Windows 7: Sluggish performance during USB / network transfers

I have a pretty modern high-end PC running the x64 of Windows 7 ultimate using pretty much default settings with little / none tweaks.


When I transfer large volumes of data (a few gigs and above) I really notice my pc starts getting slow, it's especially noticeably in the mouse cursor which becomes annoyingly sluggish and then normal and then sluggish again, erratic in consistent mouse speed...

my cpu gadget indicates pretty much normal CPU load so I don't get it... I'm on a gigabyte ga-x48-ds5 motherboard using the onboard lan / onboard usb contacts.



How do I rectify this annoyance?

open up task manager, click show processes from all users, then select the columns as shown below to see what else is being used when you transfer a file
Attachment 99447
or better yet, open up resource monitor from the performance tab of task manager
chances are it's caused by windows media player network sharing service in conjunction with multiply instances of servicehost (applications phoning home) that's causing the slowdown

There is more then just CPU that can make a computer slow. Extensive I/O can bring a system down. A hard drive and the various connection can only handle so much load at a given time. Trying to go over that limit of course is going to cause the system to stutter and lag.

I also assume you Mouse is USB, USB ports usually share a single controller and I/O bus plus also require CPU time.

you might be onto something here, I use a shitload of usb on my computer and all of it either plugged into the 8 motherboard usb's or hubs connected to them.... would a pci-usb card help with this?