SVCHOST.EXE, computer question?

[sammyg2]

My daughter's computer has a problem I haven't been able to figure out.

it had an old version of WIN 98 and when booted up no programs would load. If I double clicked on an icon I would get a quick flash and the volor would change indicating it was highlighted, but that's all. If I did a warm boot the problem would usually go away.

I upgraded the memory and hard drive and installed WIN XP PRO thinking that might solve the problem. Nope, same thing.

I did some snooping and discovered that the program SVCHOST.EXE was loaded and running 4 times,
deleting one or more of these programs causes the computer to work normally.
If I log off and re-log on under admin the computer works normally.

I've played with the BIOS trying to correct it but nothing I did helped, so now the BIOS is back to default values. I haven't flashed it with an upgrade yet but I'm sure it's due, this is an old computer.

Any idea what I do to prevent this and get the computer to boot up normally? Thanks.
Thanks.

[BGCarrera32]

Boot to safe mode and install an anti-virus program...better yet wipe it clean and update your OS.

[sammyg2]

I just installed a new hard drive and formatted it for the XP installation and haven't installed anything except XP, do you think there's still a chance a virus got it there?
I'll run Norton AV this morning just to make sure. Thanks.

[RickM]

According to this description of SVCHOST.EXE http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;250320

It is common for it to load up multiple times to accomodate the request for different services....

"At startup, Svchost.exe checks the services portion of the registry to construct a list of services that it needs to load. There can be multiple instances of Svchost.exe running at the same time."

I'm not seeing where the BIOS fits in here but you want to start with as clean a slate as possible. Faulty memory may have a hand in it. Can you just use the new memory you purchased and temporarily remove the old? Also, I'd Flash the BIOS anyway. Do one thing at a time so you can accurately pin point the culprit. Also, I'm assuming that you have one HD. The new one and that's it...correct?

Good trouble shooting is merely a logical process of elimination.

[sammyg2]

Yep, At first I was going to install the new HD and keep the old one as a slave but decided against that and only installed the new one.

This computer did the same thing with WIN 98 over a year ago, the last time I used it. I'll try the memory thing, I have plenty of ram that is known good. Thanks.

[BGCarrera32]

Ahh, I wasn't aware you had wiped it...if its following from one OS to the next its probably a hardware issue...

Good luck-
BG

[djmcmath]

Sammy, it sounds like the service host is coming up in response to another application. Killing the service host kills the application. If I had to guess, just based on your description, I'd say that something else is starting up, asking for a service host, then killing the machine. Are you sure there's nothing else installed on the machine? Often, otherwise innocuous programs will install a background portion of their application. Sometimes it's a quick-starter, othertimes it's blatent spyware, but these apps are often poorly designed and don't integrate well with the rest of the system. If you (or your totally innocent daughter) has installed something else on the system besides just plain windows, that might be causing it too.

BTW, I'd be hesitant to blame the hardware. In all my years of troubleshooting these things, I've been able to prove intermittent hardware problems all of zero times. I've suspected hardware lots of times, but haven't been able to logically prove it. Maybe I'm just cheap (and hardware isn't!)? Good luck; this kind only comes out with prayer and fasting,

Dan


PS -- I may have no clue what I'm talking about. If you think I'm just totally out in left field, feel free to completely disregard this response.

[sammyg2]

LOL unfortunately the problem occured as WIN XP pro was going in, on a freshly formatted and partitioned hard drive and nothing else was installed, so I'm afraid it is either hardware related or has something to do with the set up.
I did copy the old hard drive onto this one at first, then decided to wipe it out. Is it possible that something rermained active on the new hard drive even though it was re-formatted and paetitioned?

This same XP version is installed on my computer and works just fine.

I've sent a request to Award for a BIOS upgrade, waiting for a reply.
The BIOS version is dated 3-2-99, that is ancient IMO.
It's very possible is isn't even totally compatible with the larger HD or XP.
Since it did this with WIN 98 I'm betting it is related to the setup but no hardware conflicts show up, maybe a sharing issue.
I'm in no way a computer wonk so I have to fight my way through these problems.
Hopefully flashing the BIOS wil lhelp.

[RickM]

Sam, In my experience getting the proper load for a BIOS is almost impossible. I'll bet if you do get them to respond there will be a disclaimer that says to use at your own risk. The same motherboard model can have several BIOS versions as parts suppliers change during the manufacturing lifespan.

I'll run this by a couple of guys here.

Also, what was the exact message you received when you were loading XP?

[sammyg2]

I didn't get any error messages at all and I don't have any conflicts or indications of any problems. The only thing that happens is that when I double click on an icon all that happens is the icon goes blue to indicate it is highlighted and nothing else. If I click on start it very quickly flashes as if it is going to open but then closes instantly. It happens so quickly that is is barely visible. Ju8st a flash of hte drop down menu and then it's gone.
Same as if I right click on anything, it just acts like it is going to open and then instanly closes.
Logging off the admin account and then re-opening it clears this problem, as does deleting one or more of the 4 SVCHOST.EXE files running.
After doing one of those two things the computer is fine with no other problems at all.

When WIN 98 was installed previously the problem would clear if I did a warm boot. that does not clear the problem with XP.
I'm stumped.
In fact this problem is the reason I built up the computer I'm using now.

I would give up on the darned thing but I need it for my daughter to do her homework on and I'm too stuborn and cheap to go buy her a new one.

[sammyg2]

Just got an e-mail from esupport.com regarding the BIOS upgrade asking me to call them, they have exactly what I need (according to the guy on the phone) but they want $70 for it.

Maybe I'm just spoiled but it seems like something like that should be free or at least cheap, especially when I went through the manufactuer (award made the original BIOS, the motherboard was made by Unicore, a subsidiary at the time of Award).

I told him no thanks.
I may change my mind, I need to stew on it for a while. $70 seems like a lot of money to spend on a bios upgrade for a very old computer especially when it may not fix the problem.

For $50 I can buy a new MB with a much faster CPU than this thing has.

[djmcmath]

Oh, golly, Sammy, I'd reckon $70 for a BIOS upgrade probably isn't what you're looking for. It ought to be free (the high quality types usually are; I've had to suffer through old BIOSes because I couldn't justify $70 for a POS upgrade too), I agree.

It is possible that something remained on the hard drive, despite a format and repartition. Depending on what tools you used to do the job, sometimes some things remain. I've honestly never had a windows install come unstable straight out of the box. Ok, I mean, never more unstable than usual.

Hmm ... next guess -- any chance it's one of the devices? Do you have anything unnecessary in the machine? Can you pull the sound card, network card, DVD-burner, etc. for the OS install, then install the hardware later? Sometimes I've had hardware cause funny problems on the install. I'm reaching, though.

Dan

[RickM]

I'd do the MB and faster CPU...but then you need memory. Is this an ATX form factor machine?

Not to drag this on but this is what confuses me....

"unfortunately the problem occured as WIN XP pro was going in"

That's why I asked for the error while loading (going in) XP.

So, cause I can be dense, XP is loaded onto a freshly FDisked/partioned machine with no other software whatsoever....right?

[RickM]

BTW, I've seen similar symtoms on a machine with very little available memory resources...and where HD thrashing (system resorting to limited "virtual memory") went on for a LONG time.
XP may magnify this problem by requiring alot more system resources than 98.

If you have good memory (and a clean XP only HD) please load as much of it onto the machine and discount that theory. It's free...

[epbrown]

Um, this is the blaster virus, isn't it? This is the message I got when I had it. It comes from an application named msblaster.exe accessing a network port on Windows NT/2K/XP versions that MS left open to recieve. Any virus software can remove the virus, but you'll keep getting it until you upgrade to a service pack that closes off the port.

Emanuel