[wermet]

Hello,

I am having problems with my Toshiba Laptop. Initially it had Vista installed, but I downgraded it using an OEM copy of Windows XP SP2 about 4 months ago. I have not really had any problems until about 2 weeks ago.

On bootup svchost.exe takes 50%+ of my cpu according to Windows Task Manager. For about 20 minutes, it is next to impossible to get any application to execute. After this 20 minutes, svchost.exe drops down to its normal usage level and all is well for a time. Then, at seemingly random intervals, svchost.exe will act up again for another 20 minutes or so.

Can anyone help me fix this?

Thanks,
Wermet

----------------------------

FYI, I have done the following to try to resolve/understand the situation.

Windows Update - Windows is up-to-date.

CA Anti-Virus - Clean Scan.

Windows Defender - Clean Scan.

AFT_Cleaner - Cleaned all except cookies. [I use cookies to keep track of preferences for work related and other websites. I cannot simply clear all cookies. This is like "throwing the baby out with the bath water". See below under SUPERAntiSpyware for deletion of adware tracking cookies.]

System Restore - Created Restore Point.

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware - Clean Scan.

SUPERAntiSpyware - Found and removed 16 tracking cookies. No other issues found.

Panda ActiveScan - Incorrectly identified a couple of items. Other than that, it was a clean scan.

HijackThis - Ran it and have included the log file as an attachment.

---end of list----

[Advertisements]

Hi there wermet,

I think you should be posting your topic here at the malware forums since its there where HJT logs get checked.

By the way, I believe the malware staff would like all HJT logs posted instead of attached. It's ok if it's unbelievably long.

Edited by ditrackster, 13 May 2008 - 11:27 PM.

[TheQuickBrownFox]

Hi there wermet,

I think you should be posting your topic here at the malware forums since its there where HJT logs get checked.

By the way, I believe the malware staff would like all HJT logs posted instead of attached. It's ok if it's unbelievably long.

Edited by ditrackster, 13 May 2008 - 11:27 PM.

[wermet]

Hello Ditrackster,

I do not think that this is a malware issue. I have run numerous anti-virus and malware programs and have found nada.
I believe that it is probably a system service that is acting up due to some misconfiguration.

However, if this really should be under a different topic, I will gladly move it.

Thanks,
Wermet

[Miykle]

G,Day ; Had a similar problem a while back with svchost.exe only it was using up to 100%.
Found this on another site and it worked well:

How to stop svchost.exe using up 100% system resources (Windows XP Only):
Visit the Microsoft website and Download Windows Update v3 WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe and save it to your C:\ drive
Download this file fix_svchost.bat (right click and choose save as..) and save it to your C:\ drive
Download this file WindowsXP-KB927891.exe (right click and choose save as..) and save it to your C:\ drive
Reboot the computer and log in to Windows XP in safe mode. To do this, press F8 just before the WindowsXP logo shows up during boot and press up to choose “Safe Mode”
Once Windows has loaded and you have the option of which user account to use, log on as “Administrator”.
Click Start > Run, choose the Browse button and find the fix_svchost.bat file you saved before, press Open, then OK.
A black screen will pop up and white text will scroll past. Wait for this process to finish as it could take several minutes. It will close itself when its finished.
Once the black screen disappears, Click Start > Run, choose the Browse button and find the WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe file you saved before, press Open, then OK. Follow the prompts as it installs.
When Windows Update Agent finishes installing, Click Start > Run, choose the Browse button and find the WindowsXP-KB927891.exe file you saved before, press Open, then OK. Follow the prompts as it installs.
Reboot the computer


Hope this helps Many Blessings Miykle

[Metallica]

Hi wermet,

I removed the HijackThis log you attached.
If you are sure this is not a malware issue then it's up to you to pursue other means of resolving your issues, but then there are also much more helpful logs the helpers will aks you for if they want to see any.

Regards,

[wermet]

Hello Miykle,

Thanks for the info and pointing me in the right direction. I was able to get the correct downloads from Microsoft's Support Knowledge Base website (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927891). After reading the directions, I downloaded and installed two files: WindowsXP-KB927891-v3-x86-ENU.exe and WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe. [I was not able to find the fix_svchost.bat you referenced.] After doing this, my computer began to operate correctly. Yea!!

Just for completeness, I went on to check Window Update for new updates. I found 6 that I had not seen listed just a couple of days ago. [Don't know why I didn't see them a couple of days ago. Go figure.] So I installed them and rebooted. Bottom line, my computer is now working good!

Last night, my wife's laptop began to have the same symptoms. So I applied the same fixes to her machine and it is also working correctly again. Life is always better when my wife's computer is working!

Thanks again Miykle. You were a life saver!

May your Blessings return to you ten-fold!
Wermet

[SRX660]

Just a note on "fix svchost.bat" is that all it does is re-register all the windows DLL's and ocx's. This file can be found here.

http://www.technibbl...pu-memory-leak/

SRX660