4 replies to this topic

[Fae]

Hi all, just a quick post to see if anyone replies and says this is a bad idea.

I'm helping a family friend out with their computer woes, and he's got a problem in XP where the Services.exe process periodically hogs ~96% of the processor time (all that's free) for a couple of seconds at a time. I've checked everywhere I can think, checked up on internet resources etc..., and I can;t find anything concrete. Next time I go, I'm going to check where the process runs from in the registry (to check it's not the virus version) and then start turning processes off one by one until I find the one that's doing it.

I'd like to know now, just so I don't look like a complete fool: Will this help, or will it cause some form of damage that I don't forsee?

Thanks for the help in advance ^^

[WingedPanther]

You may want to try using process explorer to drill down to the exact source of the CPU spike. It will also show you where the files using CPU are located. It's part of the Sysinternals Suite (now owned by MS).

[Fae]

I tried that actually, although I did not really know what I was looking for, in all honesty. I couldn't find how to 'drill down' the running applications to see what's running at the level I needed, and after sifting through a lot I didn't understand, I didn't really know any more than what Task Manager already told me.

I'll look up how to use it properly before posting again, unless you have any suggestions?

Thanks, WingedPanther ^^

[WingedPanther]

You may want to check which items are being displayed. Not all columns are on, by default.

[Alexander]

Personally I use the PRIO plugin O & K PrintWatch which is included with stripped down custom server NT/2003-5 operating systems I used to use.

It integrates with task manager and lists svchost's underlying services when highlighted. Just a thought, I'm not sure how the software changed over the years.