svchost.exe - an idiot's guide anywhere?

[Tim Richards]

Hope someone can help.

I'm fairly computer literate but I can't find a site anywhere that will
answer the following:

Whenever I attempt to connect to the net, whether it's for email checking,
newsgroup access or just plain old surfing, ZoneAlarm reports that "Generic
Host Process For Win32 Services is attempting to access the internet" and
the culprit program is svchost.exe.

If I click No, then I'm unable to do any of the above. I have no choice but
to click Yes if I want any sort of contact with the net.

Why? And why would Microsoft bundle an .exe program (which is transmitting
God-knows-what back to Redmond) that basically decides whether I should or
should not be permitted to access the internet?

Genuine question, any pointers much appreciated.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

A Description of Svchost.exe in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q314056

You should consider installing a "smart" firewall program
that is intelligent and knows which programs or services
have a legitimate purpose for accessing the internet.
Norton Internet Security 2004 takes the guesswork out
of determining this.
Visit: http://www.symantec.com/sabu/nis/nis_pe/


--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

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


| Hope someone can help.
|
| I'm fairly computer literate but I can't find a site anywhere that will
| answer the following:
|
| Whenever I attempt to connect to the net, whether it's for email checking,
| newsgroup access or just plain old surfing, ZoneAlarm reports that "Generic
| Host Process For Win32 Services is attempting to access the internet" and
| the culprit program is svchost.exe.
|
| If I click No, then I'm unable to do any of the above. I have no choice but
| to click Yes if I want any sort of contact with the net.
|
| Why? And why would Microsoft bundle an .exe program (which is transmitting
| God-knows-what back to Redmond) that basically decides whether I should or
| should not be permitted to access the internet?
|
| Genuine question, any pointers much appreciated.
|
|

 

[Larry Overton]

right click the zone alarm icon on the tool bar and select restor zone alarm
control center. then find the generic host icon in the control center and
click on the question marks in the left colom and select allow. Zone Alarm
asks if you want the particular account to access the internet and this is
one that you need in your system to access the internet

 

[Tim Richards]

: right click the zone alarm icon on the tool bar and select restor zone
alarm
: control center. then find the generic host icon in the control center and
: click on the question marks in the left colom and select allow. Zone Alarm
: asks if you want the particular account to access the internet and this is
: one that you need in your system to access the internet
:
: --
: Larry
: Jesus Saves
:

But surely iexplore.exe needs to access the net not svchost.exe?

 

[Shimmy]

: right click the zone alarm icon on the tool bar and select restor zone
alarm
: control center. then find the generic host icon in the control center and
: click on the question marks in the left colom and select allow. Zone Alarm
: asks if you want the particular account to access the internet and this is
: one that you need in your system to access the internet
:
: --
: Larry
: Jesus Saves
:

But surely iexplore.exe needs to access the net not svchost.exe?

Careful there, neighbor!

You betray that you are not yet "one with the MSBorg". Attend your
MSThought Reordering Classes more diligently and pay no mind to those
pesky files talking to the MotherShip! Everything that is, is for your
own good.

Shimmy

 

[CraigA [MSFT]]

There is a thread in the Local Service svchost that handles autodetecting
of proxy settings and running of proxy autoconfiguration scripts, this is
most likely what is happening.

If ZoneAlarm tells you the process Identifier (PID) of the svchost which is
doing this you can use Task Manager to determine if this is what is
happening. You may need to add columns to the Process tab to see the PID
and the User Name, if the User Name for this PID is LOCAL SERVICE then this
is most likely the autoproxy thread.

If you aren't using a proxy server or you don't need to autodetect it you
can turn off autoproxy in IE. From the Tools menu select Internet Options.
On the Internet Options window select the Connections tab and click the
LAN Settings button. From this window uncheck the Automatically detect
settings box and Use automatic configuration script. Keep in mind that if
you require a proxy server your internet access may not work without these
settings.

CraigA

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