6 Instances of svchost.exe Is this normal?

[Danno]

Hello all,

I have recently added some RAM to my computer, going from 512 to 1536. I'm
surprised to notice little difference in the computer speed. CPU runs at
1.9 gig.

I also have noticed that my hard drive C: contains much more data than I
could possibly have put on this computer. But I've asked for help on that
issue in an earlier (today) post.

However, when I'm doing something like extracting files, it is going very
slowly, yet task manager says the CPU is 95% idle or more. (Mind you, I am
extracting from a CD re:write via E: drive, and putting the extracted files
also on that same disk in E: drive. Maybe I shouldn't be expecting a lot of
speed in that process) But I'm wondering if possibly something else is
using my computer that I cannot see. The computer is firewalled by the XP
operating system, but by no other software. Norton says there are no
viruses, and Ad-Aware says there are no spies. I would think this computer
should be "smokin'", but it isn't. I'd sure appreciate any advice.

Best regards,
Danno

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Depends on how many services are running.

A description of Svchost.exe in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314056

Norton is probably what is slowing down your machine.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Danno]

Hi Wes,

Thanks again for your response. I've read about what Svchost is, via your
link. I'm sorry to say that I'm not really any wiser for doing that.
Sorry, although I'm considered a smart cookie, I'm not very good at
understanding a lot of computer stuff.

About the services that are running: I went to msconfig and looked at
services running. There are 81 services running. I don't have a clue what
any of them are doing, which ones are unnecessary and am therefore rather
afraid to screw with them. What would you suggest, because surely they
aren't all necessary?

As far as your suggestion that Norton is probably what is slowing down my
computer...I have no issue with that! lol In reality though, even
cumbersome Norton shouldn't be slowing this computer down noticeably.

Thanks again,
Danno

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Danno,

[[Multiple instances of Svchost.exe can run at the same time. Each
Svchost.exe session can contain a grouping of services. Therefore, separate
services can run, depending on how and where Svchost.exe is started. ]]
A description of Svchost.exe in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314056

It is not uncommon for several instances of svchost.exe to be running.

If you have XP Pro, open a command prompt...
Start | Run | Type: cmd | Click OK |
In the command prompt window, type:
tasklist /svc
Hit your Enter key.

Look at svchost.exe to see what services are running.

I.e. something like this...

svchost.exe 700 RpcSs
svchost.exe 744 AudioSrv, CryptSvc, Dhcp, helpsvc,
LanmanServer, LanmanWorkstation, Netman,
winmgmt

It takes a bunch of messing around to figure out what services you need
running, but first...

Update your antivirus software and run a full system scan.

Do the same for whatever anti-spyware applications that you have.

Service information.

The following Blackviper sites are down quite often.

http://www.blackviper.com/

http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/service411.htm

http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

The following Blackviper sites usually work.

http://web.archive.org/web/20041128094512/http://www.blackviper.com/

http://web.archive.org/web/20041128084144/www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm#Services

http://smallvoid.com/tweak/winnt/services.html

http://www.geocities.com/ziyadhosein/xpserv1.htm

http://www.beemerworld.com/tips/servicesxp.htm

[[This guide lists the default service configurations for Windows XP Service
Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 2. Services that have been added,
removed, or had the default settings changed are highlighted in bold text.]]
TweakHound - Windows XP Services Default Settings Guide
http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/defserv.htm

[[Services
Microsoft pulled their services guide that I had linked to previously
because the information was outdated due to SP2. Even the default settings
for Services listed in Help & Support are still wrong. I've gotten these
settings by doing a fresh install of both XP Home and Pro and exporting the
Services configuration as a .csv file.]]
TweakHound's Super XP Tweaking Guide - Services
http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/xptweaks/supertweaks6.htm

Default settings for services
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/.../proddocs/en-us/sys_srv_default_settings.mspx

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Danno]

Wes, thanks again for your response.

I used cmd prompt to see what svchost's were running and there were again, 5
of them. I'm not gonna fk with any of them if I don't know what they are.

So you see my dilemma?

As I mentioned earlier, I have the latest updates from Norton and I
supposedly have no viruses. I have the latest updates from Ad-Aware and I
supposedly have no badware on my computer.

I'm at a loss here. Maybe I should just say fk it and let whoever is using
my computer...use it! Just frustration talking...I will never allow that.

Danno

Danno,

[[Multiple instances of Svchost.exe can run at the same time. Each
Svchost.exe session can contain a grouping of services. Therefore,
separate
services can run, depending on how and where Svchost.exe is started. ]]
A description of Svchost.exe in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314056

It is not uncommon for several instances of svchost.exe to be running.

If you have XP Pro, open a command prompt...
Start | Run | Type: cmd | Click OK |
In the command prompt window, type:
tasklist /svc
Hit your Enter key.

Look at svchost.exe to see what services are running.

I.e. something like this...

svchost.exe 700 RpcSs
svchost.exe 744 AudioSrv, CryptSvc, Dhcp, helpsvc,
LanmanServer, LanmanWorkstation, Netman,
winmgmt

It takes a bunch of messing around to figure out what services you need
running, but first...

Update your antivirus software and run a full system scan.

Do the same for whatever anti-spyware applications that you have.

Service information.

The following Blackviper sites are down quite often.

http://www.blackviper.com/

http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/service411.htm

http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

The following Blackviper sites usually work.

http://web.archive.org/web/20041128094512/http://www.blackviper.com/

http://web.archive.org/web/20041128084144/www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm#Services

http://smallvoid.com/tweak/winnt/services.html

http://www.geocities.com/ziyadhosein/xpserv1.htm

http://www.beemerworld.com/tips/servicesxp.htm

[[This guide lists the default service configurations for Windows XP
Service
Pack 1 and Windows XP Service Pack 2. Services that have been added,
removed, or had the default settings changed are highlighted in bold
text.]]
TweakHound - Windows XP Services Default Settings Guide
http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/defserv.htm

[[Services
Microsoft pulled their services guide that I had linked to previously
because the information was outdated due to SP2. Even the default settings
for Services listed in Help & Support are still wrong. I've gotten these
settings by doing a fresh install of both XP Home and Pro and exporting
the
Services configuration as a .csv file.]]
TweakHound's Super XP Tweaking Guide - Services
http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/xptweaks/supertweaks6.htm

Default settings for services
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/.../proddocs/en-us/sys_srv_default_settings.mspx

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

Hi Wes,

Thanks again for your response. I've read about what Svchost is, via
your
link. I'm sorry to say that I'm not really any wiser for doing that.
Sorry, although I'm considered a smart cookie, I'm not very good at
understanding a lot of computer stuff.

About the services that are running: I went to msconfig and looked at
services running. There are 81 services running. I don't have a clue
what any of them are doing, which ones are unnecessary and am therefore
rather afraid to screw with them. What would you suggest, because surely
they aren't all necessary?

As far as your suggestion that Norton is probably what is slowing down my
computer...I have no issue with that! lol In reality though, even
cumbersome Norton shouldn't be slowing this computer down noticeably.

Thanks again,
Danno

 

[Sharon F]

(Mind you, I am
extracting from a CD re:write via E: drive, and putting the extracted files
also on that same disk in E: drive. Maybe I shouldn't be expecting a lot of
speed in that process)

That would be a slow way of handling those files. The files are extracted
to memory, then written to CD. Then "editing in progress" changes are
stored... well, it depends on the program. Possibly (and desirably) in the
local temp file but possibly (due to the method you're using) in a temp
file on the CD. Once the edits are complete, a final write is done and temp
files removed (add more time if they were stored on the CD). That's a lot
of writing and reading on removable media -slower than local processing.

Suggestion: If extracting to edit or read, extract to your hard drive. Then
either delete from the hard drive when you're done reading them or write
the edited files back to the CD. Pack them up in a zip file before writing
if you prefer to store them that way.

NOTE: An increase in RAM will only make the system seem faster if your
system was experiencing a memory bottleneck. In other words, reading email
and surfing the web do not take a lot of RAM. Very little to gain by
increasing RAM here unless the system was severely low on RAM to begin
with.

If you work with memory intensive processes, such as video editing, on a
regular basis - then you will probably notice a speed difference in those
operations.

Your CD writing scenario is memory intensive but it also relies heavily on
the mechanics of basic burning to re-writeable disks. The slowness is due
to the method being used rather than a memory issue.

 

[Danno]

Thanks Sharon, that all makes perfect sense to me. I'm not particularly
concerned that the computer isn't remarkably faster, it was fairly fast to
begin with. I guess I'm more concerned with all the usage on my hard drive
that I can't account for, as described in my earlier post on that topic.

Best regards,
Dan