Paging computer geeks

[Beaver]

WTF does svchost.exe do? On my home computer it is running and gobbling up my processor speed and pissing me off. Any help?

[PNWbrit]

WTF does svchost.exe do? On my home computer it is running and gobbling up my processor speed and pissing me off. Any help?

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314056

[Beaver]

Gotta love microsoft. When I follow thier instructions

"1. Click Start on the Windows taskbar, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type CMD, and then press ENTER.
3. Type Tasklist /SVC, and then press ENTER."

I get

"tasklist is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batchfile"

[EPSkis]

A better explanation than I had:

"At startup, Svchost.exe checks the services part of the registry to construct a list of services that it must load. Multiple instances of Svchost.exe can run at the same time. Each Svchost.exe session can contain a grouping of services. Therefore, separate services can run, depending on how and where Svchost.exe is started. This grouping of services permits better control and easier debugging."

Nothing to be concerned about. Note that when doing updates, your machine may also ask you to grant permission for a svchost.exe to try to connect to a certain host - allow it.

edit: It simply opens up ports & sharing of .dll's, which, theoretically speaking - should help *speed up* the processes on your machine, not choke it. You sure there's not something else going on?

[Beaver]

"Nothing to be concerned about." my ass. It is using 98 to 99% of my processor speed.

[Lurch]

Gotta love microsoft. When I follow thier instructions

"1. Click Start on the Windows taskbar, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type CMD, and then press ENTER.
3. Type Tasklist /SVC, and then press ENTER."

I get

"tasklist is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batchfile"

Works fine for me on XP

[Beaver]

Shit, I'm going to go have some fun now. I have a new starter for my truck to install, a piece of cardboard to lay on the snow in the driveway and a big light to light my work area. I'm going to go skin some knuckles.

[EPSkis]

"Nothing to be concerned about." my ass. It is using 98 to 99% of my processor speed.

It can't be svchost.exe that's eating that up...Unless there's a hung process & your PC simply needs rebooting. Try that later, knuckle-guy.

[fez]

this sounds like a 'see if a reboot fixes it, if not scan for spyware' type problem.

[milton]

if you disconnect from the intraweb does the problem go away?

[Beaver]

A reboot fixes it but it soon comes back. Spysweeper does not find anything. It does not go away when i disco from the web.

[milton]

the only other thing (besides viri) i've heard of doing this is printer services. got printer?

[DJSapp]

Sounds like you have a worm. Battled this on my parents and brothers computers. Is your internet connection constantly blinking, even when you're not downloading or surfing the web? If so, download microshafts latest "greatest" updates, get blaster from www.mcafee.com, install the updates and nuke the worm.

[swiss powda]

you're not alone, I've heard of other people who just recently ran into that problem. I think it's a new malware thing. Try updating your spamware cleaner and running it again. otherwise see if it's a different svchost.exe than the Windows one by typing msconfig into the run box and taking a look at your startup programs for svchost.exe. If it's there, disable it.

Hope that helps.

[Son1cdeth]

swiss powda is right. The guys that work in our desktop support team have also said the same thing. They're starting to see this one more and more recently (I can't remember the name exactly, but definitely spyware / malware).

Also, check out spybot and lavasoft adaware. Run both of those in addition to the software you have. You might also want to run them in XP Safe Mode (press F8 when your PC done with it's memory check / 'starting windows' appears). Some of the newer malware software has the ability to mask itself from detection once it's loaded into memory.

A tip for the future. Don't use IE (IE = Bad Mkay!). Get something like Firefox to surf the web with, and always keep your pc up to date via Windows Update.


Dean

[dbp]

something quick you can check...

type "services.msc" in the run box.
is there a process called SSDP Discovery Service? What is its status?
see what happens if you stop it
you should be able to safely disable this service
I have seen a lot of people on the interweb having your same problem and this seemed to help.

also, check out:
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

of course you could have a virus, adware, etc...
good luck