recently when i check my task manager because my comp was running kinda laggin, it shows one of svchost.exe using lots of mem. the most i seen was around 150,000k. People told me that it might be a virus, i scanned with mcafee and housecall...nothing.

There are 5 svchost.exe running on my win-xp computer:

3 = system
1 = local service
1 = network service

the local service is the one that im having a problem with.
i would appreciate, if anyone can help me

Hi,5 is how many I have also ,type tasklist /svc into start/ Run or a command prompt and it will show the name of each one, do a google search on the one using all the memory.the following link tells all .http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314056

i tried typing "Tasklist /SVC" on the dos prompt
like
c:\Documents and Settings\Owner>Tasklist /Svc

and it says

'tasklist' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

am i entering it wrong or something :/ ?

These are my choices.

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\vester>HELP
For more information on a specific command, type HELP command-name
ASSOC Displays or modifies file extension associations.
AT Schedules commands and programs to run on a computer.
ATTRIB Displays or changes file attributes.
BREAK Sets or clears extended CTRL+C checking.
CACLS Displays or modifies access control lists (ACLs) of files.
CALL Calls one batch program from another.
CD Displays the name of or changes the current directory.
CHCP Displays or sets the active code page number.
CHDIR Displays the name of or changes the current directory.
CHKDSK Checks a disk and displays a status report.
CHKNTFS Displays or modifies the checking of disk at boot time.
CLS Clears the screen.
CMD Starts a new instance of the Windows command interpreter.
COLOR Sets the default console foreground and background colors.
COMP Compares the contents of two files or sets of files.
COMPACT Displays or alters the compression of files on NTFS partitions.
CONVERT Converts FAT volumes to NTFS. You cannot convert the
current drive.
COPY Copies one or more files to another location.
DATE Displays or sets the date.
DEL Deletes one or more files.
DIR Displays a list of files and subdirectories in a directory.
DISKCOMP Compares the contents of two floppy disks.
DISKCOPY Copies the contents of one floppy disk to another.
DOSKEY Edits command lines, recalls Windows commands, and creates macros.
ECHO Displays messages, or turns command echoing on or off.
ENDLOCAL Ends localization of environment changes in a batch file.
ERASE Deletes one or more files.
EXIT Quits the CMD.EXE program (command interpreter).
FC Compares two files or sets of files, and displays the differences
between them.
FIND Searches for a text string in a file or files.
FINDSTR Searches for strings in files.
FOR Runs a specified command for each file in a set of files.
FORMAT Formats a disk for use with Windows.
FTYPE Displays or modifies file types used in file extension associations.
GOTO Directs the Windows command interpreter to a labeled line in a
batch program.
GRAFTABL Enables Windows to display an extended character set in graphics
mode.
HELP Provides Help information for Windows commands.
IF Performs conditional processing in batch programs.
LABEL Creates, changes, or deletes the volume label of a disk.
MD Creates a directory.
MKDIR Creates a directory.
MODE Configures a system device.
MORE Displays output one screen at a time.
MOVE Moves one or more files from one directory to another directory.
PATH Displays or sets a search path for executable files.
PAUSE Suspends processing of a batch file and displays a message.
POPD Restores the previous value of the current directory saved by PUSHD.
PRINT Prints a text file.
PROMPT Changes the Windows command prompt.
PUSHD Saves the current directory then changes it.
RD Removes a directory.
RECOVER Recovers readable information from a bad or defective disk.
REM Records comments (remarks) in batch files or CONFIG.SYS.
REN Renames a file or files.
RENAME Renames a file or files.
REPLACE Replaces files.
RMDIR Removes a directory.
SET Displays, sets, or removes Windows environment variables.
SETLOCAL Begins localization of environment changes in a batch file.
SHIFT Shifts the position of replaceable parameters in batch files.
SORT Sorts input.
START Starts a separate window to run a specified program or command.
SUBST Associates a path with a drive letter.
TIME Displays or sets the system time.
TITLE Sets the window title for a CMD.EXE session.
TREE Graphically displays the directory structure of a drive or path.
TYPE Displays the contents of a text file.
VER Displays the Windows version.
VERIFY Tells Windows whether to verify that your files are written
correctly to a disk.
VOL Displays a disk volume label and serial number.
XCOPY Copies files and directory trees.

go to start/all programs /accessories /and command prompt.
Just type in .... Tasklist /svc ,note there is a space between tasklist and the / slash

Have you been keeping your computer up to date from Windows Update? Are you using a firewall? Are you using any file sharing software?

I highly recommend checking out a program like this one from Sysinternals called Process Explorer. The reason I recommend this is that the process that's chewing up your resources may actually handle numerous system calls from various applications so it could be hard to tell what the problem is from only looking at the generic process the system uses to perform tasks...a utility like the one above can show you more information about what svchost is trying to do that's chewing up all the resources. I wouldn't be suprised if you end up needing to stop by the Security forum to get some junk cleaned up. One easy thing to do is remove programs that you aren't using just in case some program that you don't need in the first place is causing the problem.

i know theres a space in between tasklist and the slash

Thats good to here !

but it still doesnt work

I ran Stinger.exe downloaded from Mcafee's website. It found a few trojans. Then I downloaded and ran Adaware which got rid of quite a bit of spywares. After that the system has been fairly stable