a little tech help needed (tsk mngr, running file questions)

Micah Cohen · 09-14-2006, 09:20 AM

Ok, honored computer techs, I can't figure something out and I need your help. I appreciate it.

I'm wondering why my usually quick laptop is running slow, why the hard drive light is constantly on, why I hear it spinning in there even when I'm not doing anything, why it takes a full 60+ seconds to start up something like Explorer.

I open my "Task Manager," and I see some weird stuff.

(1) I see the file svchost.exe running four or five times, with LOCAL SERVICE, NETWORK SERVICE and SYSTEM appended to it in the user column. What is "svchost.exe"? I pick one or two and "end task," but it always comes back. Do I need this? How do I shut this off?

(2) I see the file wmiprvse.exe racking up some big usage numbers. What is this? Do I need it? How do I stop it?

(3) Why does "System Idle Process" (showing user "SYSTEM") showing "99" under CPU usage? Can I stop this?

What's going on here?

Thank you for your help!

MC

Tekara · 09-14-2006, 10:25 AM

That's all normal, especially the idle process which means that 99% of your cpu isn't doing anything.

Windows tends to degrade in performance over time, particularly as programs come and go in the system as almost all of them still leave traces of themselves especially in the registry, which is the backbone of the OS.

Despite the fact that there's things you can do to improve the situtation, that best is still always to perform a re-installation of windows to start from square one again.

Micah Cohen · 09-14-2006, 11:20 AM

Ugh. Reinstall Windows? I don't even think I have the original disk for this XP install. (The guy who config'd my computer might be able to do this.)

Gad, I hate "Windows."

What the heck is "svchost.exe"?

Where is Bill Gates?

MC

RichP · 09-14-2006, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Micah Cohen

U
What the heck is "svchost.exe"?

SvcHost.Exe is the Process that "hosts" individual service DLLs. When you look in Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services, some of those that are started are running under svchost.exe, because library code needs a process to link to, so MS created a generic executable process for all service libraries to run under. There are other system services that run under that process as well.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314056

As far as your hard drive always spinning, check things like Windows Defender or the File Indexing Service, these are notorious for running when the system is at idle.

Joe D · 09-14-2006, 02:48 PM

CCLeaner is a good free program that has a registry cleaner, that will help out things. There are a couple of other free registry cleaners, use them to help windows eliminate the clutter.

MSCONFIG is a windows program that lets you turn on and off programs.

Also make sure you defrag your hard drive.

**HTF Ads**

Mike Fassler · 09-14-2006, 05:17 PM

use caution when you use registery cleaners they generally do more harm than good, all those services you mentioned are normal and will always be there whether you reinstall windows or not. use a program like windows cleaner to clean up your junk files,defrag your harddrive with a good program like O&O, and scan for spyware etc. make sure all your stuff is up to date, bout the only things you can do without reinstalling windows,which isnt a bad thing every once in a while, i just did this system the other day for the first time in like 3 years or something.

Kimmo Jaskari · 09-15-2006, 07:42 AM

First of all, run a defragging program. The built-in one will do the job passably, but I would strongly recommend getting either Perfectdisk or Diskeeper. Definitely worth the money.

Before you run a defragger, check how much empty space you have on your hard drive. If it is 99% full or something like that then fragmentation of files will become a huge and growing issue. Ideally, on a PC one wants upwards to 20% free on the drive, and one should also defrag on a regular basis.

Massive disk activity all the time can also be an indicator of too little memory in the computer. The more programs you open, the worse it gets, so if you have a lot set up to autostart and then run multiple programs too, your PC will swap out content from the electronic memory onto the hard drive.

Combine too little memory with a too-full harddrive that is heavily fragmented and you will be experiencing some pretty hellish harddrive grinding and performance loss.

So:

- check that your drive isn't full or nearly so. If it is, free up space somehow
- run a defragger. Possibly multiple times in a row if you haven't run it before
- check how much memory your computer has and consider an upgrade. There is no such thing as too much memory.

Oh, and before you start out on any of those - check that the hard drive seems to be working right. Do this by choosing File, Run and type "cmd". In the command line window that should pop up, write: chkdsk /r c:

It will give you an option to queue the job to execute it on next reboot. Select yes and then reboot and be aware that this will take a long time to do, as chkdsk will now scan your entire hard drive surface for errors.

All the above assumes you are running Windows 2000 or later.

Micah Cohen · 09-15-2006, 07:59 AM

Huh. Thanks so much for all this input. I am a computer idiot, even tho I've been online since the 80s, and this kind of stuff really baffles me. I just want the thing to work. Just work, Bill!

Now, it's doing some other weird stuff. Now it's "updating" Windows itself, which it never did before. A little round icon appears in the task bar and Windows "updates itself." Huh? And, this is even weirder, I seem to have lost my sound card driver. I didn't delete anything, except for Norton, and now I have no sound card driver so I can only hear "system" sounds and not other sounds. I can't figure out what sound card I have or what driver I need (what's the sound card of this Gateway laptop? "Media Control Devices"? I have no idea), otherwise I'd download it from drivers dot com or something. Do I even have my original Windows discs? I'll have to check.

If I reinstall Windows, I basically have to archive and save all my folders and work, correct? Wipe the drive and re-do everything, huh?

I wish this were easier. Thank you again for your knowledge and suggestions.

MC

Mike Fassler · 09-15-2006, 10:35 AM

The updating itself could mean automatic updates is enabled, you can turn it off in security center I believe, losing the sound driver after removing Norton could have been possible with the way Norton strangles itself around everything. You could input the serial number of your laptop into their website and see if you can find the appropriate driver you need. Yeah to reinstall everything You would(Should) have too back up everything. If its not alot of data you could just burn em on cds, or move them temporarily to another pc on your network. Have you scanned your system for spyware/viruses that may have helped to start this?