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

Comment from Josh on 2008-11-23

2008-11-23T21:01:10Z

I have the same problem, where a SVCHOST shows near %100 CPU utilization! Anyone has any insight on this issue? I have the latest MS updates, and have tried the above-mentioned stop-and-restart of Auto Update. None has helped.

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Comment from Phoebe on 2008-11-19

2008-11-20T04:28:33Z

Hi. I'm having the same sort of problem (ie. one version of svchost is taking up 99% of my cpu), but it hasn't been fixed by the Windows Update mentioned at the bottom of the article, nor has it been fixed by stopping and disabling the automatic update process.
So I'm wondering what I should do now...

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Comment from Kiran on 2008-11-18

2008-11-18T10:17:03Z

CPU usage is high and when i check the task manager CPU performance, it is 1%

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Comment from Bersus on 2008-11-18

2008-11-18T09:02:49Z

on my system (running XP) the HP printer drivers (very poor software indeed!) spiked up svchost cpu time. Reading previous comments, however, the problem seems to be with the svchost process itself, cos everyone has different process to unleash processor utilization! now, if Microsoft actually has a solution, they should make it available. Otherwise, they should find one asap. No, wait, they're too busy trying to get vista to work in a decent way!!! buddies, lost cause!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Comment from Don Joseph on 2008-11-15

2008-11-15T21:46:43Z

This article helped me track down the SVCHOST culprit on both XP and Vista Machines. It is the HP software that the OfficeJet All-In-One installs to watch for system stuff. Ending those services stopped the usage.

Now I'm experimenting another way. With task manager, that SVCHOST wouldn't allow you to change the priority--even if you ignored the warning. With Process Explorer you can. So I'm going to let the processes run, but change them to low priority. That way, if something else needs the processor, they shouldn't interfere. We'll see.

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Comment from David on 2008-11-05

2008-11-05T21:29:06Z

Hi, svchost is taking up a lot of my cpu but the generally my computer is running ok once a program is on. Only to find I cant play music or videos because the CPU is jumping up to 100% every few seconds making sound and video jittery. Could it be Svchost that's doing this or would there be another problem? thanks

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Comment from Nader on 2008-11-02

2008-11-02T15:44:05Z

Hi Guys,

Very helpfull info :)

but i have a different problem in here, the Process explorer shows "Interrupts" is very high usage on the CPU history Column.

Any help please.

thnx alot

More often than not, that indicates a hardware problem. The trouble is determining which piece of hardware. Any particular devices acting up? Check those out, or remove them temporarily and see if it clears up.

- Leo
03-Nov-2008

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Comment from Thomas on 2008-10-31

2008-10-31T09:37:50Z

angela: "idle" means that your computer does nothing. There is always an "idle" process showing the percentage when the CPU is resting. The processes plus the "idle" always takes 100% in total. Having "idle" close to 100% means that your CPU is free. You computer might be slow for other reason which does not require the CPU working (slow internet, slow/many disk writes etc.) so it has nothing to do with the "svchost" problem.

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Comment from angela on 2008-10-31

2008-10-31T09:00:00Z

Hi Leo, i think mine is not a svchost, what is system idle process that takes about 99 % CPU? it's slowing my computer. how can i stop it?

Idle is the task that Windows does when it has nothing to do. In otherwords, if your computer is 99% idle, then it's not doing anything. Idle does not cause your computer to slow down.

- Leo
01-Nov-2008

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Comment from Ren on 2008-10-14

2008-10-15T03:42:49Z

The fix you offer up here, disabling WU merely shifted the problem around for me.

At first Svchost/wuauclt was the app that was hanging at 99% CPU usage. In turn I disabled WU and Windows Firewall, which stopped the machine from immediatley shooting up to 100% processor usage on startup.

But then another app would, after a few minutes, move in and take the place of those two. Sometimes it is LSASS, sometimes it is WINLOGON, and sometimes it is an app related to AVG Antivirus which I just installed after a number of tries. It can't complete the virusscan because even if I kill other processes, eventually it gets to LSASS which cannot be killed. I've hung at 99% processor usage with SVCHOST (Services), wuauclt, WINLOGON, LSASS, and applications related to Process Explorer and AVG.

Additionally I cannot boot the machine in Safe Mode because of a blue screen error that says that the video driver can't initialize.

So if I can't boot in safe mode and random applications keep causing the machine to hang at 100% processor usage what am I left with?

Netstat shows that there are connections to the machine (listening if I remove my network cable) on ports 135, 445 etc.

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Comment from Giovanni on 2008-10-04

2008-10-04T13:10:10Z

The key for me was to use Process Explorer. This is a wonderful tool that will allow you to isolate which service is responsible for the 100% cpu usage. In may case, it was related to HP Device Network Support, which is for my HP PRINTER!!! After disabling this service, my 100% cpu useage issue disappeared immediately (which I could tell because I was running Task Manager and looking at the Processes tab sorted by CPU...I also enabled Process Identifier column, also referred to as PID, to find out what ID was responsible). Many thanks to Leo!

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Comment from Mo on 2008-10-02

2008-10-03T00:41:15Z

Thank you Leo! This actually worked! I downloaded the Process Explorer and at once was able to identify the PUA causing the potential problem of 100% CPU usuage. The tool is so useful and with my newly purchased McAfee Anti-Virus, I'm assured that PUAs and Spyware will find it difficult gaining a strangle hold on my laptop. Adios! Gracias!

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Comment from Stewey on 2008-09-28

2008-09-28T23:38:08Z

Hi,
I've also been struggling with the problem of SVCHOST usurping 100% of my CPU - I tried many of the typical listed solutions like disabling windows update etc, all to no avail. However, I just found the culprit process that was responsible - it was none other than DNSCACHE !
Using the command "Tasklist /SVC" from CMD Prompt, I was able to match the PID of the problem SVCHOST process to object that was using it - in my case, it was DNSCACHE. What I guess was occurring was that after every start-up, when trying to connect to internet, DNSCACHE 1st wanted to update - this could take quite some time in some instances, and as I've discovered, was completely un-neccessary. The fix was to STOP the DNSCACHE service, then set it to DISABLED, all within LOCAL SERVICES. Problem is now gone, and internet access is fully functional. Hope this is of some help to others with similar problem.

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Comment from Joe Peters on 2008-09-27

2008-09-27T19:12:21Z

I have been getting CPU spikes to 100% at regular intervals. They seem to be related to my network - when I disable the network, the spikes stop. My network has 2 computers, one connected wirelessly and one connected by cable. Task manager showes that the network itself is not using a lot of CPU

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Comment from Ben on 2008-09-13

2008-09-14T01:47:12Z

Hi Guys

im new here so bear with me i have always been ok with PC's and i could build one and strip one just fine BUT laptops are alien to me and this scared me tonight because....

im a DJ and tonight i was at a gig, 10 mins beofore i start i turned my laptop on and the first thing i noticed is the windows XP blue loading bar is moving at the speed of light! then it loads in to windows. the clock was FLYING round i thought it was strange but thought it would settle... i opened my music player and things go worse the muisc was all distorted like there wasnt enough memory to support the player i hit C-A-DEL and the CPU usage was going up and down like a yoyo and jumping from 0 to 100% like wildfire i tryed re-booting no diffreence! i restarted and went in to BIOS the system clock in Bios was doing the same i tryed 2 more resets and then all of a sudden PRESTO like nothing had happend its all ok again...

i just dont get it!!! any thoughts???

kindest

Ben

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Comment from David Sorge on 2008-08-27

2008-08-27T08:27:14Z

I'm not seeing any cpu problems when I run task manager, but my system slows down just the same. I have noticed that when I open an eBay tab ( in Firefox )thing go down faster, so now I don't leave eBay tabs open any longer than I need to.

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Comment from Mary on 2008-08-23

2008-08-23T16:31:22Z

Hi Leo....I luckily found your web site regarding this issue when I did a google search for svchost. I have spent days with tech support to try to resolve this issue that something was using 100% of my cpu. I thought it was my internet provider...a virus...my computer...etc. One tech called me back at 3 am this morning after doing many scans to find the problem, only to tell me he could not fix it. He recommended I reformat my computer. I started to google svc this morning and came accross your site. I followed your instuctions to download the Process Explorer and to run it to find out what the problem was. When I discovered through that what was using 100% of my cpu...I immediately knew that was my problem. It showed me only 1 .dll file to be the problem, and it was my NEW HP printer software. I called HP, and a tech helped me delete files and re-install my printer...and guess what...my cpu went down to 2%!!!!!!!!!!Thank you so much, and I wish others success in solving their issue with svchost 100%cpu problem

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Comment from Dan Swierczynski on 2008-08-21

2008-08-21T15:48:24Z

I have been plagued with this issue at home and at work. My IT department gave up on my computer. HP put in a new mother board. I corrected both from this information below. I don't know exactly what it is really reppairing, but it works. Visit this URL:http://www.technibble.com/how-to-fix-svchost-using-100-cpu-memory-leak/

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Comment from rose100192 on 2008-07-30

2008-07-31T03:37:47Z

I could not perform a Windows update even with going to the Microsoft Update site with Internet Explorer. I was unable to start the automatic update services in services.msc.

I was able to remove the Vundo Trojan with this free program called SUPERAntiSpyware which removed all the Automatic Windows Updates problems.

It can be downloaded here:
http://www.download.com/SuperAntiSpyware-Professional/3000-8022_4-10532824.html?tag=lst-3&cdlPid=10849529

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Comment from Krishna on 2008-07-23

2008-07-24T06:15:57Z

Nice and Helpful artical.

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Comment from Leonidas M on 2008-07-16

2008-07-16T17:44:45Z

Hello about this issue regarding high cpu usage from svchost.exe i think i isolated the problem to microsoft update when a user has applications like Microsoft office this occurs when trying to update all software at once with "Microsoft Update" i had several issues with this problem as i work to aftermarket technical support . You can turn off Microsoft Update at the update site that Microsoft Update takes you to. Dont know if that helps in your case i corrected many windows installations in this way give it a try if you allready depleted other solutions

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Comment from mitul on 2008-07-16

2008-07-16T10:06:14Z

how do i get rid of nhatqualan virus

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Comment from Beverly on 2008-06-27

2008-06-27T22:13:02Z

My computer keeps freezing every 20 seconds. The screen freezes for 15 seconds then it's back then freezes again. I have done all the anti-virus, anti-spyware stuff...I can see the CPU spike under task manager but I'm not computer savvy enough to know what to look for or fix it. I work at home on my computer as a medical transcriptionist and I desperately need to fix this. Can you help me?
Thanks
Bev

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Comment from David on 2008-06-13

2008-06-14T02:22:16Z

My system has had the same problem from time to time. Recently, the culprit(s) this time was, Service Pack 3 update...It caused my USB Wireless Network Adapter to go down. At startup, I constantly received missing "AirPlusCFG.exe" and WZCSLDRZ.exe" alerts after the update (cheap way for Microsoft to do coexistence testing...all is forgiven). CPU usage remained at 100% and the system never settled down all night. After troubleshooting the next morning, I found and immediate fix on the device's, D-Link, Web site. Also, Microsoft's "Outlook Connector" will set my CPU over the edge. By the way, I have the same HP C7280 on my home network and HP DLL, or some other missing DLL, can definetly gobble up CPU resources and will/may not show up in Task Manager. I currently have 5 programs running and 58 processes with CPU usage ranging from 3-22%...10 of which are svchost...System is purring!! By the way Leo, I truly truly miss the North West!!

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Comment from Ryan Swift on 2008-06-13

2008-06-13T20:35:30Z

Thanks for the great tip, I did not know about this. I was able to narrow down the problem to an HP Device Support Process.

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Comment from Frank D on 2008-06-10

2008-06-10T16:46:37Z

FWIW: About two weeks back I had this problem with svchost hogging all my CPU for over four days (using WinXP Pro SP2). I tried all the suggested fixes I could find, even did a reinstall in place -- all to no avail. I was about ready to shoot my PC, when I tried simply disabling my "DNS Client" service. _Immediately_ the problem disappeared! That was a week ago, no fallout has occurred, and I'm still savoring the way my PC is running.

BTW, this is repeatable: if I restart the DNS Client service, svchost goes berserk; turn it off and the problem goes away.

FWIW
Frank D

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Comment from Rob on 2008-06-03

2008-06-03T08:34:08Z

I set a recovery point every time I made a change to my system and was able to pinpoint where things went south with Svchost. It turned out that my HP printer utilities for my C7280 caused the SVCHOST/CPU issue. Process Explorer helped me identify and confirm this as it tuned out a HP DLL was caught in a loop. As this DLL only sniffs for IP address changes related to the HP device on my home network, and I had hard set the IP for that device, I could easily shut it down and set it to manual.

Problem solved for me. I guess that SP3 is not watertight for all different devices esp when these are relatively new.

I therefore strongly recommend using Process Explorer.

Good luck to all and thanks Leo!

Rob

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Comment from Rob on 2008-06-03

2008-06-03T08:32:55Z

Problem solved for me. I guess that SP3 is not watertight for all different devices esp when these are relatively new.

I therefore strongly recommend using Process Explorer.

Good luck to all.

Rob

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Comment from lmakinon on 2008-06-02

2008-06-02T15:28:09Z

My CPU operating 100% was due to low connectivity. Once I turned power off at source and replugged all the connections at the back of the tower including the blue pin plug with the two screws to ensure they were properly connected, my 100% CPU problem was solved

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Comment from TPM on 2008-05-14

2008-05-14T15:49:52Z

Hi,

Hi, Since yesterday my laptop is getting slow because of windows updates. I did net stop wuauserv the cpu bacame 0 % busy, a few minutes later it bacame again 100% busy and again wuauserv was binded to svchost taking 100% cpu. process monitor helped a lot identifying this.

The SOLUTION came up in some other forum:

http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.windowsupdate&tid=fd41763e-33d0-4947-8cd8-1e1bfaae4183&p=1

And the solution to my laptop cpu 100% busy problem was to run the following script:

regsvr32 MSXML3.dll
regsvr32 WUAUENG1.dll
regsvr32 WUAPI.DLL
regsvr32 WUAUENG.DLL
regsvr32 WUAUENG1.DLL
regsvr32 ATL.DLL
regsvr32 WUCLTUI.DLL
regsvr32 WUPS.DLL
regsvr32 WUPS2.DLL
regsvr32 WUWEB.DLL
net stop WuAuServ
rename %windir%\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution_buggy
net start WuAuServ

By the way, I believe this script should be harmless to run...

Hope this may help everyone solving the same problem!

Cheers

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Comment from Okiwaso on 2008-05-14

2008-05-14T11:30:16Z

I am pretty sure the batch file called "Reset Automatic Updates System" on this webpage worked - http://www.amset.info/windows/auto-updates.asp#Reset-Automatic-Updates

I ran it yesterday, rebooted a couple of times and when Automatic Updates came on it only took 10-15% of CPU for very short periods of time.

This morning on reboot it still only took 10-15%

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Comment from Okiwaso on 2008-05-13

2008-05-13T12:52:29Z

Actually it did not work for Windows Update.
The next morning on bootup it took up most of the CPU so I had to use Process Explorer to kill it

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Comment from Okiwaso on 2008-05-12

2008-05-12T15:53:38Z

I put Help Service and Windows Update service in their own svchost and this fixed things.
Now Windows Update starts up at boot and hardly consumes any resources at all, and periodically when it and Help Service come on they don't consume much resources any more.

I used the "sc config wuauserv type= own" and "sc config helpsvc type= own" commands

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Comment from John Ponti on 2008-05-11

2008-05-11T23:52:29Z

Unfortunately I just found out that Windizupdate.com is no longer. They site is 'up', but they're not offering any further downloads.

For another "third party" update site, try www.thesoftwarepatch.com

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Comment from John Ponti on 2008-05-11

2008-05-11T15:04:32Z

Getting updates via Windows Update site is now impossible.

However, I've found a site that will allow you to get your updates using Firefox browser and presumably other browers. I installed it and it works! (I used their tool vs. the regular install because I have no knowledge of how to install unsigned plug-ins)

www.windizupdate.com

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Comment from John Ponti on 2008-05-10

2008-05-11T03:49:29Z

Patch didn't work and I, too, cannot get any updates the load bar constantly scrolls but nothing happens.

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Comment from John Schimandle on 2008-05-09

2008-05-09T22:29:56Z

I had to call microsoft support. They ran tool to re-register all the DLLs using regserv. This solved the problem.

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Comment from dave on 2008-05-09

2008-05-09T21:12:29Z

looks like my svchost is screwy too, it's been hogging CPU for a week or two and got really bad the last couple of days

I'm using XP home SP2, and have updates thru KB945533 on 4/14/08 including the KB927891 patch

my usual browser is FireFox 2.0.0.14

CA Security Center 4.0.0.182 didn't find a virus or spyware

I had AutoUpdate turned on to download but let me manually install but turned it off completely and svchost.exe seems to be OK now

except, I went to Windows Update using IE7 this morning and when I try the auto check for what update(s) I need the green status indicator just keeps moving across the bar and it never gets further, I let it run for an hour, I've tried this with both CA addons and firewall disabled as well as popup OK for microsoft.com

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Comment from Ravi on 2008-05-03

2008-05-03T19:11:23Z

when i play games my cpu usage goes high.some times system will automatically restarts.some svchost process some times some other process is taking high cpu. the same problem will revealed when i installs any software alsi

i have formated entire system and reinstall but the problem still there and one thing is when i open bios also my cpu gives noice
Is it hardware problem
please help me

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Comment from Sarah W on 2008-04-22

2008-04-22T15:21:53Z

My computer is extremely slow as of late and when I open up task manager there are several iexplorer.exe processes (taking up 90% CPU usage) even when I aren't using the internet. When the previous problem had not yet arisen, there is was a process named 'remote cash dale.exe' - I have no idea what that is but it uses a whole lot of my CPU (ranging from 50%-99%). The two processes now take it in turns to torment me by slowing my computer to an unbarable speed. Please could you give me some advice?

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Comment from Sergio Aragon on 2008-04-13

2008-04-14T06:52:19Z

Leo you rule!! I had this svchost.exe problem for weeks and I solved it easily after reading your articles, thank you very much

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Comment from Rob M on 2008-04-12

2008-04-12T11:12:35Z

I am tired of all of these problems with svchost. I have decided to get a MAC. Life will be much easier.

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Comment from David Adson on 2008-04-09

2008-04-10T03:14:49Z

on may 11, 07 a comment posted by "guest" suggested typing at the C: prompt: sc config wuauserv type=own so that windows update has it's own svchost
is there a way to undo this command (long story)
by the way, the windows KB927891 patch didn't work but re-loading networked HP printer without the imaging software helped
though the auto update still runs up the scchost on occasion (per process explorer)

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Comment from Alex Chan on 2008-04-04

2008-04-04T12:07:43Z

my notebook running XP is having a similar problem but with 95% of CPU power running on a program named wmiprsv.exe no matter how this application is closed/removed/delete, it keeps coming back - presumably it is part of Windows' system file.

at a complete loss

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Comment from Dan on 2008-03-29

2008-03-29T22:50:20Z

Hate this svchost.exe slowdown, but got it resolved by following the advice in here. First culprit is HP. As soon as I stopped any process related to HP, it went away.

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Comment from Bob Hambleton on 2008-03-13

2008-03-13T19:21:52Z

3/13/08. We have a recently cleaned and reinstalled Win XP SP2 + all current updates on which svchost.exe was grabbing all of the available CPU and things were unbearably sluggish. Looking at Task Manager sorted by CPU I noted that ALG.EXE was at 0% but also near the top of the list. It's Application Layer Gateway for 3rd party plug-ins and for Windows Firewall. We're behind a firewall so disabling Windows Firewall solved the problem. However, what the heck was WF doing that kept it banging away at ALG -> SVCHOST? It could be a problem for folks not already behind a firewall. Fortunately, I use Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite on XP and Vista so WF doesn't run actively.

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Comment from EJH on 2008-02-11

2008-02-12T02:25:34Z

I, too, had this problem after installing an HP all-in-one wireless printer (HP C4385). Disabling the Digital Imaging Monitor did not help for some reason, so I uninstalled the printer drivers & software and emailed HP's tech support. I got the following suggestion:

1. Click Start Menu >> Click “Run”
2. In the Run text box type “services.msc” without quotes, and press enter.
3. Find Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) entry in the list of services in the right hand side pane.
4. Double-click the Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) icon. The Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) Properties (Local Machine) windows will open.
5. On the General tab, click the drop-down arrow in the Start-up Type box and select Disabled.
6. Click Stop. Ensure that Service Status displays Stopped.
7. Click Apply, and then click OK.

Then I reinstalled the printer, and now everything is as it should be! (Printer works, CPU usage normal.)

Also, for the record, I recommend emailing HP's tech support as opposed to calling them. I emailed them on a Friday and received the instructions on Saturday, then a follow-up on Sunday when I didn't reply right away!

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Comment from Leo A. Notenboom on 2008-02-11

2008-02-11T16:59:22Z

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

"Maybe HP's tech support in India should subscribe to your
site!!"

:-)

Actually I have been contacted on occasion by various folks
in tech support roles for major companies. And I also have a
fairly significant readership in India.

Leo

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (MingW32)

iD8DBQFHsH76CMEe9B/8oqERAppVAJ0bxBkWE0fNONdTG3rWK+VxbpnBCQCfU31j
s//F+MamVmA9oITdmifltUc=
=DuX1
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Comment from tina on 2008-02-10

2008-02-10T15:46:13Z

I too just purchased an HP all-in-one printer and noticed cpu usage @ 100% and sluggish response. After 3 hrs on phone w/ HP tech support, he told me to upgrade my XP to Vista or to purchase a Security Sweep to correct the problem. After installing Norton 360, my problem still existed. Thanks to your website and reading Don's post re: the disable of HP Digital Imagining Monitor .. problem was fixed! Maybe HP's tech support in India should subscribe to your site!!

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Comment from Jennifer Robinson on 2008-02-09

2008-02-10T01:57:56Z

Leo, thank you very much for your help on this problem. For a few weeks I had been experiencing a sluggish, 100% usage not knowing what the issue was. Coincidently, however I had installed a new HP Wireless D7460 printer, and after reading the comments after the article I thought that would fix the problem. It didn't, so I proceeded to Microsofts Update site and downloaded all the newest available updates. After that didn't work, I searched the update under your 23-May-2007 Update. After installing that and rebooting by computer, I was happy to see my CPU usage to drop to normal levels! Thank you for your help, it's greatly appreciated!

-Jennifer

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Comment from Paul on 2008-02-07

2008-02-07T13:41:45Z

THANK YOU DON! I have had this svchost cpu-hogging problem since installing an HP wireless printer. I just stopped the auto startup of "HP Digital Imaging Moniter", and my CPU usage has returned to normal. Hooray!

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Comment from Don on 2008-02-02

2008-02-02T18:54:29Z

I think I found a fix for my problem, or at least a workaround. My problem was caused by a HP utility called "HP Digital Imaging Monitor". The solution was to go into the "System Configuration Utility" by typing msconfig from the run command. Next, I went to the Startup tab and unchecked "HP Digital Imaging Monitor" so that it wouldn't startup everytime I started my machine. The "HP Digital Imaging Monitor" monitors my connection to the printer and alerts me if I lose the connection. It is really not necessary anyway so it doesn't even need to be installed, so removing from startup will not decrease any functionality of the printer.

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Comment from jeff on 2008-01-30

2008-01-30T23:41:26Z

My XP computer was running fine UNTIL I installed the hp c7250 printer last week. Now I get the 100% cpu usage with svchost.exe. I can kill the process, but that is temporary. Is there a permanent fix? Has anyone contacted HP about this?

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Comment from Peter Glynn on 2008-01-24

2008-01-25T02:02:13Z

Thanks very useful
have the same HP problem with all-in-one software
When i stop the process - I also lose the printer
So is there a permanent fix?

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Comment from Scott Grib on 2008-01-24

2008-01-24T21:34:25Z

I had a user experiencing long periods (hours) of high CPU utilization from svchost.exe. Unsure that I wanted to run unproven (freeware) "reg cleaner" I learned about Microsoft Process Explorer on this web site and ran it. I was immediately able to determine the cause of the problem.

It was an HP (who else) printer discovery service that was installed during a recent all-in-one printer connection. I shut down the offending service in System Manager and CPU usage dropped instantly. Now I can confidently address my problem with the offender!

Thanks to Ask Leo!, I was able to learn about, identify and correct the problem without the risk of potentially currupting an 'unbroken' registry. Thanks Leo! Scott

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Comment from travis sanford on 2008-01-23

2008-01-23T19:49:52Z

Has anyone had this problem AND had explorer hijacked? Using task manager I too changed the HP settings to manual and found another problem: iexplorer keeps launching to ad sites, even when I am using firefox, I see it opening multiple instances in the process window. I have scanned several times for spy/ad/viruses and it seems to keep on happening.

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Comment from Pavan Kumar AR on 2008-01-17

2008-01-17T14:52:46Z

I too had a problem concerning with svchost virus, I too worked a lot on that, and got a solution, for the help of users, I am providing the link to my article Getting rid of svchost virus. This article is recommended for those who have problem concerning with virus called svchost, and not with those related with printer, or other things. Those viruses cannot be detected using antivirus softwares, they are called as rootkits. Just read my article if you want to fix the virus which I have explained.

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Comment from Keith on 2008-01-10

2008-01-10T12:12:22Z

HP C7250 printer driver. Found it with Process Explorer and promptly killed it. Thanks Leo!!!

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Comment from jee on 2008-01-09

2008-01-09T16:20:42Z

this problem occured on my pc 3-4 days ago.
I tried every solution given in this site. Disabled the automatic updates but it didn't work. so downloaded process explorer.
I tracked svchost.exe threads, there i fount that msvcrt.dll is using all the CPU.
can anybody solve this issue?

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Comment from Prathamesh on 2007-12-18

2007-12-19T04:40:00Z

I had this problem a few months back on my Windows XP SP-2.

When i did a netstat -a i found many ports open...

Then i used a software called proxifier to find out which program is trying to connect to the internet/network... as my firewall didnt come usefull for this...

there was some file (cant remember the name) in windows\system32\...

I deleted it using hijackthis and then my pc was running good for few days...

But the virus came back again...
I guess its a network virus. And not a bug.

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Comment from R2 on 2007-12-13

2007-12-13T15:04:56Z

It appears there are a number of resolutions to the svchost high usage issue. This occurred on one of my four PCs and turned out to be a DNS Client issue. Some weeks ago I added a new "host" file that exceeded 641K. I replaced the host file with the original which is 1K and the problem is gone.

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Comment from dolce on 2007-12-10

2007-12-10T21:08:40Z

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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Comment from Ben on 2007-12-03

2007-12-04T04:41:35Z

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?

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Comment from JD on 2007-12-03

2007-12-03T12:38:45Z

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.

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Comment from Peter on 2007-12-01

2007-12-01T22:25:25Z

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.

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Comment from Sam on 2007-11-19

2007-11-20T01:09:37Z

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.........

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Comment from Yorkski on 2007-11-15

2007-11-15T21:44:44Z

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.

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Comment from Skyler on 2007-11-15

2007-11-15T09:49:51Z

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.

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Comment from Leland on 2007-11-01

2007-11-01T20:15:20Z

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.

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Comment from Zezo on 2007-10-19

2007-10-19T23:49:50Z

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.

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Comment from maverick on 2007-10-16

2007-10-16T21:12:19Z

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

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