Is this normal for my netbook to run like this?

cluberti said:

No - Aero runs directly on the GPU, which is much more capable of handling the video code than the main CPU (given the GPU is designed to handle this task specifically, and the CPU is not). Using Aero offloads the code processing for most of the UI elements in Windows to the video card, freeing up the CPU to do other things. So while it isn't entirely obvious why turning on all the video bells and whistles - aka Aero - is actually better for Windows, once you understand how it works, it then does make sense.

Exactly, having aero enabled puts everything on the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and frees up your processor for use on other things since the code for the basic theme is not being put on the processor.
But aero is not available in Starter and Home Basic, so if you want the eye-candy (and a faster netbook and willing to pay for Home Premium) athen you would need to do the anytime upgrade.
No Worries if you do the Anytime Upgrade too, all the files for every edition of Windows 7 is there, even though you have Starter, anytime upgrade just adds the files of the version you entered the product key for into your Windows folder.

Thanks for answering the question guys, definetly learning something new :) I have Win Ultimate 7, so I do run the aero, but I have occasions have run without the aero theme and have noticed the processor's different performance.

Yes that is fine. Cannot do work on the computer without utilizing the CPU.

You never mentioned "memory" in your last post. Sorry but I'm not psychic.
But either way, yes it is fine. Both CPU and Memory usage.

The computer is fine with one word. :)