svchost.exe file - What is it?

[Big Steel]

I've been working my wy through all the suggestions that have been
posted here but haven't yet gotten the problem resolved. I'm now
thinking it is an indexing problem associated with drive D: but I
don't know how to check this out. I will often see a ribbon at the top
of the screen (thermometer looking thing) that shows progression from
left to right, while the system is stalled out.

As I mentioned earlier, I have my OS and client software installed on
drive C: and my working files on drive D:. Both are Western DIgital
500 GB SATA hard drives and, for the most part seem to be working
well.

If I open a new client program that needs file data from drive D: the
stall-out will occur while the thermometer ribon slowly crawls across
the upper edge of the screen.

Any suggestions as to how I can check this out and hopefully get the
indexing set poperly for drive D:? Thanks, Gordon

I don't think indexing has anything to do with some kind of stalling out
when some file is accessed on <D>. Indexing only allows the O/S to find
files faster in a file Search operation, because files in a location are
indexed and the Search operations will check the indexed locations when
doing searches, which gives better performance when files are indexed.

If you are not doing heavy File Search operations on indexed locations
on <D> not the entire <D>, then why have <D> even indexed?

<http://windows.microsoft.com/is-IS/...es-using-the-index-frequently-asked-questions>

 

[Boscoe]

I've been working my wy through all the suggestions that have been
posted here but haven't yet gotten the problem resolved. I'm now
thinking it is an indexing problem associated with drive D: but I
don't know how to check this out. I will often see a ribbon at the top
of the screen (thermometer looking thing) that shows progression from
left to right, while the system is stalled out.

As I mentioned earlier, I have my OS and client software installed on
drive C: and my working files on drive D:. Both are Western DIgital
500 GB SATA hard drives and, for the most part seem to be working
well.

If I open a new client program that needs file data from drive D: the
stall-out will occur while the thermometer ribon slowly crawls across
the upper edge of the screen.

Any suggestions as to how I can check this out and hopefully get the
indexing set poperly for drive D:? Thanks, Gordon

I don't know if this equates to Windows 7 but a lot of people have
trouble with Svchost or Service Host and Windows Update Service in XP.
Disable Windows update in 'services' and see if that makes any
difference in CPU Usage.

 

[gordonlr]

It's highly unlikely to be an indexing issue, especially if the issue
has lasted more than a few hours already.

Not sure what you mean, here. This problem has been popping up
intermittently, since about the middle of August. It doesn't last more
than about ten minutes at the most and it happens about every 20
minutes or so.

It would be very helpful to know which "screen" you're talking about.
My guess is that it's Windows Explorer and that you're accessing a
folder with a lot of files, perhaps video files, contained therein.
That would explain the delay, but I shouldn't have to guess.

This doesn't seem to be specific to any screen. That is it happens
with Intetnet Explorer, MS Word, MS Excel, Agent News Reader, and any
other client software I've used.

I don't know of any user applications, besides Win Explorer, that have
the so-called thermometer, and the standard File Open dialog doesn't
do that, AFAIK, so it's up to you to clarify a bit.

Right, but I was just pointing this out to explain what I've been
seeing. The overall result is the same, with or without the
"thermometer" thing at the top of the screen.

As long as I'm guessing, if it's not Windows Explorer needing to
interrogate many, many files on demand so it can list their
properties, it might be a case where Drive D: is spinning down, per
your Power settings, and it simply takes a bit for it to spin back up
and become ready.

I've played around with the drive power settings and this didn't seem
to be the root of the problem.

 

[gordonlr]

I guess the first place to look is in Control Panel (icon view) > Indexing Options.

Thanks, Dave. I did this and it seems to have made some difference.
I'll keep it under observation a while and let you know how it pans
out. I did find that my drive C: was not set for being indexed. Drive
D: was, but for some reason drive C: did not have this opeion set up.

 

[Jason]

On Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:30:55 -0500 "(e-mail address removed)"

I find one entry in Task Manager that is shown as running out of
C:\windows SysWOW64 but I don't know if this is something that was
installed by my motherboard setup software or if it is an invader
malware of some sort.

Task Manager shows this entry's Image Name as svchost.exe*32 while
none of the others have the *32 ending. Any suggestions?

There are 16 entires in Task Manager and all of them, including the
one mentioned above, show the Description as Host Proces for Windows
Services. Gordon

On the Process tab, find the PID (Process ID) column (add it to the view
if it isn't there already) for the instance of svchost.exe that's giving
trouble. Then click the Services tab and find that same PID in the
listing. That will tell what that particular instance of svchost is
"hosting" (it can be multiple things). That should tell you what's
bogging down your machine. I suppose it is possible that malware has
insinuated itself into your system as a Service, but I bet that's not the
problem.

Jason

 

[Jason]

On 10/30/2012 2:30 PM, (e-mail address removed) wrote:

<snipped>

I'll say it again. You need to use Process Explorer to track-down if
possible what is happening with running processes. PE can do what Task
Manager can't do, which it allows you to drill-down on a running process
and see what running programs are hosting (other programs they hosts).

Sure it can now. In Win7 (and Vista?) Task Manager has a Services Tab.
Given a PID (from the Processes tag), you can find out just which OS
items an instance of svchost is hosting.

 

[Big Steel]

Sure it can now. In Win7 (and Vista?) Task Manager has a Services Tab.
Given a PID (from the Processes tag), you can find out just which OS
items an instance of svchost is hosting.

I know about this, and Task Manager cannot match PE in discovering what
a process is doing and what DLL(s) are being hosted by a running
process. Task Manager cannot do it.

I have used Process Explorer to debug applications I have programmed.
You do know that there are other processes running that are not
Svchost.exe, right?

One can drill right down to the DLL that a given Svchost.exe process or
another process is hosting in a determination of what is this DLL being
hosted and is it a legit DLL in malware determination.

Task Manger cannot tell you about the I/O a process is using, and it
cannot even tell you what sub process in a hosting process is sucking up
the CPU within the process. There are a whole lot of other things that
PE can tell someone about what is happening with a given process that
Task Manager flat out cannot tell someone.

<http://www.fileinspect.com/fileinfo/svchost-exe/>

<copied>

Svchost.exe manages 32-bit DLLs as well as other services. Microsoft
runs a lot of software functionality from DLL (dynamic link library)
interface. But DLLs can’t launch themselves – they need an executable
program.

<end>


If I have to drill-down in a running process to find out what is
happening, Task Manager will not be the tool I will use. It will be
Process Explorer.

 

[Jason]

I know about this, and Task Manager cannot match PE in discovering what
a process is doing and what DLL(s) are being hosted by a running
process. Task Manager cannot do it.

I have used Process Explorer to debug applications I have programmed.
You do know that there are other processes running that are not
Svchost.exe, right?

One can drill right down to the DLL that a given Svchost.exe process or
another process is hosting in a determination of what is this DLL being
hosted and is it a legit DLL in malware determination.

Task Manger cannot tell you about the I/O a process is using, and it
cannot even tell you what sub process in a hosting process is sucking up
the CPU within the process. There are a whole lot of other things that
PE can tell someone about what is happening with a given process that
Task Manager flat out cannot tell someone.

<http://www.fileinspect.com/fileinfo/svchost-exe/>

<copied>

Svchost.exe manages 32-bit DLLs as well as other services. Microsoft
runs a lot of software functionality from DLL (dynamic link library)
interface. But DLLs can?t launch themselves ? they need an executable
program.

<end>


If I have to drill-down in a running process to find out what is
happening, Task Manager will not be the tool I will use. It will be
Process Explorer.

I use Process Explorer extensively myself. For simple things it isn't
always necessary. It can be a little daunting at first and I had the
impression that the OP was not highly technical.

 

[G. Morgan]

I've been working my wy through all the suggestions that have been
posted here but haven't yet gotten the problem resolved. I'm now
thinking it is an indexing problem associated with drive D: but I
don't know how to check this out. I will often see a ribbon at the top
of the screen (thermometer looking thing) that shows progression from
left to right, while the system is stalled out.

Have you tried Process Explorer v15.23? It will show you what each
instance of svchost.exe is doing.


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

 

[gordonlr]

I've been having a lot of problems with my desktop computer recently
and my Norton Utilities 15 shows a popup indicating that svchost.exe
is using a lot of disk time.

This causes my computer to stall out and the screen will fade. I see a
message at the top (Not Responding). This will hang things up for
anywhere from a few seconds to as much as 10 minutes, and it happens
very frequently.

What is this program svchost.exe and is there any way to get rid of it
without causing a major problem?

My computer is running Windows 7 Home Premium. It has two hard drives,
none for the OS and client software and the second drive is for all my
documents. Both drives show a lot of free space. This can't be a drive
space shortage problem.

I"m running Norton 360 and Norton Utilities, both with the most recent
updates. I've gone through several deep scans but found no problems. I
did a disk error check and defrag but there were no problems found.

Thanks for any helpful insights. Gordon

I still have not gotten this problem resolved. It isn't something I
can't live with but it certainly is a nuisance.

I'm wondering now if this stalling out may be the result of some
incompatibilities between my MS Windows 7 Home Premium with all the
latest updates and my old MS Office Professional 2007. The Office
programs seem to work well, most of the time but they will stall out
and the screen will take on a faded look while a message appears at
the top (Not Responding).

I looked for an upgrade version of MS Offfice Professional 2011, but
all I found was the standard, non-upgrade version and the price was
around $500. Is there an upgrade version available, or has Microsoft
quit providing upgrade sofware at a reduced price?

Gordon

 

[DennyCrane]

I still have not gotten this problem resolved. It isn't something I
can't live with but it certainly is a nuisance.

I'm wondering now if this stalling out may be the result of some
incompatibilities between my MS Windows 7 Home Premium with all the
latest updates and my old MS Office Professional 2007. The Office
programs seem to work well, most of the time but they will stall out
and the screen will take on a faded look while a message appears at
the top (Not Responding).

I looked for an upgrade version of MS Offfice Professional 2011, but
all I found was the standard, non-upgrade version and the price was
around $500. Is there an upgrade version available, or has Microsoft
quit providing upgrade sofware at a reduced price?

Gordon

FWIW, I have Win 7 Pro x64 and installed Office 2003 (just Word and
Excel). The install and operation worked fine for the little bit that
I've used it.

I suspect that Office is NOT your problem.

Google "SVCHOST.EXE" and maybe you'll find some help.

DC

 

[Bob I]

I'm wondering now if this stalling out may be the result of some
incompatibilities between my MS Windows 7 Home Premium with all the
latest updates and my old MS Office Professional 2007.

Nope, MS Office Pro 2007 with all the updates works fine without issues
on Windows 7. That is not your problem.

 

[Stan Brown]

FWIW, I have Win 7 Pro x64 and installed Office 2003 (just Word and
Excel). The install and operation worked fine for the little bit that
I've used it.

I suspect that Office is NOT your problem.

I suspect the same. I have many customers with Win 7 (32- or 64-bit)
and Office 2003. I'm not aware of any incompatibilities there.

 

[Dave-UK]

I still have not gotten this problem resolved. It isn't something I
can't live with but it certainly is a nuisance.

Have you looked at the reliability history ?
Action Center > Maintenance > View reliability history

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

I was using Misrosoft Security Essentials on this computer when the
problem first came up, about 3 months ago. Per the suggestions of many
of my computer savvy friends I bought a fresh copy of Norton360 and
Norton Utilities 15,

You need new friends! No-one who is 'computer savvy' would *ever*
recommend anything Norton or McAfee
[/QUOTE]

+1

--
Zaphod

Arthur: All my life I've had this strange feeling that there's
something big and sinister going on in the world.
Slartibartfast: No, that's perfectly normal paranoia. Everyone in the
universe gets that.

 

[gordonlr]

Have you looked at the reliability history ?
Action Center > Maintenance > View reliability history

Thanks Dave. Yes, I've looked at this and found many indicated errors
or failures but I've found no solutions. Most of these problems seem
to center on the Host Process for Windows Services but there are no
solutions for these problems offered.

The thing that continues to baffle me is that this computer will
operate in a very fast, normal way for several minutes, then, in a
blink the screen will take on a faded look and the message (Not
Responding) will appear at the top left of the screen. This doesn't
seem to be any different from program to program. That is, it doesn't
seem to matter what program I'm using at the time. Microsoft Word...
MS Excel... TurboCAD Drafting Software... Forte Agent News
Reader...Family Tree Maker for Windows...Pizzicato Music
Software...Quicken Premier Accounting Software...they all get hit in
the same way.

The hang-up usually lasts about 3 to 5 minutes but sometimes it
continues for 10 minutes or so. During the hang-up the drive light
will be on constantly. Then, with no action on my part the screen will
blink and become clear again,k the drive light will turn off and
everything starts working very well again...for a few minutes. Gordon

 

[Dave-UK]

Thanks Dave. Yes, I've looked at this and found many indicated errors
or failures but I've found no solutions. Most of these problems seem
to center on the Host Process for Windows Services but there are no
solutions for these problems offered.

The thing that continues to baffle me is that this computer will
operate in a very fast, normal way for several minutes, then, in a
blink the screen will take on a faded look and the message (Not
Responding) will appear at the top left of the screen. This doesn't
seem to be any different from program to program. That is, it doesn't
seem to matter what program I'm using at the time. Microsoft Word...
MS Excel... TurboCAD Drafting Software... Forte Agent News
Reader...Family Tree Maker for Windows...Pizzicato Music
Software...Quicken Premier Accounting Software...they all get hit in
the same way.

The hang-up usually lasts about 3 to 5 minutes but sometimes it
continues for 10 minutes or so. During the hang-up the drive light
will be on constantly. Then, with no action on my part the screen will
blink and become clear again,k the drive light will turn off and
everything starts working very well again...for a few minutes. Gordon

Can you run in safe mode for a while and see what happens ?

 

[Char Jackson]

The hang-up usually lasts about 3 to 5 minutes but sometimes it
continues for 10 minutes or so. During the hang-up the drive light
will be on constantly. Then, with no action on my part the screen will
blink and become clear again,k the drive light will turn off and
everything starts working very well again...for a few minutes. Gordon

That disk activity is a huge clue. I don't have the answer, sorry, but
if you can get Process Explorer or similar tool to either log the disk
activity during those times, or show the activity to you in real time
if possible, you might be closer to tracking it down. It would be nice
to know exactly which files are being accessed, by which process (not
just svchost.exe), and why it's running at such a high priority that
it locks out all other disk I/O.

I had a system here a few weeks ago that behaved exactly as you
described above, but in that case Event Viewer showed tons of hard
drive interface errors and timeouts. I replaced the appropriate SATA
cable and the problems disappeared. Your problem, despite it's
similarity to what I saw, appears to be software-related. Still, I try
to make it a point to visit Event Viewer and drill down into Windows
Logs, System, then filter out everything except the Critical, Warning,
and Error events. Sometimes that can be very enlightening.

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

I've been having a lot of problems with my desktop computer recently
and my Norton Utilities 15 shows a popup indicating that svchost.exe
is using a lot of disk time.

This causes my computer to stall out and the screen will fade. I see a
message at the top (Not Responding). This will hang things up for
anywhere from a few seconds to as much as 10 minutes, and it happens
very frequently.

Of all your posts in this thread, I have not seen anything about
how much memory your system has and how much is being used. Your
system could be swapping because of not enough memory. What does the
Task Manager show you for memory used? If it is more than your
physical memory, you will get swapping.

[snip]

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[gordonlr]

I've been having a lot of problems with my desktop computer recently
and my Norton Utilities 15 shows a popup indicating that svchost.exe
is using a lot of disk time.

This causes my computer to stall out and the screen will fade. I see a
message at the top (Not Responding). This will hang things up for
anywhere from a few seconds to as much as 10 minutes, and it happens
very frequently.

Of all your posts in this thread, I have not seen anything about
how much memory your system has and how much is being used. Your
system could be swapping because of not enough memory. What does the
Task Manager show you for memory used? If it is more than your
physical memory, you will get swapping.

[snip]

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

I thought I had posted this information before, but here it is.
Installed Memory 4.0 GB
64 Bit Operating System
Drive C: 371 GB free of 465 GB total
Drive d: 424 GB free of 465 GB total.

Numerous scans w/Norton 360 have never shown any drive or memory
flaws.

This set of problems first began about 5 months ago. I was using
Microsoft Security Essentials at that time. Upon the recommendations
of a friend I installed Norton 360 and Norton Utilities 15. None of
these have ever found anything in the way of malware or hardware
failure.

Gordon