CPU Underperforming

Alright I have a HP Pavilion dv7 laptop computer (feel free to google the specifications if that helps). Not too long ago it started running extremely slowly compared to the power my CPU has (its a quad core). When i am running nothing on it the CPU meter can jump up to 70% usage. This is insane because before i could run multiple processes and it would barely make it to 10% usage. Ive defragmentent my hard drive, done a quick virus scan (to do a full scan would have taken ridiculously long it said somthing like 3-4 days until completion). Hardrive space cant be an issue beacause i have a 1Tb hardrive and am using about 20% of it. I also went into Msconfig and set my startup to only run windows 7, and my anti-virus (kaspersky). I dont know if this is a malware problem or hardware problem or what the issue is. So any help would be beneficial. If you need more information just ask and ill post it here. Oh and also i went into task manager and looked at my processes, i didnt see anything above 10% CPU usage. there are about 5-6 processes all raging from 1-8% CPU usage and all of it added up can never make it to the 70% i see at the bottom.

 

I suspect either your CPU is overheating and being throttled or it is malware. I would suggest that you download Coretemp to have a look at your CPU temperatures and run a full AV scan. You may also want to download Malware Bytes Anti Malware and run a full scan with that.

PS if you are asking people for help it is in your interest to give us the specs as the less work helpers have to do the more inclined they are to help.

If you want you can download and install Speccy which will give you a full system spec (Just make sure you delete your Windows Serial).

 

Ok so i got the Coretemp program, it showed my max temp was 100C, and my CPU's were running at 80-81C which is 20 degrees lower than the maximum, so im guessing this has to be a malware problem then.

And here are some specs from the box
Intel Core i7-720QM processor 1.5 GHz with turbo boost up to 2.5 GHz
1TB Harddrive
6144MB of DDR3 RAM
ATI Mobilty Radeon HD 5650 Switchable Graphics with 1024MB dedicated graphics memory
Windows 7 home premium

That was all i thought could possibly be relevant.

 

I've now also finished a full virus scan, nothing showed up. So if its not overheating and its not a virus what could it be?

 

80c is pretty hot. it shout idle at about 50c and get to about 70-80c under load. id strip your laptop down and give it all a good clean then see how you go.

 

I'd need to rule out a bad driver causing the Windows kernel to run harder than usual to control it, LatencyMon is a good tool for this.

 

It's probably still under warranty, hopefully. 100C does sound a bit hot for a laptop but not overly so. From Intel,TJUNCTION 100° but from what the OP mentioned, heat should not be the issue. I'm at a loss ATM.:confused Does very hot air come out the back, fan sounds like it's really working hard?