Forum FAQ: High CPU Utilization under Windows 2008 R2 or Windows 7 with inbox NIC driver.
Symptom
After installing Microsoft* Windows Server 2008 R2 or Microsoft* Windows 7, the system responds slowly, even though the installation itself completes successfully.
Users may find logging into the system very slow, and the keyboard and mouse response are sluggish. If opening Task Manager after a successful login, all CPU cores
show high utilization.
Cause
The problem seems to be related to the version of the Intel network card driver included in Microsoft* Windows 7 or Microsoft* Windows Server 2008 R2.
Workaround
While Intel is investigating this issue, the following workaround can be used to navigate around the issue.
Download the latest network card driver package from
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=18388.
or Attach a network cable on both of the network ports, it can be attached to a switch or just back to back. This needs to be done prior to loading the driver
or Utilize the Intel® Deployment Assistant to install the operating system, this would enable the operating system to use the latest network card driver from
http://www.intel.com
This issue only affects network controllers based on the 82575 or 82576 chipset. Check the Technical Product Specification of your board to see if you are affected.
For instance, the S3420GPRX uses an 82576, but the S3420GPLX/LC uses an 82574 and an 82578, and is therefore not affected by this issue.
More Information
Intel has published an article to describe this issue:
http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/sb/CS-031086.htm
Applies to
Windows 7
Windows Server 2008 R2
October 13th, 2010 9:56pm