cpu running at around 50% all the time

[ainamor]

I had this problem for months now and tried everything I knew to make it stop. (not much). I run Vista and one of the svchost is always at around 50% on taskmanager. I can terminate the process and the cpu runs at 0 to 2% but some of the stuff that this svchost does it's not available anymore. this svchost takes care of the window themes, lanmanserver, Secondary logon, User profile, BITS, Computer Browser and more (I used process explorer to see all that)

Can anyone let me know what to do to make this CPU go back to normal? If I run windows in safe mode cpu runs at 0 to 2 %.

Thank You.

[shelf life]

Process Explorer is a great tool but in Vista task manager can display this information also. In task manager right click on a svchost and select 'Go to Service', this will display the running services that are part of that svchost. If you see that a service is stopped you can rule that one out.

You can also get a text, if you go to Start>Run and type in cmd (under the classic Start Menu)click ok or enter and a command prompt will open. Copy/paste whats below and click ok or enter. You can find the tasklist text file in your root drive @C:


tasklist /SVC > C:\tasklist.txt

Post the text file in reply and we will see if there is any service that can be safely stopped.

[ainamor]

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Lili>tasklist /svc

Image Name PID Services
========================= ======== ============================================
System Idle Process 0 N/A
System 4 N/A
smss.exe 420 N/A
csrss.exe 552 N/A
wininit.exe 596 N/A
csrss.exe 616 N/A
services.exe 652 N/A
lsass.exe 668 SamSs
lsm.exe 676 N/A
winlogon.exe 804 N/A
svchost.exe 876 DcomLaunch, PlugPlay
svchost.exe 936 RpcSs
svchost.exe 988 WinDefend
svchost.exe 284 AudioSrv, Dhcp, Eventlog, lmhosts, wscsvc
svchost.exe 364 AudioEndpointBuilder, EMDMgmt, Netman,
PcaSvc, SysMain, TabletInputService,
TrkWks, UxSms, WdiSystemHost, WPDBusEnum,
wudfsvc
svchost.exe 464 AeLookupSvc, BITS, Browser, gpsvc, IKEEXT,
iphlpsvc, LanmanServer, MMCSS, ProfSvc,
RasMan, Schedule, seclogon, SENS,
ShellHWDetection, Themes, Winmgmt, wuauserv
audiodg.exe 300 N/A
SLsvc.exe 1060 slsvc
svchost.exe 1100 EventSystem, fdPHost, FDResPub,
LanmanWorkstation, netprofm, nsi, SSDPSRV,
SstpSvc, upnphost, W32Time, WebClient
svchost.exe 1296 CryptSvc, Dnscache, KtmRm, NlaSvc, TapiSrv,
TermService
spoolsv.exe 1488 Spooler
taskeng.exe 1536 N/A
svchost.exe 1584 BFE, DPS, MpsSvc
dwm.exe 1616 N/A
explorer.exe 1632 N/A
taskeng.exe 1884 N/A
PC Doc Pro Scheduler.exe 2024 N/A
GoogleUpdate.exe 1160 N/A
vVX3000.exe 1348 N/A
rundll32.exe 1508 N/A
SUPERAntiSpyware.exe 1512 N/A
sidebar.exe 1988 N/A
ImpulseNow.exe 856 N/A
jusched.exe 700 N/A
svchost.exe 2136 hpqcxs08, hpqddsvc
MSCamS64.exe 2232 MSCamSvc
svchost.exe 2316 Net Driver HPZ12
svchost.exe 2356 Pml Driver HPZ12
svchost.exe 2392 PolicyAgent
svchost.exe 2424 stisvc
svchost.exe 2484 WerSvc
SearchIndexer.exe 2524 WSearch
pptd40nt.exe 2644 N/A
WUDFHost.exe 2788 N/A
BrMfcWnd.exe 2904 N/A
wmplayer.exe 3012 N/A
BrccMCtl.exe 1676 N/A
wmpnscfg.exe 2832 N/A
wmpnetwk.exe 736 WMPNetworkSvc
BrMfcMon.exe 3376 N/A
unsecapp.exe 3536 N/A
WmiPrvSE.exe 3608 N/A
WINWORD.EXE 3920 N/A
splwow64.exe 844 N/A
iexplore.exe 500 N/A
taskmgr.exe 1112 N/A
cmd.exe 2184 N/A
tasklist.exe 3008 N/A
WmiPrvSE.exe 3364 N/A

This is all there is.

[ainamor]

I read in another forum that if I would turn off the windows automatic updates the cpu will get back to normal, but whenever I click on "Windows Update" tag to swich to off the automatic updates, that particular window freezes and cannot do anything. there is definetely something wrong with windows and not a program that is running on the background I think (maybe?) I tried a few times to shut off automatic updates for windows and all the time it froze.

[shelf life]

You have all the latest MS updates installed? You have installed and have recently scanned with updated AV and anti-malware apps? If you think its Windows update service hogging the CPU cycles you can as a experiment try disabling the service. Start>run and type in services.msc Windows service panel will open. Under the name column look for Windows Update. Click on it and you will see a option to either stop or start the service. Reboot after the change. See if anything improves. If it dosnt then I would toggle the service back on and reboot again.

wuauserv is Windows Update Service running under a svchost 'group', PID 464
from your list.

[ainamor]

I did scan the computer for viruses and malaware and I should have the latest version installed. when I went to stop the services as you said under Windows Update, after a couple of minutes after I click on "stop" I get a message: Windows could not stop the Windows Update service on local computer. Error 1053: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion.

I wonder why.

[shelf life]

See this (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/885055/) link about MS .Net Framework service pack.

[ainamor]

Allright, I did install the MS .Net Framework service pack. and was able to disable Windows Updates and with that my cpu went back to 0 to 2%. Thanks a bunch for the help. Why did I have to install the MS .Net Framework service pack? and does this mean that my windows is messed up?

[shelf life]

Try and see if you can get updates. In the classic view: start> Windows Update.

[ainamor]

Try and see if you can get updates. In the classic view: start> Windows Update.

when I click on "check for updates" I get the following error: Windows could not search for new updates Code 80070422 Windows Update encountered an unknown error "

Now to updated on this problem, after I dissabled that Windows Update service (it is still disabled) the cpu went back to normal for two to three days and than went back to running at around 50%. it's like this machine is cursed or something :)

[ainamor]

looks like after I rebooted the computer, it went back to 0 to 2 % (CPU) and everything looks normal. but as I said above when I check for updates I get the error message above. btw, thanks for all the help you providing me.

[shelf life]

In order to check for and receive Windows Updates the service will have to be running. If you used the Windows auto-update feature in the past it wont work with the service disabled. Keeping your OS, browser and and other MS software patched is a necessity.
You should on a regular basis (maybe once or twice a month) enable the service, reboot then visit Windows update to check for any critical or recommended updates. Luckily Vista dosnt have the constant stream of updates that XP does.
This is only a work around if you can live with it. For more troubleshooting as to why and for possible solutions you might want to visit a Vista forum. There is a reason/solution as to why the service is a resource hog. You might find more suggestions to try other than just disabling the service which really isnt a 'fix'. I am also assuming your machine is malware free.

[shelf life]

As a alternative to visiting Windows Updates you can check here (http://www.microsoft.com/security/updates/bulletins/default.aspx) or here (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/default.mspx) first then visit Windows Updates if needed. You can also subscribe to E-mail notification.