Hello,



I've been a reader of the forums for a little while and found the need to make my first post.

Let me preface, that I've done some searching on this issue, tried lots of things, and found nothing to help resolving mine.

I'm running Vista Ultimate X64 SP1.
It seems that SVCHOST.exe is causing the problem and I've attached a screenshot of the associated services.

The problem seems to be random in terms of when it acts up, but quite often. The only temporary resolution is a restart.

Thanks all in advance,
GisMo

That's not a simple issue to troubleshoot, but the good news is that it can be done.

Bear in mind that SVCHOST is a container process. Multiple "services" sometimes share the same SVCHOST instance, and the key to this situation is to first work out which service is responsible for the high processor utilisation. I assume you already know that, given your screenshot above. What might not be so obvious is how to split up the services running in the shared SVCHOST so that you eventually get to a state where there's only one service, the SVCHOST is still chewing CPU, and hence you've found the service which is the culprit.

To split a service into its own SVCHOST instance, you can run this from an (elevated) CMD prompt:

SC CONFIG <service_name> TYPE= OWN

Note the space between the equals sign and the "own". The next time that service starts, it'll be in a separate SVCHOST instance which is another process, and you've either ruled it out as the cause or you've found the culprit.

To make a service revert back to its original (shared SVCHOST) state:

SC CONFIG <service_name> TYPE= SHARE

By playing with these commands and the list of services in your screenshot, and rebooting lots and lots, you'll find the service which is responsible for high processor utilisation. There are more elegant ways to do it, but they're impractical over a web forum.

Good luck with it.

Still Having the same problems. Also task manager (taskmgr.exe) also seems to be using 40%-50% of the CPU.

This is killing me. I've disabled each service one by one with no real luck or clues. I've updated all of my drivers and no differences. System restore, nothing.

Any other ideas in lieu of a clean wipe and re-install?

Thanks....

Originally Posted by GisMo

Still Having the same problems. Also task manager (taskmgr.exe) also seems to be using 40%-50% of the CPU.

This is killing me. I've disabled each service one by one with no real luck or clues. I've updated all of my drivers and no differences. System restore, nothing.

Any other ideas in lieu of a clean wipe and re-install?

Thanks....

If a SVCHOST instance is still consuming processor time, then presumably you have not disabled all services therein.

Is the problem reproducible? Do you know of anything which always causes it to kick in?

Does it happen in Safe Mode?

Is there any correlation between the TM and the SVCHOST processor chewing - do they always happen at the same time, for example?

I can't trigger it per se. It seems to be random. For instance, when watching Movies, or streaming video from the internet (netflix watch instantly). It also happened when I was running some VB scripts. It happened in Safe Mode half way through a Spyware scan. Also during a virus scan.

Yes a correlation between TM and the SVCHOST. Yes, when the computer is lagging, I open TM and both Processes seem to use all of the CPU.

What services are still active in the SVCHOST instance which is consuming lots of processor time?

Well, see the attached picture/screenshot taken from process explorer of the bad SVChost.exe. Also, note that the process explorer process is also using about 50% of the CPU at the same time. I was able to make this problem happen twice in a row while using netflix watch instantly. Both times were after a fresh restart and the OS was fine upon restart prior to watching movie. Also, both happened after about 3 minutes of watching.

I'm not really sure what I'm looking at in process explorer, especially when I look at the process explorer details. Currently task manager and the scv host process are using 40-50% each. I'm going to restart now.

I can't pinpoint anything....



Thanks...

Skip Down Below for the short story and solution..

This has still be ongoing and internet research has led me to several dead ends..NO Virii(viruses), Spyware, or Malware infections, no rogue processes...The only thing it did lead me to was the System "Reliability and Performance Monitor" and Event Viewer. Event viewer mentioned some CPU failure quite often but a VERY vague description with an error code that linked to nothing on Microsoft's website or no return from a google search. Performace monitor showed my CPU frequency stagnant at 28%..that looked odd as well. Did a little more digging..I thought it was related to Windows mobility and power manager with CPU settings, but that was ok...That lead me to CPU temperature monitor (Speed Fan SpeedFan - Access temperature sensor in your computer) Noticed my CPU was HOT and then it clicked! CPU overheating! Pulled the back cover off of my machine(Laptop) and noticed the heatsink was COMPLETELY clogged! Thoroughly cleaned the mess and I haven't had any problems since! Yay!


Short Story:
CPU Fan/Heatsink was clogged. CPU overheating. Vista throttles CPU frequency to prevent CPU failure. When Vista does that, CPU frequency is so low that the computer cannot be used. So, check your CPU fans/heatsinks! Clean 'em out!

Hope this helps other people. Too bad it too me four months to figure out when the solution was right under my nose.