Mysterious Background Process

juju · 09-17-2002, 01:30 AM

I have a problem on my wife's Windows machine. This is extremely frustrating, and i'm not sure anyone here will even have an answer. But here goes anyway.

When the mouse and keyboard are idle for exactly 1 minute and 30 seconds, the mouse pointer starts quickly alternating between the busy-hourglass pointer and the regular pointer, and then back to the busy pointer, ad infinitum until you press a key or move the mouse. It's very annoying! I'm so sick of looking at that flashing pointer! The only way to not have to look at it is to either turn the monitor off, or move the mouse every 1 and a half minutes.

I've ran the lastest Ad-aware, and i've ran the lastest Norton Antivirus. Neither of them detected a damned thing. I've gone through and tried uninstalling everything I could think of that could possibly be the culprit. Nothing seems to make it stop.

Here is a screenshot of my running processes while this is occuring. My last hope is looking up every process on google to see what it does. But my second-to-last hope is that someone else here might know what this is already. Anyone?

http://comp.uark.edu/~dmorton/images/misc/task1.jpg

My wife was listening to a cd via Windows Media Player when I took the screenshot. But I know it's not that process that's the culprit, cause it's not running normally.

Svchost.exe seems to be a default process for dll's that do stuff. So, here is a list of all the dll's that are currently running via svchost.

Microsoft Windows 2000 [Version 5.00.2195]
(C) Copyright 1985-2000 Microsoft Corp.

C:\>tlist -s
0 System Process
8 System
140 SMSS.EXE
164 CSRSS.EXE Title:
184 WINLOGON.EXE Title: NetDDE Agent
212 SERVICES.EXE Svcs: Browser,Dhcp,dmserver,Dnscache,Eventlog,lanmanserver
,lanmanworkstation,LmHosts,Messenger,PlugPlay,ProtectedStorage,seclogon,TrkWks,W
mi
224 LSASS.EXE Svcs: PolicyAgent,SamSs
404 svchost.exe Svcs: RpcSs
464 spoolsv.exe Svcs: Spooler
492 defwatch.exe Svcs: DefWatch
508 svchost.exe Svcs: EventSystem,Netman,NtmsSvc,RasMan,SENS,TapiSrv
536 tcpsvcs.exe Svcs: LPDSVC
560 rtvscan.exe Svcs: Norton AntiVirus Server
628 nvsvc32.exe Svcs: NVSvc
300 regsvc.exe Svcs: RemoteRegistry
676 mstask.exe Svcs: Schedule
732 WinMgmt.exe Svcs: WinMgmt
768 MsPMSPSv.exe Svcs: WMDM PMSP Service
780 svchost.exe Svcs: wuauserv
852 explorer.exe Title: Program Manager
964 MSGSYS.EXE
1032 hpztsb04.exe Title:
1096 evntsvc.exe Title: Notification Wnd for RNAdmin
1116 SrchAsst.exe Title: Aornum 13753
1128 vptray.exe Title: Norton AntiVirus Corporate Edition
1196 mozilla.exe Title: The Cellar - Post New Thread - Mozilla {Build ID: 20
02053012}
1172 rundll32.exe Title: NVIDIA TwinView Window
1028 wmplayer.exe Title: Windows Media Player
264 CMD.EXE Title: Command Prompt - tlist -s
196 tlist.exe

hpztsb04.exe is something to do with my printer driver. I upgraded to the latest driver and that didn't fix it either. :(
Also, my wife tried disabling Norton Antivirus. You guessed it -- that didn't work.

I may actually end up reformatting just to get rid of that damned idle busy pointer.

SteveDallas · 09-17-2002, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by juju
1196 mozilla.exe Title: The Cellar - Post New Thread - Mozilla {Build ID: 20
02053012}

ACCK!! THE CELLAR!!! Get rid of that and your problems will be solved!!!

But seriously, I might look at defwatch and eventsvc just because I'm not familiar with them off the top of my head, and they sound like they might do periodic polling of some kind.

On a more helpful note, I was able to find many Windows tweaking suggestions to get rid of unwanted disk thrashing at http://www.annoyances.org; you might check them out. I think I eliminated 90% of it just by getting rid of MS Office Fast Find.

09-17-2002, 09:14 AM

Also, if it comes down to re-formatting, here's a fun Windows tip.

Step 1) Move c:\Windows (or c:\WINNT) to c:\WINBACKUP

* Note - you need to be in DOS mode to do this.

Step 2) Install Windows.

That way, you don't need to worry about backing up data and re-formatting. It's generally pretty quick and painless, and you won't be caught with your pants around your ankles later (as in "Donald! Where the fuck are my _______'s?") 'cause nothing gets deleted. I used to have to do this all the time back in the Windows 95, Windows 95 B, Windows 98 and Windows 98 SE days.

Tobiasly · 09-17-2002, 09:41 AM

Have you tried keeping Task Manager open, waiting 1:30, and then seeing if any of the processes show a jump in CPU utilization?

MaggieL · 09-17-2002, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by juju
But my second-to-last hope is that someone else here might know what this is already. Anyone?

Have you fiddled with the screensaver settings? Like turning it off, changing the screensaver, or changing the timeout?

09-17-2002, 01:30 AM	#1
juju no one of consequence Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Arkansas Posts: 2,839	Mysterious Background Process I have a problem on my wife's Windows machine. This is extremely frustrating, and i'm not sure anyone here will even have an answer. But here goes anyway. When the mouse and keyboard are idle for exactly 1 minute and 30 seconds, the mouse pointer starts quickly alternating between the busy-hourglass pointer and the regular pointer, and then back to the busy pointer, ad infinitum until you press a key or move the mouse. It's very annoying! I'm so sick of looking at that flashing pointer! The only way to not have to look at it is to either turn the monitor off, or move the mouse every 1 and a half minutes. I've ran the lastest Ad-aware, and i've ran the lastest Norton Antivirus. Neither of them detected a damned thing. I've gone through and tried uninstalling everything I could think of that could possibly be the culprit. Nothing seems to make it stop. Here is a screenshot of my running processes while this is occuring. My last hope is looking up every process on google to see what it does. But my second-to-last hope is that someone else here might know what this is already. Anyone? http://comp.uark.edu/~dmorton/images/misc/task1.jpg My wife was listening to a cd via Windows Media Player when I took the screenshot. But I know it's not that process that's the culprit, cause it's not running normally. Svchost.exe seems to be a default process for dll's that do stuff. So, here is a list of all the dll's that are currently running via svchost. Microsoft Windows 2000 [Version 5.00.2195] (C) Copyright 1985-2000 Microsoft Corp. C:\>tlist -s 0 System Process 8 System 140 SMSS.EXE 164 CSRSS.EXE Title: 184 WINLOGON.EXE Title: NetDDE Agent 212 SERVICES.EXE Svcs: Browser,Dhcp,dmserver,Dnscache,Eventlog,lanmanserver ,lanmanworkstation,LmHosts,Messenger,PlugPlay,ProtectedStorage,seclogon,TrkWks,W mi 224 LSASS.EXE Svcs: PolicyAgent,SamSs 404 svchost.exe Svcs: RpcSs 464 spoolsv.exe Svcs: Spooler 492 defwatch.exe Svcs: DefWatch 508 svchost.exe Svcs: EventSystem,Netman,NtmsSvc,RasMan,SENS,TapiSrv 536 tcpsvcs.exe Svcs: LPDSVC 560 rtvscan.exe Svcs: Norton AntiVirus Server 628 nvsvc32.exe Svcs: NVSvc 300 regsvc.exe Svcs: RemoteRegistry 676 mstask.exe Svcs: Schedule 732 WinMgmt.exe Svcs: WinMgmt 768 MsPMSPSv.exe Svcs: WMDM PMSP Service 780 svchost.exe Svcs: wuauserv 852 explorer.exe Title: Program Manager 964 MSGSYS.EXE 1032 hpztsb04.exe Title: 1096 evntsvc.exe Title: Notification Wnd for RNAdmin 1116 SrchAsst.exe Title: Aornum 13753 1128 vptray.exe Title: Norton AntiVirus Corporate Edition 1196 mozilla.exe Title: The Cellar - Post New Thread - Mozilla {Build ID: 20 02053012} 1172 rundll32.exe Title: NVIDIA TwinView Window 1028 wmplayer.exe Title: Windows Media Player 264 CMD.EXE Title: Command Prompt - tlist -s 196 tlist.exe hpztsb04.exe is something to do with my printer driver. I upgraded to the latest driver and that didn't fix it either. :( Also, my wife tried disabling Norton Antivirus. You guessed it -- that didn't work. I may actually end up reformatting just to get rid of that damned idle busy pointer. Last edited by juju; 09-17-2002 at 01:36 AM.

09-17-2002, 09:14 AM	#3
dave Guest Posts: n/a	Also, if it comes down to re-formatting, here's a fun Windows tip. Step 1) Move c:\Windows (or c:\WINNT) to c:\WINBACKUP * Note - you need to be in DOS mode to do this. Step 2) Install Windows. That way, you don't need to worry about backing up data and re-formatting. It's generally pretty quick and painless, and you won't be caught with your pants around your ankles later (as in "Donald! Where the fuck are my _______'s?") 'cause nothing gets deleted. I used to have to do this all the time back in the Windows 95, Windows 95 B, Windows 98 and Windows 98 SE days.

09-17-2002, 09:41 AM	#4
Tobiasly hot Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Jeffersonville, IN (near Louisville) Posts: 892	Have you tried keeping Task Manager open, waiting 1:30, and then seeing if any of the processes show a jump in CPU utilization?

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