svchost.exe sing all my cpu

[ellen0222]

Hi,
I have an IBM Thinkpad T43, it's four years old. It's Windows XP
Professional, the 2002 version. It's been running very slowly lately, taking
forever to boot up, open a program, or do anything. The RAM was 1 GB and I
recently added another GB, which helped a little. I uninstalled all the free
programs it came with and everything else I don't use, and I've defragmented
it a couple of times, and did a cleanup. Virus scans have turned up nothing.
Let me know if that's not enough background.

Whenever I open Task Manager and go to processes an svchost.exe is using
98-100% of the CPU, so i'm fairly certain that's the problem. I used Process
Explorer and found out that the problem svchost is for DCOMLaunch and
Terminal Services. It also appears as though gcasDtServ.exe is running under
it.
I don't know what the next step is, please help!
Thanks,
Ellen

 

[JS]

From the same website where you downloaded
Process Explorer there is another utility named:
"AutoRuns"

If you can use Proc. Explorer to identify the
program and or path to the program that's eating
up you CPU. Then use Autoruns to disable it.

So if you want to dig deeper:
Autoruns from the MS Windows SysInternals site:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

AutoRuns will show/list all apps/etc. that load/run when you first boot ...
(the 'Boot Execute' tab),
when you logon (the 'Logon' tab) and other programs that load
(grouped by labeled tabs) for easy viewing.

It also provides the ability to selectively allows you to stop
(use with care) any program that you don't want to load.
You can undo any changes you have made.

Note: To get additional details on an item in the list you can't
readily identify you may need to highlight the item (right click) and use
the 'Search Online' option to get the details,
especially useful for the more obscure items in the list.

Probably one of the most noticeable slowdowns when
booting can be caused by AV software. Some products
now include "Boot Scans" and "Quick Scans"
(when you log on), compound this with other programs
that load when you first log on and you can see a noticeable
slowdown from a PC that you just re-installed XP to the
same PC after one or more AV products are installed on.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

[I sure hope you're not AKA ebear!]

There is a very good chance that you are seeing the effects of a hijackware
infection!

NB: If you had no anti-virus application installed or the subscription had
expired *when the machine first got infected* and/or your subscription has
since expired and/or the machine's not been kept fully-patched at Windows
Update, don't waste your time with any of the below: Format & reinstall
Windows. A Repair Install will NOT help!

1. See if you can download/run the MSRT manually:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

NB: Run the FULL scan, not the QUICK scan! You may need to download the
MSRT on a non-infected machine, then transfer MRT.EXE to the infected
machine and rename it to SCAN.EXE before running it.

2. [WinXP ONLY!! =>] Run the Windows Live Safety Center's 'Protection' scan
(only!) in Safe Mode with Networking, if need be:
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/center/howsafe.htm

3. Run a /thorough/ check for hijackware, including posting the requested
logs in an appropriate forum, not here.

Checking for/Help with Hijackware
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=4075
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

**Chances are you will need to seek expert assistance in
http://spywarehammer.com/simplemachinesforum/index.php?board=10.0,
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/viewforum.php?f=5,
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/cleanup,
http://www.bluetack.co.uk/forums/index.php,
http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30 or other appropriate forums as well.**

If these procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting
this isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a local, reputable and
independent (i.e., not BigBoxStoreUSA) computer repair shop.

 

[David]

A couple of years ago, I used to always hibernate my laptop (still do) and
sometimes when it came back up, I would get 100% cpu usage with svchost.

It obviously had to be a service, so I went through my services control
panel and shut down the services one by one to see.

Mine turned out to be Routing and Remote Access that was doing it. Quite why
it was running anyway, I don't know... but that was on a build from Dell.

--
Best regards,
Dave Colliver.
http://www.AshfieldFOCUS.com
~~
http://www.FOCUSPortals.com - Local franchises available