Windows autoupdates off, cuz resources

Even on an Intel El Paso 2 motherboard, 1 gig (2x512) PC 2100 RAM, and the Intel pentium 4 at 1.6 Ghz, Windows Update crawls my log-on because it drains too many resources. I turned it off months ago. Magical Now I just manually update. Why does AutoUpdate take so many resources? (15 sec to load service?) There is NO spyware, no viruses, no adware, no disk fragmentation, no driver issues, no registry problems, no boot problems, no power supply problems, no hard ware problems, no corruption, no heat problems (the computer is clean, okay?). When you come right down to it, it's MicroCrud's bad programming, isn't it?
Would someone please tell me why Norton Anti-virus 2003 also hogs a couple of hundred MB of RAM and 70 percent of the CPU?

it doesnt straight away updates the downloaded files, these are first downloaded to temporary files, and then start installing, as if you have previously downloaded all the files, it keeps on installing slowly whenever you start your PC, I myself manually update windows, only downloading those things which are actually needed (no crap).

and does anti virus does that all the time? i mean, considering virus scan or updating its OK, but shouldnt be doing all the time. as I'm using it on both me slower pc and faster pc, not a problem like that occured. but of course i have turned off the auto updates of software (not virus definition update).

Something is definitely off if NAV hogs a couple hundred megs of memory... the 70% CPU is understandable though (only if you're doing an active scan). What specific processes are killing the CPU/memory?

Norton Anti-virus Auto-Protect

The Norton Icon in the system tray (which is the only system tray icon) means Auto-Protect (firewall). Then there is the good Norton hidden toolbar in Internet Explorer to protect you. I have cable internet. Whenever Norton auto-updates, it chokes my desktop for about 12-15 seconds. Is this normal? I only manully update Windows. Norton is auto. What's the true bottleneck of my system? Is it RAM? Graphics? Processor? Logging on is fast, but connecting to my ISP's servers is sometimes jaggy and slow. Road Runner doesn't have the capacity

Would getting a Pentium 4 with Hyper Threading enable faster network connect? Thank you for your kind responses

Whenever Norton auto-updates, it chokes my desktop for about 12-15 seconds. Is this normal?

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Dunno if i'd call it normal but it is certainly not abnormal.... it really depends on how well cleaned your computer is of all the gunk that comes with XP as much as it does with your system specs

Would getting a Pentium 4 with Hyper Threading enable faster network connect

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Since HT is only available on P4s that are overall, faster than the NorthwoodA you've got the answer is yes but not because of the HT. HT only helps if you're running multiple CPU tasks simultaneously. I'm thinking a bigger/faster HDD would be a good start as the rest of your system, while not bleeding edge, should be decent to run stuff like Norton update. Also, note that you can manually run the updates

Okay, cool

Thank you for your time. I appreciate that.

Not a problem, glad I could help!

HDD slows down

cuz of your 20 gig hdd it could be you have less space left on it.
check how many GB you have left. if it's too less than NU will permanently read and write into swap files what would cost your 70% resources.

i would suggest a bigger hdd for master if your 20GB is filled up.