How do I fix this high CPU usage svchost virus or whatever it is?

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i have windows xp home edition,sp2. i too have this problem of svchost.exe using 100% cpu. i read an article regarding this where they told to remove and reinstall windows update.(http://www.amset.info/windows/auto-updates.asp#Reset%20Automatic%20Updates)
i dont understand how to do it...plz help

Hey,
I have one stupid problem with this file...
When I started OS (win xp) 1 hour later the network was dropped and I must restart the PC.
http://img172.imageshack.us/my.php?image=2uc4.jpg
HOW I CAN REMOVE THIS S""T? Please, help me ;(
I cant stop these processes. I must restart OS always when this window is revealing.

I have found my own solution to this problem. I use one of 2 programs that keeps a watch on processes that use a lot of CPU time and lower the priority for these processes. One of them is Process Tamer (http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/proctamer/index.html) and the other is Process Lasso (http://www.bitsum.com/prosuper.asp). I always hated how I would go to a machine and whether it was automatic updates or manually updating the machine would freeze while looking for updates. Well using these programs will keep you computer usable while doing updates. The main machines I have noticed the problem on all have Celeron P4 processors. I hope these programs will be of use. Thanks for the interesting article.

Hey, just thought i would add this. My service host was hogging all the memory it could because of my stupid HP printer network... I killed it and everything went back to normal.

I had the same svchost issue on two computers and tried everything above with no good result. I finally disabled the HP Digital Imaging Monitor and all was OK. This is piece of software that sits around and waits for a button to be pressed on an HP Multi-function printer/scanner/fax. It can be temperarily disabled by right clicking on it in the lower right corner of your display and selecting exit. It can be removed from the Startup folder to permanently render it harmless.

I tried your fix to my 100% CPU usage problem, disabled the updates....worked great! But, re-booted and same problem as before, except now the automatic updates shows as ' disabled '? Curious, not sure whatelse could have ocurred? Plus, I am a computer programmer, so, I have a lot of experience with pc's and software.........

I had this same problem, and followed your advice. Once I downloaded Process Explorer, I was able to see all the processes tied to the svchost.exe that was tying up the CPU. I went into Computer Management (as recommended) and disabled Auto Updates. This didn't solve the problem. I then started to disable other services until the problem did go away. It ended up being the "HID Input Service (HidServ)." From the description of this service, it seems like it handles predefined hot buttons and some other multimedia devices. Hopefully I won't need it for anything important.

Thanks for the help! Hopefully this will help others with the same problem. And hopefully Microsoft will provide a fix.

Had same problem with HP printer software. svchost running CPU 100%, other programs crashing. Even with digital imaging monitor tuned off, still occurred. Uninstall HP software, back to normal. Found a fix on internet. Reinstalling HP software, then Going into services and changing HP settings from Automatic to manual fixed the issue.

Thanks this has helped alot. I had the svchost cpu problem and tried diableing updater but still occured. So I went through one at time and stopped RIP Listener which is a servce that listens for information from a router and that stopped the cpu usage problem, but while this has been happening I have had no conectivity can not ger IP address from network. There was also an unauthorized user account under RIP Listener. So with RIP Listener disabled will I be able to get conectivity?

Another vote for the bloody HP service. The Process explorer that was mentioned in this article is truly a wonderful piece of software - it showed me immediately that the culprit was the HP Network Devices Support service. The solution was to simply stop the service and change its property to "manual". Thanks for the help!

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