Why do cloud applications take up so much system resources?

but can tell you how to have your own personal "cloud" and avoid it dragging your system down.

1) get your own domain name from a registrar

2) pay $5 a month for a hosted account

3) Gives you FTP and folders you can drop files into

4) Particular folders can have their own username and password

5) webmail accounts usually come with the domain or hosted account

6) Storage space comes, many with lots of GB and some with unlimited bandwidth

7) Access is as easy as using your File Manager

Unless YOU initiate contact to the hosted account, it affects your system none at all.

Examples;
https://www.godaddy.com/hosting/web-hosting

http://www.hostgator.com/?gclid=CPevxY7kjskCFdEYHwod0RMATg#wto-48?utm_source=google&utm_medium=brandsearch&utm_campaign=329589

Many, many others

I'm sure most computer ppl here will agree, but if you get a new laptop with a bunch of software pre-installed, it's probably best to start off with a new installation of Windows/Linux. Sony, Dell, HP, et al, get paid to put Adware/Malware on your machine which is best to remove. Some stuff might be useful, but you can always install it yourself after a fresh install. And yes, this isn't Windows specific, install an ISO of your favorite *nix, and it'll come with software you don't use, so they make minimal ISOs for about every distro. If you are only loading one ?cloud? service that you actually use, you'll probably be a lot better off loading it after a fresh install. I'm assuming your purchasing Windows laptops, so most resellers will sell business laptops with at least most of the Adware removed, but I wouldn't trust them still and most companies that I've worked for still use an automated installation for licensing and removal of said software.

Which cloud service are you asking about?

"Cloud services" cover the waterfront, and there are big differences between Adobe's Creative Cloud, DropBox and Pandora, for instance. At a high level, Cloud services operate by dispatching work to remote processors through an internet connection. They tend to use more resources when they are communicating.

As others have asked, which cloud services are you having an issue with? If your cloud services run constantly, in the background, that could be an issue unless your computer is fairly robust. As dj_erik mentioned, a lot of new computers come with a lot of junk. I wouldn't call them malware, per se, but I think the correct term for them is "bloatware". If you have all this stuff on your computer, I'd uninstall them. The "problem" with doing a complete reformat, as suggested, is that you need to make sure you have all the latest drivers (from OEMs), especially if you have a laptop or tablet. Not all drivers come from Microsoft.
For "cloud" apps, I'd be very careful when using them. Not all of them out there certify your privacy or that their employees won't be reading your stuff. Especially if you use the machine for work and will have customer/client data or data governed (HIPAA, HITECH, PCI-DSS, CJIS) as many of the cloud providers are not compliant. Also, the data is being stored online and you will need to evaluate not only the speed of your equipment but also the speed that your ISP provides to see how really fast you will be able to UPLOAD your data to them (not just download speed but upload and download). That can slow your system down. It certainly is faster to save data to the hard drive or SSD. The cloud isn't really speedy but it provides access wherever you are (mostly).
I usually use the task manager and sort by the CPU column to see what is happening in terms of performance. Processes near the top could be suspect. If you have no need for cloud services (all or some of them), you can always remove them as you have already done. You may also want to find someone local to you that can look at your computer and see why it really is slow. Perhaps you needed more RAM?

One time when my system was runny really slowly, I looked at the task manager on my Windows 7 PC, and there is a task called iCloudService which was taking up 250MB and lots of CPU, so I removed it.

However, I once had to take some pictures with my iPad, and I had to reinstall it in order to get the pictures. It now regularly takes up about 200MB of memory, and if I have a lot of chrome tabs open, it tips me over the edge and I have to kill the program.

I do not take much advantage of "The Cloud," a concept that has actually been around a whole lot longer than it's been called "The Cloud." We used to call it "Distributed Processing" back in the 1980s.

Its chief purpose is to save organizations money that would otherwise be spent on IT resources, including hardware, network infrastructure, and administrative and maintenance personnel. It is not to make things better for the end users but for the company, although they may benefit from automated ways to retrieve data remotely, although there are other methods of accomplishing this that are equally effective. Believe me when I tell you that cloud connections will never be as responsive as applications and data stored on your computer itself, even with the new 5G and Google Fiber connections whenever they might actually become available.
Cloud applications use a lot of resources because they add network resources to the other resources required to execute applications and retrieve data, and they require significant encryption and decryption to provide even the slightest illusion of network and data security.

Furthermore, it is settled law that any data housed on some remote server is the property of the owner of the hardware on which it is stored, and can be used for the purposes of that owner without regard for the data creator's wishes.

Sometimes the old ways are the best ways. I like to keep my apps and data on the computer I use rather than on somebody else's computer. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Any cloud service that syncs files with your computer will eat up a LOT of resources figuring out what to sync. I'd love to use a cloud service to back up 100,000 photos and have the speed for the upload, but the syncing overhead is unacceptable. Every time it wants to sync it would have to compare 100,000 files on my local drives with 100,000 files in the cloud. There are solutions to this problem, but the cheap services don't use them yet.

Often when a program on your computer either uses an application that is based on the Cloud, there is a gateway within your system that makes the connection and guides you actions to a specific cloud system or service.

When you use the application, you will see activity on your system during the actual interaction. Also some programs that allow for backup via the cloud will actually have a small program installed on your computer that will on occasion, check your system according to the schedule that you have told the system to backup. Also there could be a setup item that has the application check to see if the system is in use or busy, if this is the case, it will continue to ping your computer to see if the process is clear to begin.

That's the best I can tell.

Hi, not sure this is the place to respond, but anyway here goes. Thanks for all of your responses; they really helped to educate me regarding Cloud applications. I was 'using' Realplayer Cloud--and it affected both an older Sony Vaio and my new Lenovo. On my old laptop, it was driving me crazy because I couldn't see the app running / making my PC very slow, and then it would disappear (urgh!!). I used to like Realplayer, but after this experience, I will never use it again, especially since it appears to be linked to cloud services with no user choice. I don't need it anyway, as I now have alternatives to playing music which are just as good. Frankly, Cloud security in general bothers me. No matter what the software designers claim, I think that uploading too much information, especially personal, financial, or other important data is a mistake. Now the Chinese, Russians, and who knows who else are hacking into databases in the Pentagon, banks, credit card service providers, or practically anywhere they like--so what would make me believe that things I 'backup' in the cloud are safe?? I want to close by supporting the CNET attitude that we should all stay healthy. I recently had a total knee replacement due to an old injury. Getting older and having had that experience has made me get back to the basics--good and healthy food, daily and full body workouts, zero alcohol, and lots of water. Here's to getting and staying healthy! Thanks so much, AS