Microsoft Windows Service Pack 2 Issues

[dmurfitt]

Hi,

Ever since I have installed Windows XP service pack 2, I have noticed my PC keeps freezing for several minutes every now and then, and the svchost.exe is at 99% on the task manager. If I end the svchost.exe process, the computer instantly unfreezes. Does anyone else have this problem? Any ideas on how to overcome it?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[EvileYe]

Uninstall SP2 via Add/remove programs in the control panel and see if the problems persist.

SP2 has been causing a lot of issues for some people, probably best to wait until the bugs have been ironed out before installing it again.

 

[dai]

i have a program called code stuff starter,when you click the processes tab,then schroll down to the svhost and click on it to highlight,in the box down the bottom it lists what is using that certain svhost,so you can tell what is causing the problem.
which is probably a program that needs updating
it is freeware and you can d/l it here
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/starter.html
there is little or nothing wrong with sp2,the problems usually are programs and utilities that need an update to comply with it,ms has a list of identified ones here
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=884130&product=windowsxpsp
uninstalling and hoping the problem will go away is not going to help they will still be there when you try again,might as well sought them now

 

[ratchet]

Which svchost.exe is it that you end process on?

I have 4 listed Task Manager.

 

[dmurfitt]

how can I distinguish between them? They all have the same name...

 

[ratchet]

I am going to assume you end tasked the highest memory user which is actually Windows Themes or System Restore.

Read all about it here;
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/supertweaks.htm

A list of processes;
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

 

[dmurfitt]

You assumed correctly! When I end the task, the program starts responding again! I have disabled system restore to try and stop this, but I shouldn't have to. I have system restore running on other machines, and they don't have this problem. Any more ideas...?

 

[ratchet]

You might check and adjust your virtual memory to 1.5 x the amount of Ram installed.

How much Ram is the Machine running?

Or consider Evileye's suggestion.

 

[dmurfitt]

The machine is running with 512MB RAM, and the paging file is 1500MB. Strange thing is though, this is the only machine suffering the problem with SP2. How come?

 

[ratchet]

One of how many?

If they are not all the same it is not reasonable to expect the same perfomance from every machine.

There are just to many variables Processor Speed, Front Side Bus, Memory types....

 

[dmurfitt]

True. But I believe this is a software issue. The other machines are of simular spec. But the machine I am on is a P4 with 512mb RAM, I would have thought that is powerful enough for basic office work.

 

[ratchet]

In that case I would open Task Manager go to Proceses then View/ Select Columns select all and print screen on two machines and compare the two.


Perhaps you will be able to locate the problem process.