What is svchost, and why is there more than one copy running?

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On the task manager, I always see svchost.exe. I know that there are several of them, but there's one (listed as LOCAL SERVICE) that steadily takes up CPU usage. When it reaches 50-80%, my programs start to slow down. What causes this and how can I correct it?

2700 MHz, 768MB, 128M nVidia GeForce4 Ti4200-8x (0x0281)
Running Windows XP

I'd use tasklist /svc, as documented in this article, to try and determine which svchost is causing your trouble, and what services it is attempting to provide. That may provide a clue. Naturally I'd also make sure you're up to date on service packs, windows update, virus checks and so on.

Leo

Leo, thank you for your online forum. My laptop, Toshiba Satellite 1415-S173, cable modem, MS WiFi, Symantec AV and full Security suite has recently required longer and longer to boot. I have tried to find the bottleneck to no avail. Numerous tweak scripts, exhaustive startup manager trials. 1.5 to 2 minutes to get the logon screen and another 2+ to load the desktop. I just found in MS Sys Info, Sys Summary, Software Environment, Startup Programs.....each file is listed twice with NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM one user and .DEFAULT the other user. This is true for every file listed. Any thoughts? Otherwise, the system performs quite nicely. thanks in advance

Having everything listed twice certainly seems suspicious. I'd have you start with this article:
http://ask-leo.com/archives/000032.html it's about system slowdowns in general, but many of the same techniques apply. It also points to another article on controlling what happens at startup with instructions on how to use msconfig. I'm curious as to whether msconfig shows everything twice as well. You didn't mention running any spyware scanning software - that's also a frequent cause for startup issues. Again, the article I just referenced discusses that also.

Best of luck!

Leo

Through Zone Alarm I learn that svchost.exe want to act as a server. Literally:
Do you want to allow Generic Host Process for Win32 services to act as a server?
Tech Inf.: source IP: 0.0.0.0:Port 5000
Application: svchost.exe
Version: 5.1.2600.0 (xpclient 010817-1148)

["More info" in ZoneAlarm does not really give one more understanding or "yes/no" advice.]

I guess I am not the only one who gets this Question. Pls mail... tks
Curious Kees

I'm using zone alarm too. and i choose "yes" - nothing bad happend since then.

One of the svchost.exe's on my computer is making my computer's CPU run at 100%. It slows things down on my computer, even though I have good parts. Do you know what's going on?

When I type tasklist /svchost I get the following message.

"tasklist not a known internal or external command, operable program or batch file"

I am running XP home on a Compaq presario notebook. The reason I would dearly like to run the program is that my PC is running at 100% busy even though there are no programs active and I am not connected to the net - or anything else.

Recommend you follow the instructions here: http://ask-leo.com/archives/000059.html and the several good ideas in the comments that follow.

Leo

Tasklist.exe is in \windows\system32 if present. You should be able to find it on your Windows XP CD as well.

Leo

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