svchost.exe problem...help needed~!

Hi Admins and helpers! The svchost.exe is running high like 80 - 100% most of the time and i totally do not know what to do and recently i reformat the computer. So i am asking helps from u peeps..seems that its a Windows problem. Ken(Malware Team) referred me to this side of the forum since it is classified as Windows and not Malware problems.

I am glad your HJT log came out clean - that's a good sign that nothing malicious is running on your system. However, svchost running high "most of the time" is still a problem and could still indicate some unwanted (or unneeded) program or programs running on your system.

Although I can analyze HJT logs, I don't even pretend to be a qualified expert at analyzing them. But one thing I noticed in your log that raised red flags for me is Blubster. I must point out that unregulated P2P file sharing is one of the worst (easiest) ways malware is propagated from computer to computer and so I always recommend P2P sites be avoided.

Blubster, in particular, is known to foist (dump) unwanted toolbars and other unwanted code on systems, and it has been known to cause stability issues with XP. See Disabling Bluster to Prevent System Instability and Blubster's Dealio Toolbar - Malware. "Malware" may not be the appropriate term in this case if that toolbar does not log your keystrokes or otherwise spy on your activities. Nevertheless, if a toolbar installs itself without your permission, and/or if it eats an inordinate amount of system resources, "malware" is a term that may still be appropriate.

I recommend you run Process Explorer, Startup Inspector, or What's Running. These are enhanced Task Manager type programs that should give you a better idea of all the processes running, and what process is running under the svchost in question (there are often 4 - 6 instances of svchost running at any given time), and eating up all your resources.

You should also run through all the programs that you have starting at system boot and disable any that you really don't need running every time the system starts. You must keep your security programs (firewall, anti-virus, and anti-spyware), but pretty much all others should be optional. I also suggest you look in Control Panel, Add and Remove Software, research items you are unfamiliar with, and those you are certain you no longer need, and uninstall all not needed.

Finally, and especially since you visit P2P sites, I strongly recommend you run through all your anti-malware scans again, and frequently. Scanning form malware is usually the first thing I do when troubleshooting a PC so I know I have a clean platform to work from. Here's a link to my canned text on Cleaning Out Malware. Use it if you don't already have a complete security suite and disk cleaning utilities to rid your system of malware and clutter. You can also use it as a guide to build your own security suite, and to help you develop a "Practicing Safe Computing" self-discipline.

Out of curiosity, why did you reformat in the first place? Please note (and for those following along) that formatting and reinstalling Windows should ALWAYS be the last resort fix option. Not only do you lose all your personal data, documents, and configurations, but you lose your hardware drivers, email, favorites/bookmarks, all your downloaded programs, in particular, your security applications, and most importantly, you end up months, if not years behind in critical security updates and patches. And to top it off, it still may not fix your problem! But even if the problem goes away, you don't have a clue what was wrong! Nor do you know how to prevent it from recurring. Do NOT believe anyone who says you must reformat your drives and reinstall on a regular bases - it is NOT true and a sure sign of an inexperienced wannbe expert!!!! Very rarely does Windows have to be reinstalled "fresh" - that is, with a reformat/reinstall.

Hi Digerati wow u wrote alot man but thanks for reply! Do you mean P2P website = Pay to Play Website??? And before i installed the Blubster..the svchost.exe was already running high =\ I need to reformat my computer, cause my previous C:/ partition was like 10GB only and its kinda running out of space. I wanna play games since now its holidays…so i thought sufficient C:/ space = no more lagness. Sad to say i am wrong…Anyway i have reformat and now my C:/ is roughly 90GB. So what exactly should i do? lols thats lots of text kinda cant understand all the instructions. Is there a 100% solution of solving it? =X

P2P = Peer to Peer - sites provided for users to upload and download music and video files.

thats lots of text kinda cant understand all the instructions

Ask questions - what don't you understand?

Tell us more about your computer - CPU, RAM, video card, PSU.

Do note newer games require significant horsepower with current hardware for best performance. Certainly, you need to figure out what program is eating up your CPU cycles, but also you need to understand that slow performance can also come from too little RAM or a low horsepower graphics card and/or CPU.

Oh icic…P2P lols.. I mean would it be possible if u put ur words in short sentence like No. of Instructions? Sorry if it is troublesome. Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU 1.60GHz 1.60GHz 608MB of RAM Video Card - Not sure =( I would say that RAM will not be the issue…but maybe a Video Card. Why not sure? cause i dunno is it my graphic card spoilt or AGP slot problem. It didnt auto found the hardward or either manually.

RAM could certainly be an issue as XP loves RAM. 1Gb is generally considered the 'sweet spot' for RAM on an XP system with a single core CPU like yours. By sweet spot, I mean below 1Gb and the system performance suffers - above 1Gb and the gains are small, if noticeable at all.

As for your video card, it looks like you don't have one! The clue is in the amount of RAM you mentioned - 608Mb. That is an unusual amount. My guess is your RAM is made up of 2 or 3 RAM modules of 512Mb + 128Mb, or 256Mb + 256Mb + 128Mb. If you add those up, you get 640Mb.

If you have an on-board graphics system, that is, the graphics is integrated into the motherboard, then the system grabs a chunk of RAM and dedicates it to graphics processing. 32Mb is a common amount for budget systems. 640 - 32 = 608. And 32Mb for graphics is WAY too small, and most likely your problem, assuming your system is clean of malware.

You can tell if you have a video card or on-board by looking in the back of the computer and seeing where the monitor cable connects. If it connects in the rear panel I/O area - that is, the same connection area as the mouse and keyboard, then you have on-board. If it connects further down in a slot, then you have a card. Take a look and let us know. If you are using on-board graphics, then that is a big part of your problem. On-board graphics is good for reading email or creating a Word document, but not for playing animated games. That is just way beyond the design limits.

You say the system did not autofind the hardware, but if you can see a display, it did. But without the correct drivers, it defaults to basic VGA mode and will not take advantage of any advanced features. If you did not re-install your motherboard and graphics drivers after you formatted/reinstalled Windows, then that may be part of your problem too.

If you are using on-board graphics, I would recommend buying a new graphics card. Even a budget $50US card will offer substantial performance gains over on-board graphics as the card will have its own dedicated RAM and likely a better graphics processor. It will also allow you to free up any system RAM that was grabbed by the on-board graphics, giving you your full 640Mb. The better the card your budget will allow the better the gaming performance you will see. Increasing your RAM to 1Gb will help a great deal too and generally provides the best bang for the money . I am sure the system now is using the Page File on your hard drive a lot, and that always slows down performance.

Download and run Belarc Advisor. It will tell you the motherboard (main circuit board) make and model as well as the graphics solution used, listed under "display". As for breaking down instructions into smaller sentences, I would not know where to start, and that would take too long. Ask specific questions.

Oh man…i thought 604MB is more den enough to stable XP lols. Cool ur right my RAMS are made up of 2 RAM Module 512Mb + 128Mb. Yes! i am using the on-board graphic system, oh that explains why its 604Mb only instead of 640Mb. Thanks! Last time i used to be a gamer but cause of Graphic Card spoilt that time so didnt played much anymore. And that explains why i played 3D games so lag. I explain the procedure..sorry for delaying your time. I turned off the computer and plug out the power supply from CPU. Open case and insert the Graphic Card into AGP. Plug the monitor cable to the AGP port. Put everything back in order and On the PC. The CPU is running totally fine just the Monitor didnt On(Amber Light). In order for monitor to work i gotta use the on-board graphic system. After i plug the cable back to on-board graphic system, no automatic hardware detected the GC. I open Device manager clicked on Display, Scan for hardware changes etc but nothing found. I ran the Belarc Advisor. Display S3 Graphics ProSavageDDR [Display adapter] ALFA COMPAL CM35H [Monitor] (14.6"vis, s/n 16HB000630033, April 2001) System Model ECS M925 1.0 Enclosure Type: Desktop Main Circuit Board Board: ECS M925 1.0 Bus Clock: 100 megahertz BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 07.00T 04/02/01 i saw the Page File thing somewhere recently. so if it is what u said..could that be the main reason why the svchost.exe jumps so high? I am very sorry if its totally not link to this side of the forum.

Sorry i kinda forget to add something.. Display S3 Graphics ProSavageDDR [Display adapter] ALFA COMPAL CM35H [Monitor] (14.6"vis, s/n 16HB000630033, April 2001) If i am not mistaken the Display thing belongs to the on-board graphic system. which means the Graphic Card was unable to be detected or AGP problem ? cause i have already put in the Graphic Card in the slot already.

Generally, you install the drivers for the new card first. Then you power down, unplug the power supply from the wall, install the new card, and power up the PC. On some motherboards, you then have to disable the on-board graphics to regain all your RAM. Read the instructions for installing the new card to be sure.

Do note at this point, it is often best to take the computer into a professional to make sure it is done right.

Erm so do u think i should go to the hardware side to clarity and do it properly and come back to you again?

Hardware side? I don't understand your question. What I think is if the graphics card drivers are not installed, then the card will not be properly recognized.

i mean cause this side of the forum is under " Software, Mircosoft Windows™ ", and it seems that i am asking more on hardware stuff which most likely not related to software problem..so thought Admins will think i am in wrong side of the forum? understand? =P Sorry if i sounds rude..but i am not. The driver can only be installed when i insert the GC into the AGP and must be able to boot up monitor. I cant boot up monitor with cable connected to the AGP. So i gotta connect the monitor cable to on-board graphic system, then i goes into desktop and add hardware etc. But when i entered the desktop the GC is no where to be found/scanned. so it should be consider a AGP problem rights?

i mean cause this side of the forum is under " Software, Mircosoft Windows™ ", and it seems that i am asking more on hardware stuff which most likely not related to software problem..so thought Admins will think i am in wrong side of the forum?
understand? =P

Ah, I see. If admin thinks it should be moved, they can certainly do that - but I actually think your problem will get more exposure here instead of a hardware specific forum. So for now, I think it best to just continue in this thread as a new thread may cause confusion. Certainly, anyone reading is welcome to contribute. And no, you have not said anything rude or offensive. As long as everyone remembers that we are all just volunteers here, just trying to share our experiences and help out where we can in our own free time (which tends to be limited for many at this time of year), then all goes well.

The driver can only be installed when i insert the GC into the AGP and must be able to boot up monitor.
I cant boot up monitor with cable connected to the AGP.
So i gotta connect the monitor cable to on-board graphic system, then i goes into desktop and add hardware etc.
But when i entered the desktop the GC is no where to be found/scanned.
so it should be consider a AGP problem rights?

I am afraid my ability to help you is getting very limited. I am unable to find a manual for the ECS M925 V1.0. However, I know that PCChips and ECS often share motherboard platforms as they are both subsidiaries of Elitegroup so I was able to find a M925 V1.1a on the PCChips website here. Since I cannot touch and feel this motherboard to verify that is the correct manual, I hesitate to offer more advice on this, and again suggest that taking this to a shop may be your best bet.

Do you have the manual for this motherboard?

I will say this, since the card drivers require the board to be present, power down, unplug the computer from the wall, and install your card. Do NOT move the monitor cable yet, keep it connected to the on-board connection so you can see what is happening. Then install the drivers. Once the drivers install, you should be able to power down, unplug, move the monitor cable, then power up to the new card. At that point, may be able to look in the BIOS Setup Menu to disable the on-board graphics.

Erm i finally got the GC working now…thanks for the help! lols its all this while i didnt push it in properly =\ The 640Mb of RAM returned. =D Now the matter is the svchost.exe running still running high. Other than that should be fine.

Erm i finally got the GC working now…thanks for the help!
lols its all this while i didnt push it in properly =\
The 640Mb of RAM returned. =D

Yep, that will do it!

As for svchost, then you are back to figuring out what is started/running with Windows. What all do you see running in your system tray - that area next to the cloc? And you need to use one of those three programs I mentioned earlier to show you what processes are running.