WMC Live TV lags, High CPU Usage

Hello,
I have an HP Pavillion dv2915nr notebook
Vista SP2
Centrino 1.83 Core 2 Duo processor
3 MB DDR2 RAM
250 GB hard drive
Onboard x3100 Intel GMA, up to 358 MB video memory
Avertv Hybrid Volar Max USB TV Tuner for Windows Model #MTVHVMXSK
WMC pre-loaded, no third party codecs (have not updated original codecs, unless it has been done during Windows updates)

Installed TV tuner, connected analog coax cable (no HD) and configured WMC in January. Live TV worked fine unless I was running other videos or apps that really stressed the CPU. But lately, in the last few weeks, live TV has been lagging, with video and sometimes sound breaking up every few minutes, sometimes freezing for a few seconds and then trying to catch up again.

I have been monitoring system performance while live tv is playing, here are the usual readings:
CPU usage usually in the 75%-95% range, with consistent spikes up to 100 % (which is usually when the video/audio stutters)
Memory usage 65-70% (1.7 MB out of 3 MB)
Page file usage around 2000 out of 6000 KB
Hard drive usage 70-75%

Tried tweaking the services settings with the open source gaming tool at smartpcutilities.com, which disabled most non-eseential Windows services. All that did was lower memory usage down to around 50%, but didn't do much for CPU usage.

Other videos, even HD streaming videos online, seem to work fine, it's just WMC live TV that's having these problems. I haven't confirmed this completely, but at least once it seemed to me that live TV played better soon after I re-booted windows, and it seems to get worse the longer I have the notebook on and it gets hotter (although I am using a cooling stand for the notebook and CPU fan seems to be working normally).

I have also noticed lately that the hard drive light seems to be flashing more lately, like the CPU or hard drive are struggling to process data, even when video is not running (note: I have already defragged the hard drive, no effect).

Any ideas on what I can do to fix this?

Thanks in advance...

 

Hard drive usage 70-75%? Do you mean the drive is about 75% full? The less free space there is, the more often you should defrag to minimize the likelihood of 'lag' from the drive being overworked.

 

You want to be carefull tweaking Windows Services you can break some thing with out knowing it easy.

Ok what version of WMP do you have is it 11 i think it is for windows Vista.

 

I watch live TV through Windows Media Center rather than WMP. Is there a way to watch live TV and get the program guide through WMP?
I have not upgraded the WMC version that came with Vista, but perhaps some of the automatic updates updated it?
My hard drive is at 53% capacity, but in the System performance tool it says hard drive usage in a percentage,m and it's typically 70-75%.

 

I would say you need to Defrag your hard drive try this.How much cd ripping have you done if you have done a lot in a short amount of time then i think your HD needs a Defrag that tool is much better then windows defrager and works quicker.

This should help http://majorgeeks.com/IObit_SmartDefrag_d5318.html
If it does not change the Resource usage then i will give you another link that might help.

 

I dont think its fragmention, but i would look at making sure any apps that are running in your taskbar are completely necessary.