svchost.exe !!

[holladaro]

Hi Guys!

My Computer is rather stable, but when I go away and the computer is idle it freezes after about 20 or 30 minutes. I ve disabled the screensaver, and watched the task manager until the computer freezes. I saw that a svchost.exe process suddenly takes more and more cpu power and then i can't even move the mouse, I have to shut it down. I don't know what to do anymore. Plz help !

C U

Chris

[holladaro]

well i have seen such an error before. however u may have a virus. there has been a number of nasties going around that cause such an error. do good check witha reliable virus scan program, norton usally doent work.

also if u get that error in win9x then that is a sure sign u have a virus

i only checked the system with norton antivirus pro 2003 with the newest virus definitions. So which virus prog would you recommend ?

[TallCool1]

I only checked the system with norton antivirus pro 2003 with the newest virus definitions. So which virus prog would you recommend ?

Symantec software, in general, is among the worst resource hogs out there. It could even be part of your problem. I use Grisoft AVG in my Windows environment; it's free for personal use, better for resources than Norton or McAfee, and just as well-supported and effective.

You might also try a spyware-stomper like Spybot-Search & Destroy or Ad-Aware (I much prefer Spybot-S&D over Ad-Aware, but I always mention both - S-S&D is free but "donation suggested", AAw is available in free and paid versions. Both can be downloaded from http://www.Download.com.

Grisoft AVG site: http://free.Grisoft.com

S-S&D support (including forums): http://Security.Kolla.de

Ad-Aware's site: http://www.LavaSoft.nu

[jabberwock486]

well i have seen such an error before. however u may have a virus. there has been a number of nasties going around that cause such an error. do good check witha reliable virus scan program, norton usally doent work.

also if u get that error in win9x then that is a sure sign u have a virus

[TallCool1]

My Computer is rather stable, but when I go away and the computer is idle it freezes after about 20 or 30 minutes. I've disabled the screensaver, and watched the task manager until the computer freezes. I saw that a svchost.exe process suddenly takes more and more cpu power and then I can't even move the mouse, I have to shut it down. I don't know what to do anymore.

It's difficult to answer this question directly. svchost.exe is the NT equivalent of the Win9x RunDLL32.exe in that it's used to launch other things, most of them hidden "behind" the launcher -- a major pain in cases like this. I would disable as much stuff as possible in your startup, then fold them back in one-by-one to see which one is clobbering cycles.

[holladaro]

Thank You, for your quick answer. What do you mean, disable stuff in your startup ? I can't disable svchost.exe because windows needs it to run? And i know that svchost.exe crashes the comp. Or is there a way to shut down specific processes which are summed up in svchost.exe ?

[TallCool1]

...is there a way to shut down specific processes which are summed up in svchost.exe?

As I have stated before, svchost.exe is a launcher -- you will often have multiple instances running, with no way of knowing which is which.

Of course, since this reply was originally written we now have HijackThis and CodeStuff Starter, as well as other tools, to manipulate the startups in the registry and elsewhere. See my signature for links and articles.

Another utility I find useful is PrcView.

[holladaro]

Thank you very much for your help. I ve downloaded the programs you mentioned, and i am trying to fix the problem with them.

C u
chris

[holladaro]

Thanks for your Help. I think i figured out the problem. I installed a better cooler and now the cpu won't get so hot anymore. Although when i play games the cpu also raised to 65 C, but i think the maximum temperature for atholn xp cpu's is about 85C, isn't it ? When i stop the game the temperature lowers back to about 58 C. How can i lower the temperature of my cpu ? Now i have installed a slot cooler and a copper silent cpu cooler. What can I do else ?

C u

Chris

[Dani]

I apologize for my ignorance but a cpu cooler is a heatsink and fan, right?

[holladaro]

Yes, exactly

[nik]

How i can stop the svchost.exe takes 100% of my cpu

[Catweazle]

Hi nik,

If you use the 'Search' function to look for topics about 'svchost.exe' I'm sure you'll find quite a number of discussions that may prove relevent to you. Please read them and if you still have not found a solution then start a separate thread for your problem.

Pigy-backing questions on the end of an earlier discussion can lead to confusion, rather than the assistance you're seeking.

Welcome to TechTalk, by the way!

[Natso]

Well, from my point of view if your goal is just to keep svchost.exe from rising it's memory 'take-age'... just program some other application that takes the memory up first, before svchost.exe even has a chance :P !!!

[TravisO]

MS has finally fixed ALL the bugs relating to SVCHOST. The patch can be found at:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q927891

It's an update to the same patch released a month before, which actually didn't work for me. After installing this new patch it's fixed this problem which I've been having for a year now and has prevented me from using Microsoft Update and would randomly lockup up the PC about 3 times a day!