30% is not normal. I have over 66 process running and the MOST CPU i get is 9%. This is within XP as well. I have only 745MB of RAM used with those 66. So it isnt normal.
I would find out what the spoolsz.exe and the csrss.exe processes go to that you have installed. Those are the ones using the CPU and they are the culprits.
Plus it doesnt matter how many processes you have running. **** i have had over 100 before with 2%CPU usage but over 1GB of RAM used. processes use more RAM than CPU.
Plus dont lecture me about what processes i have running. I run quite a few applications full time cause i need them. Like my uTorrent, PeerGuaridan, AnyDVD, Outlook, WLM, Trillian, UltraMon, Eset, Windows Sidebar (Yes within XP), iReeboot, Creative Sound panel, Razer mouse panel, Both of my printer panels among other things. So to have 745MB of my RAM is normal. It is actually quite low for all things i have running. I prefer it and i dont care about using that much RAM when i have 3GB installed.