Virus?!

[Ian]

Hi,
When I boot up my pc I have lots of system processes
already running, including about three copies of
svchost.exe. I assume I have a virus, as I cannot end
these processes as I get the 'access denied' error
message. I have tried every anti-virus and anti-spyware
programmes under the sun, but I still don't have control
over my own computer! I can't even format c and reinstall
Windows as it says 'volume in use with another process'.
Can someone please help me get this off my computer? All I
want to do is pack in and start afresh!
Ian

 

[Trafton]

Hi Ian,

This number of instances of svchost.exe is normal. Assuming you have updated
patches, a firewall, and an updated antivirus program, you're probably
secure.

Hope this helps!

Sincerely,
Benjamin "Trafton" Johnstone-Anderson
Microsoft MVP, Windows Security
Security Manifest: www.msmvps.com/trafton/

 

[Steven L Umbach]

Multiple copies of svchost is normal. I suggest that you download some free
tools from SysInternals such as TCPView, Process Explorer, and Autoruns.
Process Explorer will allow you to view processes in much more depth and for
each instance of svchost you can examine the properties to see the
associates services. Autoruns will identify startup processes in numerous
places and give you the ability to disable them if need be. Trend Micro has
a nice and free tool to detect and remove many common malwares. See the
links below and down load Sysclean and the pattern file to the same
directory to run. In the worst case you can always boot from the install
cdrom to reinstall your operating system realizing that a format will
destroy your data that is on the partition you format. Also try booting into
safe mode to make repairs. -- Steve

http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/autoruns.shtml
http://www.trendmicro.com/download/dcs.asp
http://www.trendmicro.com/download/pattern.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx -- necessary
steps to protect your computer.