Bitcoin CPU Usage

[annoyed]

hi,
im new to bitcoin and a computer noob.
ive downloaded the client (zip version) from bitcoin.org, repacked it in an encrypted 7zip file (googled how to do it) and started it. at first i was confused about the whole "connections" & "blocks" thing, but after some research i think i got it now.
what i dont get is why it maxes out my cpu all the time. according to google bitcoin mining is responsible for the high cpu usage, but it also claims that the new version doesnt do that anymore, so why is my cpu maxed out all the time? the only kind of solutions i was able to find were nothing but techno babble to me; stuff like "enter '-blahblah something' command" but where and how?
i need a noob-friendly answer on how to make bitcoin run quietly in the background so my electricity bill wont ruin me.

to be clear, i have ZERO intent of bitcoin mining, i just want a wallet on flashdrives (the more the merrier (back-ups)) so i can invest some money into it without a maxed out cpu every time i run it

help plz (and remember, noob-friendly)

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[Revalin]

What block number does it say on the bottom of the window?  It may still be processing the block chain history, which requires a lot of CPU.

[annoyed]

thats it then, didnt know that requires processing power (i thought it was just downloading those blocks)

is it going to do that every time after i turn off my computer, at fixed intervals (like all 24 hours), for every session or only once per wallet?

[Revalin]

The CPU is to verify all the transactions as it downloads them.

Once you've caught up to the whole block chain, future starts will only need to download and verify new blocks.  If you have to set up many wallets, you can copy the block chain files (blkxxxx.dat and blkindex.dat) from one to the others so you don't have to repeat the process for each.

Also, you can download a copy of the block chain here: http://eu1.bitcoincharts.com/blockchain/ .  That's much faster, but your client won't verify it... Depends if you're paranoid.

[annoyed]

thx! that helped =D

and no, im not paranoid (with this wallet)
for now its only gonna be a few bucks until i get more familiar with it.
if my account gets corrupted, big whoop - on this one, there wont ever be more than 10฿.
if i should decide to invest some serious money, ill set up a new wallet and THEN ill be getting paranoid.

like mozzie said; paranoia is skill, the secret the longevity ;)

[vmg3]

http://multibit.org/    I found this to be much better