CPU remains at 99% - 100%

I have tried every resource optimization program on the Internet, but my Dell laptop still consumes way too many CPU resources and way too few memory resources.

I can no longer listen consistently to Pandora radio, because the laptop cannot supply the browser with enough continuous resources to make the music broadcast without chopping up.  Today I can listen to Pandora, but the laptop is using between 85% - 100% of CPU.

I have adjusted the CPU usage manually on Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer, where I limit those programs to just one of four available CPUs, but such fixes end as soon as I log off for the session.

When I did a system performance test on my laptop while sitting on the couch and the laptop on my lap and not connected to the docking station, then my overall system performance was 6.8 and processor speed was above a 7.0 rating.

Now the processor speed is rated as 1.8.

It is extremely frustrating to do every test to increase memory allocation, and still the laptop ignores the great majority of memory (85%) while goes overboard consuming CPU resources.

I do NOT have a virus on my computer.  I do have Microsoft Essentials malware protection.  It appears that file occasionally consumes a lot of CPU resources, but it is not consuming the most resources.  Internet Explorer is the program consuming the most resources, and if I switch to Firefox, then it is even worse.