svchost.exe using 99% of CPU

[Jud McCranie]

On another computer, within about a minute of rebooting, svchost.exe
starts taking up 97-99% of the CPU. Needless to say, nothing else
will work at the time. I am able to start task manager after bootup
and watch svchost start to take almost complete control over the CPU.
Then I usually have to power down to reboot. I did get a virus scan
run, and it is OK.

How can I keep svchost from using so much of the CPU?

 

[Jud McCranie]

On another computer, within about a minute of rebooting, svchost.exe

PS, this is on a computer that came with XP home SP1 and the trouble
started after upgrading to SP2.

 

[Rock]

On another computer, within about a minute of rebooting, svchost.exe
starts taking up 97-99% of the CPU. Needless to say, nothing else
will work at the time. I am able to start task manager after bootup
and watch svchost start to take almost complete control over the CPU.
Then I usually have to power down to reboot. I did get a virus scan
run, and it is OK.

How can I keep svchost from using so much of the CPU?

There have been quite a few posts in here about that issue. Many times it's
related to automatic updates. MS issued a fix for this just recently too.
Do a search in this newsgroup, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, using
Google Groups Advanced Search for threads on svchost.exe for the detailed
info.

http://groups.google.com/advanced_search?q=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en

 

[Malke]

PS, this is on a computer that came with XP home SP1 and the trouble
started after upgrading to SP2.

As Rock said, many times the svchost/runaway process is caused by
Windows Updates. However, this not always the case. I had a client's
laptop in here where the issue was caused by spoolsvc.

Download Process Explorer:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/default.mspx

It will show you what process is using svchost.exe and using up your cpu
cycles. Then you can tailor your troubleshooting accordingly.


Malke

 

[Jud McCranie]

Download Process Explorer:

It says that scvhost.exe is eating up the CPU, but all it says is
"Gerneric Host Process for Windows 32 services." After a while, the
computer becomes usable. Is the fix going to be in the Windows
Updates? (I haven't had time to do much research on it yet.)

 

[Malke]

It says that scvhost.exe is eating up the CPU, but all it says is
"Gerneric Host Process for Windows 32 services." After a while, the
computer becomes usable. Is the fix going to be in the Windows
Updates? (I haven't had time to do much research on it yet.)

I don't know if your issue is connected with Automatic Updates because I
can't see your computer. Here are some other links to help you isolate
the culprit:

This KB article will show you how to see what services are running in
Svchost.exe:
http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?kbid=314056

Troubleshooting performance issues with automatic updates:
http://mygreenpaste.blogspot.com/2007/01/troubleshooting-performance-issues-with.html

More on isolating shared services in Windows:
http://mygreenpaste.blogspot.com/2007/02/more-on-isolating-shared-services-in.html

And here is information about the Windows Update runaway process from
MVP Steve Wechsler
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/blogs/mowgreen/index.php?showentry=1071:

Of course, I'm assuming that the machine has been thoroughly checked for
viruses and spyware. If it hasn't, start there:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware


Malke

 

[Jim Byrd]

Hi Jud - As Malke said, this would appear to most likely be the svchost
Windows Update issue. Here's the latest I have on that:


- The newly released 'standalone' version of Windows Update Agent 3.0, v.
7.0.6000.374, for 32 bit machines is available here:
http://download.windowsupdate.com/v7/windowsupdate/redist/standalone/WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe

- You will also need to install or re-install KB927891, here:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=927891 for a complete fix.


- For those using Windows Servers - Courtesy of Bobby Harter, Program
Manager, WSUS, Microsoft, WSUS 3.0 was released on April 30th and is
avaialble now on the Microsoft Download Center. Full information,
documentation, samples and links to the bits can be found here:
http://www.microsoft.com/wsus. WSUS 3.0 RC will be supported until May 31st
2007 - WSUS 3.0 supports upgrade of WSUS 2.0 SP1 and WSUS 3.0 RC.


- One MS recommended procedure is:

"1. Install the Windows Update Agent (WUA) for all the client computers
(both WSUS client and stand alone workstation)
2. Install the Update for Windows XP (KB927891) for all the client
computers (both WSUS client and stand alone workstation)
3. Upgrade the WSUS Server to version 3.0"

However, I've also seen a posting by MS which states that once the WSUS
client has been updated with the new Agent and KB927891 and then upgraded to
WSUS 3.0, it will then handle updating the others.


- The MS WSUS team believes that this solves all three 'svchost' problems
that folks have been experiencing. See here:
http://blogs.technet.com/wsus/archive/2007/04/28/update-on.aspx


- Note that you may _still_ see high svchost usage, but with these new
components the machine should, however, remain responsive:

From a posting by Sudheer GN of Microsoft -

"Hi,
The biggest difference in WSUS 3.0 client (wrt performance) is that the
machines will still be responsive when WU client scans for updates. There
are also some optimization to reduce the number of update evaluations and
that will reduce the scan time in some scenarios.
It is still expected that CPU usage will be high so that the scan can
complete in lesser amount of time. But other applications can be launched
and used (they will still be a little sluggish because CPU is being shared
with WU client)

--
Sudheer GN
Microsoft, WU Client

This posting is provided "As Is" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Use of included script samples are subject to the terms specified at
http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm"





--
Regards, Jim Byrd,
My Blog, Defending Your Machine,
http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/



In Jud McCranie <[email protected]> typed:
|| On Tue, 08 May 2007 05:43:15 -0700, Malke <[email protected]>
|| wrote:
||
||| Download Process Explorer:
||
|| It says that scvhost.exe is eating up the CPU, but all it says is
|| "Gerneric Host Process for Windows 32 services." After a while, the
|| computer becomes usable. Is the fix going to be in the Windows
|| Updates? (I haven't had time to do much research on it yet.)
|| --
|| Replace you know what by j to email

 

[Jud McCranie]

- The newly released 'standalone' version of Windows Update Agent 3.0, v.
7.0.6000.374, for 32 bit machines is available here:
http://download.windowsupdate.com/v7/windowsupdate/redist/standalone/WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe

I tried that on both computers, and so far it seems to work.

It is a good thing that this computer is a dual-CPU, so SVCHost didn't
use more than 50% of the CPU, and I was able to get things done
(albeit slowly at times). It seems to have worked on the computer
that had the big problem. I've got it on a thumb drive so I can do it
to my wife's computer and my father's computer.

Thanks everyone! I can count on getting good help on this newsgroup.

 

[Jim Byrd]

Hi Jud - If you haven't already done so, also be sure to download and
install the updated version of KB927891, here:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=927891 to complete the fix.

--
Regards, Jim Byrd,
My Blog, Defending Your Machine,
http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/



In Jud McCranie <[email protected]> typed:
|| On Tue, 8 May 2007 09:41:59 -0700, "Jim Byrd"
||
||| - The newly released 'standalone' version of Windows Update Agent
||| 3.0, v.
||| 7.0.6000.374, for 32 bit machines is available here:
|||
http://download.windowsupdate.com/v7/windowsupdate/redist/standalone/WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe
||
|| I tried that on both computers, and so far it seems to work.
||
|| It is a good thing that this computer is a dual-CPU, so SVCHost
|| didn't use more than 50% of the CPU, and I was able to get things
|| done (albeit slowly at times). It seems to have worked on the
|| computer that had the big problem. I've got it on a thumb drive so
|| I can do it to my wife's computer and my father's computer.
||
|| Thanks everyone! I can count on getting good help on this newsgroup.
|| --
|| Replace you know what by j to email

 

[Jud McCranie]

On another computer, within about a minute of rebooting, svchost.exe
starts taking up 97-99% of the CPU.

Since I found out about the fix here, I checked two other computers in
the family and they didn't seem to have the problem. I did the update
on them anyway. I've had the fix in for about a day, and I've had the
Process Explorer running on both machines. I haven't seen any problem
since. On the dual CPU one, svchost did take up most of a CPU for a
few seconds, but only for a few seconds (and it didn't cause a
problem).

I first noticed the bad problem on the single CPU system, but the dual
CPU had it too. It wasn't as pronounced since I could eventually get
things done, just a lot slower.

So the problem is solved, thanks everyone!