svchost.exe

this file is taking up sometimes 95% of the processor very rarely
but more like 50% occassionally

i usually reboot and then the problem has gone

can i do something without having to reboot

cheers
geoff

 

Thanks to Elder L:

It sounds like your system may be afflicted with malicious software.

Some reading about svchost.exe and how it may be disguised (just read).

http://www.file.net/process/svchost.exe.html

Sometimes it may seem that one of your svchost.exe processes is out of control using all kinds of CPU and memory, so understand that some malicious software will hide itself as a Process behind one of your several svchost.exe Processes. All you will see in Task Manager is a svchost.exe Process that has run amok.

The malicious software knows that you will not be able to find it and see it in Task Manager. The malicious software hopes that it will trick you into doing something drastic like a use a Restore Point, perform a Repair Install, or even reinstall your XP from scratch when none of that is necessary.

No matter what you are using for malware detection and removal do this first:

Download, install, update and do a quick scan with these free malware detection programs:

Malwarebytes (MBAM): http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free
SUPERAntiSpyware: (SAS): http://www.superantispyware.com/

They can be uninstalled later if desired.

After the scans run clean and a reboot, see how things look.

 

you can also use process explorer which is a better task manager, to see what each svchost is actually tied to:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

 

Repair a "stopped" process

One of my svchost processes runs so high after reboot, it really slows things down (running 95-100%). I "end" the process and can use most of my computer, but miss at least one critical function.

Will the recommended fixes still attack this stopped errant process?

I really appreciate this forum, I'm a first time user, just found it!