MSHTA.exe using 100% CPU

[estafford]

I just recieved two new dell desktops with XP Pro and Office2003.
We use a .hta application in our intranet for daily operations.

When the hta app is closed on the new system, the system slows down and the
task manager shows mshta.exe using 100% of CPU.

End task on the mshta process will bring everything back to normal.

Is there anything else I can do to make sure that the mshta process exits
when the hta app is closed.

The problem only occures on the new system. (there are two new ones, but I
have only set up one so far.)

 

[Malke]

I just recieved two new dell desktops with XP Pro and Office2003.
We use a .hta application in our intranet for daily operations.

When the hta app is closed on the new system, the system slows down
and the task manager shows mshta.exe using 100% of CPU.

End task on the mshta process will bring everything back to normal.

Is there anything else I can do to make sure that the mshta process
exits when the hta app is closed.

The problem only occures on the new system. (there are two new ones,
but I have only set up one so far.)

Some Googling around brings up links suggesting that you may have
spyware or a trojan. I found a link mentioning an hta exploit with the
specific symptom of mshta.exe using a lot of processing cycles.
However, I don't know the validity of that particular website, so don't
want to cite it as canonical. So, the usual steps would be to 1) do a
clean boot using msconfig; 2) scan with current antivirus using updated
definitions in Safe Mode; 3) remove any spyware - although I'm really
not sure if there has been enough time for any to accumulate yet.

Malke

 

[estafford]

The system is brand new...right out of the box and configured according to
network policies and standards. I googled before posting here and came
across the same links. They were not helpful.

mshta.exe in this case is legit and not the exploit.
But for some reason the process does not terminate when I quit the hta
application.

 

[Malke]

The system is brand new...right out of the box and configured
according to network policies and standards. I googled before posting
here and came across the same links. They were not helpful.

mshta.exe in this case is legit and not the exploit.
But for some reason the process does not terminate when I quit the hta
application.

OK, I wasn't impugning your techical ability - you didn't say what you
had done to troubleshoot, so there was no way for me to know. In that
case, I'm sorry but I don't know. Perhaps you can contact the people
who did the hta app. Maybe there's a known issue and they've got a
workaround or patch. Perhaps there's a conflict with some of the Dell
software. I always uninstall the Dell Media Experience and Dell Support
(to kill NotifyAlert.exe) immediately. If you have those on your
systems, maybe you could try. Otherwise, it will probably be one of
those things you're going to have to Sherlock yourself, to try and
figure out what is different about the machines that work from the ones
that don't. And maybe someone else will have an answer for you even
though you didn't give too many details about the hta app.

Good luck,

Malke

 

[estafford]

Well, I found the answer in another forum.
The HTA app has an applet running which caused mshat.exe to hang when the
app was closed.

I disabled the applet and everything terminated as normal.

 

[Unknown]

Whay IS mshta???

Well, I found the answer in another forum.
The HTA app has an applet running which caused mshat.exe to hang when the
app was closed.

I disabled the applet and everything terminated as normal.