAM is going to help a lot. Your video card however, your kinda stuck.

Don't compare 7 to XP, they are completely different and require different hardware.

Sorry for kind of bumping this old post, I realized I forgot to check back on it. I'd like to clarify, I was not talking about XP. I had the same edition of *Windows 7 Ultimate*, build 7600.16385. That is the OS that was installed, before I formatted my hard drive. I then re-installed Windows 7, and had these problems, when on my previous install of Windows 7, I never had any such problems.
Windows XP... wow. I haven't used that since before Build 7000.

You could also try readyboost, this might help with speeding up application launches.

The reason I mentioned Xp, is alot of people complain about the resource issues with 7 as compared to XP.
Your system though is still a bit lower than it should be for a good smooth operatino of 7.
Readyboost could help with that.

You might also want to check out Process Explorer to see what is going on with svchost processes
Or any others that are causing the CPU fluctuations

You are probably victim of page thrashing. About 900GB usable RAM is cutting it tight. The svchost.exes run .dlls which are common system subroutines. If you want to know what they do, I recommend you run Process Explorer. if you hover over the processes, it will tell you what they do. If you right click on them and go to Properties, you get more info. Click on CPU on the top, to see which processes take all the CPU time. Then click on Process so that you get a still picture to explore the processes.
Btw: 50 processes running at the same time is not unusual. I have more.