svchost.exe and wuauclt.exe

these two processes just eat up the little RAM i have on my computer. they just keep growing and growing and growing until my computer basically lags and stalls. especially the svchost.exe process. but sometimes both. i recently had some malware taken care of on my computer over at the safer networking forum. and after a week of doing this and that, ive been told my logs and computer is clean. comodo firewall has blocked 38 intrusion attempts. all of them svchost. when i booted up my computer today, a pop up warning came up about it being a safe process but that it was trying to connect via another computer. so i hit block. i dunno what do to or make of it. and it was definitely not something this computer had troubles with before i got infected.

Hello paintedbig, Welcome to the WTT Forums! Before we can help, could you please answer the following questions: 1. What make and model is your machine? 2. Could you provide a link to the specific topic where your Malware was cleared up? 3. Do you regularly run anti-virus scans? 4. Have you installed any large programs lately or changed any of your hardware? 5. Is your machine behaving normally other than running out of RAM? 6. Do you have Page filing turned on? Cheers, Nahumi

Hello paintedbig,

Welcome to the WTT Forums!

Before we can help, could you please answer the following questions:

1. What make and model is your machine?
2. Could you provide a link to the specific topic where your Malware was cleared up?
3. Do you regularly run anti-virus scans?
4. Have you installed any large programs lately or changed any of your hardware?
5. Is your machine behaving normally other than running out of RAM?
6. Do you have Page filing turned on?

Cheers,
Nahumi

1. HP Compaq nc6120
2. http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=58795
3. Since I've had problems. Spybot, Malwarebytes, and Microsoft Security Essentials.
4. No hardware. Ive only had this computer for about a month. It was a hand me down of sorts. The biggest programs would be Comodo Firewall and Microsoft Security Essentials. In fact, if you read the thread I linked you to its after those two installs that I think I started to have this problem.
5. Other than the RAM yes.
6. I have no idea.

comodo firewall has blocked 38 intrusion attempts. all of them svchost. when i booted up my computer today, a pop up warning came up about it being a safe process but that it was trying to connect via another computer. so i hit block.

side note. yesterday when comodo firewall popped up and i hit block on this, the computer ran smoothly all night. even with just 512mb of ram.

today, when i booted it up, no comodo firewall pop up and the ram is being hogged up again by svc host.

Okay, when you received the machine did you receive an Windows XP Installation disc and did you ensure that you had a fresh copy installed? Also, I'm assuming you're running a 32-bit version of Windows?

In essence, the problem you're having is fairly common. By having a look at the other topic it looks like you've only got the second service pack installed. When Windows has a long queue of updates it often takes as much resources it thinks it needs to complete the job. In this case you'll notice that both svchost.exe, which manages Windows Update generally, and wuauclt.exe, which manages auto updating, will use a lot of system resources. In addition to this you may notice that your internet speed will slow down considerably. Comodo will notice normal Windows services trying to connect to the internet. By stopping the connection, however, you've blocked Windows Update. It might fix your problem temporarily, but it means your machine will be vulnerable.

The first thing we can try is to download any updates manually. Simply go to the following website and follow the instructions to download any outstanding updates:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

If there are any errors, please let me know what they are. It is possible that you've had a series of failed updates, which is stopping any further updates.

Cheers,
Nahumi

Okay, when you received the machine did you receive an Windows XP Installation disc and did you ensure that you had a fresh copy installed? Also, I'm assuming you're running a 32-bit version of Windows?

In essence, the problem you're having is fairly common. By having a look at the other topic it looks like you've only got the second service pack installed. When Windows has a long queue of updates it often takes as much resources it thinks it needs to complete the job. In this case you'll notice that both svchost.exe, which manages Windows Update generally, and wuauclt.exe, which manages auto updating, will use a lot of system resources. In addition to this you may notice that your internet speed will slow down considerably. Comodo will notice normal Windows services trying to connect to the internet. By stopping the connection, however, you've blocked Windows Update. It might fix your problem temporarily, but it means your machine will be vulnerable.

The first thing we can try is to download any updates manually. Simply go to the following website and follow the instructions to download any outstanding updates:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

If there are any errors, please let me know what they are. It is possible that you've had a series of failed updates, which is stopping any further updates.

Cheers,
Nahumi

no disc. it was an old corporate computer that was donated. all they did was wipe it clean of important / sensitive files.

yes. 32 bit.

as far as i know, i did that. i downloaded it manually on their site. something like 302mb file. and ran the update for the better part of a day. i did or should've noted that in the thread.

side note. currently on my desktop typing this. when i hit gmail on the laptop today i got this…. "you have requested an encrypted page that contains some unemcypted information. information that you see or enter on this page could easily be read by a third party"

i honestly have my doubts that the computer is actually clean.

Okay, well that's fair enough. Just head over to our Malware Forum to make doubly sure that there isn't an infection:

http://forums.whatthetech.com/index.php?showforum=27

If the problem persists, just post back here and we can carry on.

Good luck!
Nahumi

i have a question. ive done the SP3 update. just this saturday. but when i go to start > all programs > windows update to try and turn off auto updates just to see if that is what the svchost.exe problem is, i get the following message… "You need to restart your computer to finish installing a program or updates. You cannot view or get other updates from the site until you restart. Read more about steps you can take to resolve this problem (error number 0x8DDD0007) yourself ." it cant be a restart since ive restarted a number of times in the last two days and even restarted when SP3 was installed. when i click on the read more link in the message, one of the two links reads… "Resolutions 1. This error code is typically caused by an incorrect registry key. We can take the following steps to get this issue resolved: WARNING: If you use the Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using the Registry Editor incorrectly. Use the Registry Editor at your own risk. " basically, what im asking is, maybe this computer doesnt have the right registry key?

A damaged registry key could be causing the problems. When you installed service pack 3, did the installation continue before your machine restarted and after it booted up again? Or did it shut down and boot up like normal?

A damaged registry key could be causing the problems.

When you installed service pack 3, did the installation continue before your machine restarted and after it booted up again? Or did it shut down and boot up like normal?

as far as i remember it installed all the way. there was a pop up saying it was done and asking me to reboot. side note, i actually downloaded the SP3 file and saved it directly on my desktop and ran it from there.

Okay, well it might be an idea to try a System Restore. Try going to at least a week before you installed Service Pack 3. Just follow these instructions :

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084

Once you've done a system restore try installing Service Pack 3 again via the Windows Update website :

http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

It should give you a list of updates. If SP3 isn't on there, it probably means you need to install a series of other updates that are required for SP3. Just keep installing the updates until the website says you haven't got any more updates left. Make sure you reboot after each update.