Why does certain web pages cause my cpu % to increase?

Here is what happens when I open the yahoo link http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090724092208AAoyfbl


CPU-usage.JPG

Sounds like some client-side script is running, perhaps to deliver multimedia ads, or hopefully not, deliver malware.  Pages with flash or other video can eat up CPU cycles.

thanks callandor and a1aait,

I will try installing and running Firefox.

Should I accept the defaults on the Firefox install?

I am trying to get a browser that won't make my laptop run slowly.

Also have been considering upgrading the Ram to 1gb and/or a higher rpm hard drive; would either of these help with the cpu%?

This is what the yahoo classic mail page does to my cpu. This time it came back down by itself after 20 or 30 secs.
yahoo-mail-cpu.JPG

>This is what the yahoo classic mail page does to my cpu. This time it came back down by itself after 20 or 30 secs.

Ok probably more like 80 secs as I think each line on the graph is 5 secs.

Installed Firefox and I think it uses less resources that IE6 but I think the biggest problem is flash.

Any way to optimize how Flash runs? Make Flash use less cpu, resize the video size, etc..

Would more memory (RAM) help Flash use less CPU cycles?

The problem is that when I load antivirus such as avg and then run these flash web pages my computer is not responsive.
I sometimes can not open another program or close a browser window because the processor is at 100%.
Is there any way to reduce how much cpu flash uses?
I have noticed that two browser windows open use more cpu than one browser window with two tabs open.
If I can't get this laptop to be a little more responsive then it is not fun to use.
I hate getting the flashlite when I open my computer for 5 minutes or waiting for a couple of minutes just to open Internet Explorer.

I agree with a1aait - I would suggest more RAM to prevent swapping to disk.  It looks like you only have 512MB, and the initial cpu activity may be the swapping, unless you have a website malware scanner in your browser.  If you do, deactivate that toolbar.

When I open the webpage with Firefox it does not use as many cpu cycles.

So maybe this page has an IE ActiveX problem like Callandor wrote.
Firefox.JPG

thanks Mr E,

Is there a way to disable and enable flash in IE or Firefox?

Any way to change the size, quality etc. of Flash in order to reduce cpu usage?

.... and I use this free toolbar button utility to toggle Flash on and off in IE7 when the advertising banners become obtrusive:

http://flash.melameth.com/
http://flash.melameth.com/togflash.html
http://flash.melameth.com/togflash.msi

thanks Mr E and BillDL,

I am very excited about using these utilities to control flash.

Will try and report back.

Hi Dragon0x40

You mentioned that you are running IE6 in XP and asked if you should upgrade to IE8.  My personal opinion is that upgrading to IE7 is a good idea, but there are a lot of problems with IE8.  The IE7 layout is quite different to IE6 and takes a bit of getting used to.  I found that upgrading to IE7 was trouble free FOR ME except for one issue.  It does something strange to existing and new shortcuts to web pages on your Start Menu and leaves them with the icon for files that don't have a program association.  Some programs add shortcuts to their online help pages, etc. to the Start Menu along with the shortcut to the program.  These will show that "unassociaetd" icon if you upgrade to IE7.

If you do decide to upgrade to IE7, then the layout will be a little unfamiliar.  It doesn't show the normal text menu automatically or at the top, and only has a tiny Toolbar at the right.
http://wb7tjd.org/IE7/
There are quick and easy registry tweaks that allow you to place the normal menu at the top and hide the search bar.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/place-ie7-menu-bar-back-on-top/

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows/remove-the-built-in-search-bar-on-ie-7/

"Tabbed" browsing, just like Mozilla firefox and Opera had for a long while before IE7, is good once you get used to it, but you need to configure it to work the way you want.

http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/archive/2007/03/30/ie7-tabbed-browsing.aspx

The "Toggle Flash" is just a one-click way of doing what can easily be done using the Internet Explorer 7 menu options:
Tools > Manage Add-Ons > Enable or Disable Add-ons.
Choose "Add-Ons Currently Loaded in Internet Explorer" and look for "Shockwave Flash Object".  Click on it, select "Disable", and click OK.

If it doesn't show in the "Add-Ons Currently Loaded in Internet Explorer" list, then that is because you have not yet visited any pages that require Flash since powering up, so instead choose the "Add-Ons that run without requiring permission" and you can disable it there.

Having the Toggle Flash button handy just means you can click on it, wait a moment, then refresh the page, and Flash will be disabled until you choose to enable it again.  You will know when it has been disabled, because it will show as "Disabled" in the above "Manage Add-Ons" dialog, and you will also see an icon in the Status Bar when Flash tries to load.  It just means that you will get a blank space where the Flash Object should be displayed, which can seem like a nuisance, but at least it doesn't have to load it when you don't need or want it.

One thing you may have read about in your online searches is adding the URLs of known sites that serve advertising content to the HOSTS file, which is:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\HOSTS
in Windows XP.  It is all explained here:
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

I suggest that you ** DO NOT ** use the above ready made HOSTS file in Windows XP.  The editor of the above page says this:
"In most cases a large HOSTS file (over 135 kb) tends to slow down the machine."
Well, their HOSTS file is 612KB and it DOES slow Internet Explorer (IE7) down considerably on Windows XP.

Bill

I tried to install togflash for IE but I need to upgrade to IE7 first but I don't think I will upgrade right now.

I also installed adblock plus and flash block for Firefox and they seems to work fine so far.

Will order another 512 mb of ram.