I'm embarassed to be posting this here, but I've been having a problem with my computer lately. It runs Windows Vista 64-bit and has a whopping 8 gigs of ram. However, for the past few weeks, there has been a constant RAM usage of 30-40% being eaten up by svchost.exe.

For peace of mind, I want to make sure that there is nothing nasty that is attaching itself to svchost.exe. If you tell me that my machine is clean, what could be causing the ram usage?

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.2
Scan saved at 11:27:54 AM, on 1/8/2008
Platform: Windows Vista (WinNT 6.00.1904)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v7.00 (7.00.6000.16575)
Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
C:\Program Files (x86)\AIM6\aim6.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\MSN Messenger\msnmsgr.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Google Updater\GoogleUpdater.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Intuit\QuickBooks\QBUpdate\qbupdate.exe
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\CTHELPER.EXE
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\CTXFIHLP.EXE
C:\Program Files (x86)\Grisoft\AVG7\avgcc.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\acrotray.exe
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\CTXFISPI.EXE
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Google Desktop Search\GoogleDesktop.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Google Desktop Search\GoogleDesktop.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\AIM6\aolsoftware.exe
C:\Users\Dani\Desktop\putty.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\AOL\Loader\aolload.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
C:\Users\Dani\Desktop\HiJackThis.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://www.daniweb.com/
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,CustomizeSearch =
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings,ProxyOverride = *.local
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar,LinksFolderName =
F2 - REG:system.ini: UserInit=userinit.exe
O1 - Hosts: ::1 localhost
O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Reader Link Helper - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: ContributeBHO Class - {074C1DC5-9320-4A9A-947D-C042949C6216} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\/Adobe Contribute CS3/contributeieplugin.dll
O2 - BHO: Groove GFS Browser Helper - {72853161-30C5-4D22-B7F9-0BBC1D38A37E} - C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~1\Office12\GRA8E1~1.DLL
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {7E853D72-626A-48EC-A868-BA8D5E23E045} - (no file)
O2 - BHO: Google Toolbar Helper - {AA58ED58-01DD-4d91-8333-CF10577473F7} - c:\program files (x86)\google\googletoolbar2.dll
O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Conversion Toolbar Helper - {AE7CD045-E861-484f-8273-0445EE161910} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll
O2 - BHO: Google Toolbar Notifier BHO - {AF69DE43-7D58-4638-B6FA-CE66B5AD205D} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\GoogleToolbarNotifier\2.0.301.7164\swg.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Zend Studio - {95188727-288F-4581-A48D-EAB3BD027314} - C:\PROGRA~2\Zend\ZENDST~1.0\bin\ZENDIE~1.DLL
O3 - Toolbar: &Google - {2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F} - c:\program files (x86)\google\googletoolbar2.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Adobe PDF - {47833539-D0C5-4125-9FA8-0819E2EAAC93} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Contribute Toolbar - {517BDDE4-E3A7-4570-B21E-2B52B6139FC7} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\/Adobe Contribute CS3/contributeieplugin.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AsioThk32Reg] REGSVR32.EXE /S CTASIO.DLL
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CTHelper] CTHELPER.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CTxfiHlp] CTXFIHLP.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG7_CC] C:\PROGRA~2\Grisoft\AVG7\avgcc.exe /STARTUP
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [GrooveMonitor] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12\GrooveMonitor.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Acrobat Assistant 8.0] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\Acrotray.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Google Desktop Search] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Google Desktop Search\GoogleDesktop.exe" /startup
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Sidebar] C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe /autoRun
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Aim6] "C:\Program Files (x86)\AIM6\aim6.exe" /d locale=en-US ee://aol/imApp
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MsnMsgr] "C:\Program Files (x86)\MSN Messenger\MsnMsgr.Exe" /background
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [swg] C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\GoogleToolbarNotifier\GoogleToolbarNotifier.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [AdobeUpdater] C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Updater5\AdobeUpdater.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [WMPNSCFG] C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Media Player\WMPNSCFG.exe
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\Run: [Sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /detectMem (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\Run: [WindowsWelcomeCenter] rundll32.exe oobefldr.dll,ShowWelcomeCenter (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\Run: [AVG7_Run] C:\PROGRA~2\Grisoft\AVG7\avgw.exe /RUNONCE (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\Run: [Sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /detectMem (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-18\..\Run: [AVG7_Run] C:\PROGRA~2\Grisoft\AVG7\avgw.exe /RUNONCE (User 'SYSTEM')
O4 - HKUS\.DEFAULT\..\Run: [AVG7_Run] C:\PROGRA~2\Grisoft\AVG7\avgw.exe /RUNONCE (User 'Default user')
O4 - Global Startup: Google Updater.lnk = C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Google Updater\GoogleUpdater.exe
O4 - Global Startup: QuickBooks Update Agent.lnk = C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Intuit\QuickBooks\QBUpdate\qbupdate.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: Append to existing PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIEAppend.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert link target to Adobe PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIECapture.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert link target to existing PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIEAppend.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert selected links to Adobe PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIECaptureSelLinks.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert selected links to existing PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIEAppendSelLinks.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert selection to Adobe PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIECapture.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert selection to existing PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIEAppend.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert to Adobe PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 8.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIECapture.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~1\Office12\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O8 - Extra context menu item: Zend Studio - Debug current page - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Zend\ZendStudio-5.5.0\bin\ZendIEToolbar.dll/DebugCurrent.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Zend Studio - Debug next page - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Zend\ZendStudio-5.5.0\bin\ZendIEToolbar.dll/DebugNext.html
O9 - Extra button: Send to OneNote - {2670000A-7350-4f3c-8081-5663EE0C6C49} - C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~1\Office12\ONBttnIE.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: S&end to OneNote - {2670000A-7350-4f3c-8081-5663EE0C6C49} - C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~1\Office12\ONBttnIE.dll
O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~1\Office12\REFIEBAR.DLL
O9 - Extra button: Zend Studio Toolbar - {A26ABCF0-1C8F-46e7-A67C-0489DC21B9CC} - C:\PROGRA~2\Zend\ZENDST~1.0\bin\ZENDIE~1.DLL
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Zend Studio - {A26ABCF0-1C8F-46e7-A67C-0489DC21B9CC} - C:\PROGRA~2\Zend\ZENDST~1.0\bin\ZENDIE~1.DLL
O13 - Gopher Prefix:
O18 - Protocol: grooveLocalGWS - {88FED34C-F0CA-4636-A375-3CB6248B04CD} - C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~1\Office12\GR99D3~1.DLL
O20 - AppInit_DLLs: C:\PROGRA~2\Google\GOOGLE~4\GOEC62~1.DLL
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\Alg.exe,-112 (ALG) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: AVG7 Alert Manager Server (Avg7Alrt) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~2\Grisoft\AVG7\avgamsvr.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Update Service (Avg7UpdSvc) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~2\Grisoft\AVG7\avgupsvc.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Resident Shield Service (AvgCoreSvc) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~2\Grisoft\AVG7\avgrssvc.exe
O23 - Service: AVG E-mail Scanner (AVGEMS) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~2\Grisoft\AVG7\avgemc.exe
O23 - Service: ##Id_String1.6844F930_1628_4223_B5CC_5BB94B879762## (Bonjour Service) - Apple Computer, Inc. - C:\Program Files (x86)\Bonjour\mDNSResponder.exe
O23 - Service: @dfsrres.dll,-101 (DFSR) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\DFSR.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Diskeeper - Diskeeper Corporation - C:\Program Files\Diskeeper Corporation\Diskeeper\DkService.exe
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\fxsresm.dll,-118 (Fax) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\fxssvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: FLEXnet Licensing Service - Macrovision Europe Ltd. - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Macrovision Shared\FLEXnet Publisher\FNPLicensingService.exe
O23 - Service: Google Desktop Manager 5.1.709.19590 (GoogleDesktopManager-091907-194040) - Google - C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Google Desktop Search\GoogleDesktop.exe
O23 - Service: Google Updater Service (gusvc) - Google - C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Common\Google Updater\GoogleUpdaterService.exe
O23 - Service: @keyiso.dll,-100 (KeyIso) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @comres.dll,-2797 (MSDTC) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\msdtc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\System32\netlogon.dll,-102 (Netlogon) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\psbase.dll,-300 (ProtectedStorage) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Intuit QuickBooks FCS (QBFCService) - Intuit Inc. - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Intuit\QuickBooks\FCS\Intuit.QuickBooks.FCS.exe
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\Locator.exe,-2 (RpcLocator) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\locator.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\samsrv.dll,-1 (SamSs) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\SLsvc.exe,-101 (slsvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\SLsvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\snmptrap.exe,-3 (SNMPTRAP) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\snmptrap.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\spoolsv.exe,-1 (Spooler) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\ui0detect.exe,-101 (UI0Detect) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\UI0Detect.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\vds.exe,-100 (vds) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\vds.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\vssvc.exe,-102 (VSS) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\vssvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\wbengine.exe,-104 (wbengine) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\wbengine.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%Systemroot%\system32\wbem\wmiapsrv.exe,-110 (wmiApSrv) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\wbem\WmiApSrv.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player\wmpnetwk.exe,-101 (WMPNetworkSvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Media Player\wmpnetwk.exe (file missing)

--
End of file - 11856 bytes

You could use ProcessExplorer to check out which services and processes are attaching themselves to the questionable svchost.exe process.

Andy

Thanks

Would you know the difference between Process Explorer and Process Monitor? They both seem to be written by the same guy.

I downloaded the Process Explorer and it showed dwm.exe using a lot of ram. I disabled Aero and the ram usage went down to 20%. That doesn't seem to be the offending process.

According to the process explorer, it says 150MB devoted to one of the instances of svchost.exe, but the only processes listed under it are WUDFHost.exe (6MB) and dwm.exe (2MB).

Process monitor does a event by event listing of process hits with the process name, PID, operation, files it touchs, etc. I think it's good for historical process tracking.

Process monitor is for the most part real-time only and lets you look at snapshots of what is going on.

Andy

Which is which?

svchost.exe? You run Norton? Which version because i often have it where svchost goes on a RAM and CPU draining attack. I use Internet Security 2007, which version do you use Dani?

I don't use Norton. I use AVG 7.5 Professional. I had previously tried disabling it and restarting but it didn't help.

Sorry about that. Process Monitor, first explanation. Process Explorer, second explanation.

Your log looks clear . nicentral's idea is probably the way to go. Should be able to track the program that is causing it that way.