20+ New Processes Just Appeared

[Stg-Flame]

I'm using Vista 64 and I recently updated my computer using the automatic update that Windows provides. After I rebooted my computer, I now have more than 20 new processes running in my Task Manager that I never had before. Some are eating massive amounts of CPU and at times, it gets so bad I cannot even listen to music, let alone run a game or movie.

It added nine new svchost.exe processes - some of which are constantly eating 15 - 30% of my CPU on top of taking 90k memory usage. Here is a quick rundown of some of the new processes or duplicate processes I have now (I'll note if they are new or have duplicates in the parenthesis):

audiodg.exe (new)
csrss.exe (2)
dwm.exe (new)
lsass.exe (old but I had it disabled prior to the update - it came back)
nvvsvc.exe (new and 2 instances of it running - unable to disable one or both)
NvXDSync.exe (new)
plugin-container.exe *32 (new)
PnkBstrA.exe *32 (old but I disabled this over two years ago and I still cannot get PunkBuster to stop running regardless of how many times I disable it)
SearchIndexer.exe (new)
SLsvc.exe (new)
smss.exe (possibly new - I don't recall seeing this before)
spoolsv.exe (old - still comes back. I don't own a printer. Can't disable it)
svchost.exe (12)
System (new)
System Idle Process (new)
taskeng.exe (2)

These are just the new ones or the ones that stuck out to me. Like I said, I used to only have about eight processes running and after the update, I was hit by all these which now cause massive performance issues. I've tried going into msconfig and disabling some of the processes from loading, but like PunkBuster, it is disabled, uninstalled, and I don't play any games that use it, yet it still is there. Same with spoolsv. Same with all of them.

I don't really want to reformat because of my job - I'm rarely home anyways and I don't really have time to back up everything and then spend time reformatting and loading everything again. I will if I have to, but I would rather there be a simpler explanation. I've already scanned my entire computer (both HDDs) for viruses and spyware; thinking that I may have gotten a virus somehow, but the scan came up clean.

Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[denis280]

Try Ccleaner (free) or tuneup utility (free to try)

 

[Helllearner]

Most of them are system processes.

Shutting/disabling/terminating them will result in computer malfunction/reboot/shutdown/freeze etc.

I have tried all the things to shut them down but i have failed... Mainly the svchost.exe, if i shut any1 of them down the whole computer reboots.


Edit: Nothing to worry about as these are very common processes in many computers. If you do not want anymore of them coming i'd recommend to stop your auto updates

This is the list of processes running in my computer.

 

[GammaLaser]

... Like I said, I used to only have about eight processes running and after the update, I was hit by all these which now cause massive performance issues. ...

Sounds like you never hit "Show processes from all users" until after the update. Most of these processes were running before you updated, but you were only seeing the ones running under your account's credentials. These "new" ones are mostly system processes that are needed by the OS.

Seeing them constantly take 15-30% might be a problem, depending on which process is doing it. FYI, plugin-container.exe is a process of FireFox that runs things like Flash. Wouldn't surprise me if that was the process taking up all your CPU time.

 

[Enervate]

You can disable things like spoolsv through services, at the bottom of the start menu type services.msc, open it and you should get a list of services. Be careful though, disabling important services can make programs stop working. Always carefully read descriptions and check dependencies.

You could also use sysinternals' autoruns utility.

 

[Stg-Flame]

I got the spoolsv to stop appearing for a whole two days before it reappeared. It has been disabled through msconfig under the Services tab and it still came back time and time again.

I'll just live with this for a while until I can figure out exactly what happened. As for multiple accounts, I am the only one on my computer. If anyone else uses it (my girlfriend is the only one who ever uses it besides me), they never go anywhere outside of their social networking sites and they never download anything.

Thanks for the help. I'll check out the suggestions listed thus far.

 

[Stg-Flame]

Well I got PunkBuster to stop loading using the Services.msc, but I cannot find 90% of the new processes that appeared. SearchIndexer is nowhere to be found and now I'm getting a few new ones like mmc.exe and mmc1.exe.

Is there any explanation why I am constantly getting new processes?

 

[DirkGently1]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=mmc.exe

 

[Stg-Flame]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=mmc.exe

Thank you for completely disregarding the topic in question.

As for my services, PunkBuster and Spoolsv have both came back after disabling them through the services tab. I'm not sure what else I can do to get all of these useless processes to stop running on my computer other than reformatting.

 

[Mark R]

Well I got PunkBuster to stop loading using the Services.msc, but I cannot find 90% of the new processes that appeared. SearchIndexer is nowhere to be found and now I'm getting a few new ones like mmc.exe and mmc1.exe.

Is there any explanation why I am constantly getting new processes?

You probably aren't getting many new processes.

With the exceptions of PunkBuster and plugin-container (which are Punk buster and the flash component for Firefox), the remainder are either critical system drivers, or core parts of Windows. If you haven't changed the hardware, you must have had them before (unless you were running generic drivers).

SearchIndexer is part of the windows find function. It only ever runs at low priority, and even then it automatically shuts down when you are using the computer to reduce system load even further. You can disable it (by using windows explorer to deny indexing for every drive on your system), but it isn't necessary to do so, and I strongly recommend leaving it active.

There's no point trying to disable things like spoolsv, etc. they are extremely light on resources, and you'll break loads of apps without it.

What would be more helpful is to find out exactly which processes are causing performance issues. For that, you should use Process Explorer. That will help you find out what is causing the problem.

 

[Stg-Flame]

You probably aren't getting many new processes.

With the exceptions of PunkBuster and plugin-container (which are Punk buster and the flash component for Firefox), the remainder are either critical system drivers, or core parts of Windows. If you haven't changed the hardware, you must have had them before (unless you were running generic drivers).

SearchIndexer is part of the windows find function. It only ever runs at low priority, and even then it automatically shuts down when you are using the computer to reduce system load even further. You can disable it (by using windows explorer to deny indexing for every drive on your system), but it isn't necessary to do so, and I strongly recommend leaving it active.

There's no point trying to disable things like spoolsv, etc. they are extremely light on resources, and you'll break loads of apps without it.

What would be more helpful is to find out exactly which processes are causing performance issues. For that, you should use Process Explorer. That will help you find out what is causing the problem.

I'll check out the link, but you must understand, since the day I built my computer (almost 3 years ago) I monitored every process I had running as well as everything installed. I never had this many processes before and it seems to be one of the svchosts.exe that is causing me performance issues based off the memory usage on idle. Without knowing an exact number of processes I used to have, I had a way of knowing how few I had compared to how many I have now. Not four months ago, I had a system freeze while I was playing Solitaire. When I brought up the Task Manager to end the processes, I had to scroll down only one notch on my scroll wheel to view the process to end it. Since these new processes appeared, it now takes over ten notches to find Solitaire.exe. I have not modified my mouse settings or the size of the Task Manager window. I know it's a very rudimentary method to use, but it's a good indicator of how many appeared over night.

Also, since spoolsv.exe first appeared on my computer when I built it, I had it disabled and it never conflicted with anything I ever tried to run. Like I stated, I don't own a printer and none of my programs use a printer or any printer functions. It annoys me to have it running when it shouldn't be. I'm fairly confident I finally stopped it from running ever again as well as PunkBuster, but there are still some that continually come back (like the second instance of my nVidia Driver Display Help).

 

[Enervate]

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902

use this.

If things you switched off still run, something is switching them back on. If the process launching the other processes is something you do want to have running, see if you can stop it launching the other processes in the program's options.

 

[VirtualLarry]

OP, I don't think that you will be happy, even if you reformat and re-install. 99% of those processes are system processes, that come with windows. (Except for punkbuster, flash player, and Nvidia). You must have accidentally hit the "show processes from all users", which by default, does not show ALL the system-level processes, unless you click that button.

You have "computer OCD". The solution to that has nothing to do with your computer.

 

[lowrider69]

You have "computer OCD". The solution to that has nothing to do with your computer.

I agree. Paranoia self destroyer.

 

[daveybrat]

If i were you OP, i would turn off the indexing service in Windows. That 'Searchindexer.exe' service is the indexing service that constantly indexes your hard drive to make file searches faster.

I find it to be annoying and sluggish. And it really should be disabled on a system with an SSD hard drive anyways.

Go to control panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services -> Windows Search -> Set Startup Type to 'disabled'

Now reboot the computer and see if you get some speed back. You can always re-enable it at any time if you want to.

 

[Stg-Flame]

Thanks for all of the replies. Here is a screenshot of my process list. Maybe someone can find something I don't currently need.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/808/processes.jpg/

WMP, Steam, and SearchIndexer are the only things I don't normally have running. I just disabled the SearchIndexer and I opened Steam and WMP before taking the screenshot. Everything else on that list is what I normally have running now. I'll see if i cannot find an old screenshot of my old process list for a comparison when I get back from work.

 

[Quiksilver]

Do you really need all the Logitech related programs/services? Setpoint and the other one? I mean if you just use the basic keyboard and mouse functions you shouldn't need them.

Also whats with the task scheduler? Are you running daily cleanups and backups?

Everything else on there is pretty much normal. Also by disabling search indexer I usually end up with worse performance than before (longer load times.)

even my process list is way higher (currently 65)

 

[Puppies04]

Some are eating massive amounts of CPU and at times, it gets so bad I cannot even listen to music, let alone run a game or movie.

I know vista was a bit hungry for cpu and ram but SVChost really shouldnt be chewing up that many resources. Do you run any anti spyware software and is your anti virus up to date. Also check your hard drive isnt set to defragment itself on a timer. Computer > right click c:/ drive > Properties > tools.

 

[Stg-Flame]

Do you really need all the Logitech related programs/services? Setpoint and the other one? I mean if you just use the basic keyboard and mouse functions you shouldn't need them.

Also whats with the task scheduler? Are you running daily cleanups and backups?

Everything else on there is pretty much normal. Also by disabling search indexer I usually end up with worse performance than before (longer load times.)

even my process list is way higher (currently 65)

Like I said with the opening post, I don't really know where most of these came from. I don't run anything on a schedule so I am unsure why some of the schedulers are popping up. I've never ran anything on a scheduler. The only thing that updates regularly on its own is my antivirus and that's been up to date since day one.

 

[Puppies04]

Ok you really aren't listening, they didn't "come from" anywhere, they were already there. The point i was trying to get across was have you checked something like defrag hasn't changed to auto run since you updated your pc. There is nothing you can do about those processes as they are and always have been an integral part of vista.

 

[Quiksilver]

Like I said with the opening post, I don't really know where most of these came from. I don't run anything on a schedule so I am unsure why some of the schedulers are popping up. I've never ran anything on a scheduler. The only thing that updates regularly on its own is my antivirus and that's been up to date since day one.

Well the Logitech Stuff and Setpoint isn't something that windows update installs. These were installed by you back when you set up the computer I'd imagine.

Task Scheduler? Meh, I would have thought this was some sort of backup thing trying to run but apparently like everything else on your process list it is a system process.

In summary there is nothing you can do about 99% of the process that are running because they are system processes vista needs.

All I can think of is for you to do is try some optimizing from here...
http://www.blackviper.com/category/guides/windows-vista/

 

[exdeath]

Sounds like you never hit "Show processes from all users" until after the update. Most of these processes were running before you updated, but you were only seeing the ones running under your account's credentials. These "new" ones are mostly system processes that are needed by the OS.

Seeing them constantly take 15-30% might be a problem, depending on which process is doing it. FYI, plugin-container.exe is a process of FireFox that runs things like Flash. Wouldn't surprise me if that was the process taking up all your CPU time.

This. There is no way you were running without those processes before. You wouldn't even be able to log in without lsass, smss, and csrss, for example. If you have two of these, you need to show user names, as it sounds like there are two user accounts logged on (eg: switch user).

They didn't just appear. You are just seeing them for the first time.

Also use process explorer. It gives you a break down of what service each svchost is running. More than likely the one using resources is the one hosting Windows Update and BITS.

Not even XP would function correctly and allow user logon and shell launch with only 8 processes, let alone Vista/7. You can't honestly believe you didn't have System and System Idle Process before... or that you disabled csrss.exe and were still able to log on...

 

[RadiclDreamer]

There is NOTHING in that list that would have me concerned in the least, this isnt 1995 where that extra 5mb of ram will make or break you. Most of what you see there are critical OS services, or at least important if you actually want to do something with your pc (print spooler etc)

Listen to virtual Larry, you have pc OCD, just let it go

 

[Stg-Flame]

I am a bit confused about the whole multiple processes likely means multiple accounts logged on. I am the only one who uses this computer and if someone else uses it, they use my account. I don't have multiple accounts created, just the admin account which is the one I have always used.

Would that cause alarm or should I not be worried?

And a massive thanks to everyone in this thread. I'm not worried about each individual process any longer after checking them out with the programs suggested.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Some processes will run as you, that is Stg-Flame, while others will run as system accounts. So yeah, in theory there are multiple users logged in, one is just a system account and that is completely normal.

When you check the show processes for all users, all you are doing is showing the rest of the processes running under that system account (or other accounts in the event that they exist)