avserve

[Daniel]

Good morning all,

I've run into a problem with my Windows XP OS (5.1 B2600)
that I don't understand (not a PC guru).

I have a couple of processes that continually max out my
CPU(avserve.exe & svchost.exe). I am not an xp guru.
What do these processes do? As a temp solution I
disabled avserve.exe using msconfig and my system seems
to be running fine, but like I said this is only
temporary until I fix the real problem. I noticed that
right before my system started honking up I got a message
about my swap file not being big enough. It was 2x my
ram but I boosted it again anyway, just in case. I've
got no other errors (disk access, paging or otherwise).

Also, my Virus scanner is Norton and I have installed the
latest dat files. No viruses found, but this problem
does seem to have an effect on Norton (it won't scan
emails if avserve.exe is running).

Any thoughts / suggestions would be most appreciated.

Daniel

 

[Mike]

Daniel:

Avserve.exe is likely a virus.

Characteristics and removal instructions are at
http://msn.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=125007.

Then update your Norton AV.

Svchost.exe is not a problem

Mike

 

[Ionizer]

Good morning all,

I've run into a problem with my Windows XP OS (5.1 B2600)
that I don't understand (not a PC guru).

I have a couple of processes that continually max out my
CPU(avserve.exe & svchost.exe). I am not an xp guru.
What do these processes do? As a temp solution I
disabled avserve.exe using msconfig and my system seems
to be running fine, but like I said this is only
temporary until I fix the real problem. I noticed that
right before my system started honking up I got a message
about my swap file not being big enough. It was 2x my
ram but I boosted it again anyway, just in case. I've
got no other errors (disk access, paging or otherwise).

Also, my Virus scanner is Norton and I have installed the
latest dat files. No viruses found, but this problem
does seem to have an effect on Norton (it won't scan
emails if avserve.exe is running).

Any thoughts / suggestions would be most appreciated.

The "Stinger Tool" will reportedly help you remove the W32/Sasser.worm,
which spreads with the file name "avserve.exe." More info and a link to the
Stinger tool:
http://msn.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=125007

Information from Microsoft, including a removal tool:
http://www.eu.microsoft.com/security/incident/sasser.asp

You must activate your firewall!
http://www.theeldergeek.com/internet_connection_firewall.htm

Hope that helps,
Ian.