Get CPU Usage from Windows Command Prompt

typeperf "\processor(_total)\% processor time"

does work on Win7, you just need to extract the percent value yourself from the last quoted string.

The following works correctly on Windows 7 Ultimate from an elevated command prompt:

C:\Windows\system32>typeperf "\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time"

"(PDH-CSV 4.0)","\\vm\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time"
"02/01/2012 14:10:59.361","0.648721"
"02/01/2012 14:11:00.362","2.986384"
"02/01/2012 14:11:01.364","0.000000"
"02/01/2012 14:11:02.366","0.000000"
"02/01/2012 14:11:03.367","1.038332"

The command completed successfully.

C:\Windows\system32>

Or for a snapshot:

C:\Windows\system32>wmic cpu get loadpercentage
LoadPercentage
8

C:\> wmic cpu get loadpercentage
LoadPercentage
0

Or

C:\> @for /f "skip=1" %p in ('wmic cpu get loadpercentage') do @echo %p%
4%