OS - XP Professional , SP3, version 2002 full version Norton 360 4.0 Malwarebytes 1.5gig RAMonly way to get PC to work is by going to task manager and ending svchost.exe1 person needs an answerI do too

OS - XP Professional , SP3, version 2002 full version Norton 360 4.0 Malwarebytes 1.5gig RAMonly way to get PC to work is by going to task manager and ending svchost.exeHave you updated Malwarebytes AntiMalware and done a full system scan?Is your Norton 360 subscription still in force (and has it been in force without any gaps)?svchost.exe is a generic process that hosts applications that run as services using DLL files. It is common to have several instances of svchost.exe running at any given time. A single svchost.exe instance may be hosting more than one service. Thus, when you force svchost.exe to end by using Task Manager, you are not only stopping whatever is causing the excessive CPU usage, but also may be stopping other, needed services.There are two ways to view what's going on. See http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial129.html Neither of the methods described in that article or below tell you which service is actually the problem, but finding out what services are potential candidates for the culprit is often enough to narrow things down significantly).If you want to use built-in Windows tools, first open Task Manager, click View, click Select Columns, check the box next to PID (Process Identifier) and click OK. Leave Task Manager open.Now open a Command Prompt window (Start > Run > cmd > OK), type the following and press Enter tasklist /FI "imagename eq svchost.exe" /svcDon't forget the double quotes.When you press Enter, you'll get a list of all the svchost.exe instances, with a list of the services hosted by each one. Looking at Task Manager, find the PID of the svchost.exe that is using the CPU. Now look at the list in the Command Prompt window. What services are being hosted by the svchost.exe with the same PID?There is a Microsoft utility that makes the above a bit easier and also provides more information. Download Process Explorer here:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspxRun Process Explorer. Double click on the svchost.exe that is using the CPU (again identifying it using the PID from Task Manager). If you select the "Services" tab, you'll see a list of the services hosted by that instance of svchost.exe. As you select each of the services, you'll see a brief description of what it is.

thanks for your response. norton is continuous without gap. malware updated prior to scanning. I will do as suggested and keep you posted.

hi did as advised, it was "hpslpsvc" - reckon it must be a HP service, am i correct?

hi did as advised, it was "hpslpsvc" - reckon it must be a HP service, am i correct?Yes, that is the "HP Network Device Support" service. If you Google for hpslpsvc, you'll find a lot of complaints and some proposed fixes from HP. See, e.g., this long thread: http://forums13.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?admit=109447627+1286890571088+28353475&threadId=1177917 Buried in that thread is information that leads to this HP "critical update": http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=mp-65961-4&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&os=228&product=2512010 There is also the following thread, which suggests adding hpslpsvc as an exception to the Windows firewall:http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printer-networking-and-wireless/Printer-driver-problem-on-HP-Photosmart-C6280/m-p/839From what I can tell, before the HP patch was available, the two procedures most likely to fix the problem were (a) set the "startup type" of HP Network Device Support to "manual" and configure your HP device to use a static IP address. So ... try the HP update. If it doesn't work, do the following (and/or add the firewall exception):To make service startup type manualStart > Run > services.msc > OK find HP Network Device Support and double-click it Set Startup type to "manual" (or you can try "disabled" and see if it causes any other problems)Stop the service if it is running OK your way out To use static IP addresses (which is a good idea anyway). A. Configure the printerUsing either the printer's front panel controls or the printer's built-in web server, configure the printer to use a manual IP address that is in the subnet used by your router but outside the range of IP addresses used by your router's DHCP server. Set the subnet, default gateway, and DNS servers also. (If you don't know what any of this means, or how to do it, post back with the make and model of your router and model of your printer.) Repeat for each networked HP printer, using a different IP address for each.B. Configure the portsOpen Printers and Faxes Right click on the icon for a network-connected HP printer Click Properties Click Ports tab Click "Configure Port" In the box to "Enter printer name or IP address" enter the IP address that you set for the printer in part A.OK your way out. Repeat for all network-connected HP printers. Note that if your networked HP device was installed using the default "HP standard TCP/IP port" you'll notice on the Port configuration tab that there's a box to check to "always print to this device, even if its IP address changes." This box is not on the standard Windows TCP/IP port, and it is hpslpsvc that is responsible for monitoring the device's IP address to help Windows can find the device if the IP address changes)

i removed the whole she bang and voila! running fine now. Thanks heaps!