Hai,

By default, SQL Server 7.0 and 2000 are set to use "Use All Available CPUs" on a server. If this is not your current setting, then this has been changed by someone.

Essentially, this setting tells SQL Server whether or not to try and attempt to execute queries in parallel using multiple processors. If the default "Use All Available CPUs" option is selected, then SQL Server will attempt to run queries in parallel, using multiple CPUs. This can sometimes result in dramatic performance differences in a query's performance. But if this option is turned off, then SQL Server will only use one CPU to execute a query, which can be much slower.

Keep in mind that if SQL Server is set to use parallelism, that it may not always use it. If the server is very busy, it may not be used, but when the server is less busy, it may be used. This means that sometimes the view will be fast, and other times, slow (depending if parallelism is being used or not).

Also, be sure that you have the latest Service Pack on your SQL Server