Chuck,
I was too generic in my information. You are correct in your comment on the
file that I mentioned. Fortunately, when I did a more complete lookup using
Task Manager, I found that I mis-stated what I have running on my machine.
I have the following:
svchost.exe: A MicroSoft generic host process name for services that run
from dll libraries. It is installed as a part of
Windows, and multiple versions can run at the same time.
ccSvcHst.exe: This is a part of all Norton software packages.
I obviously confused the two in my earlier email. To the best of my
knowledge, my system is not infected. I appreciate the effort that you made
as a result of my mistake.
Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chuck Norcutt" <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Olympus Camera Discussion" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, December 19, 2009 6:46 PM
Subject: Re: [OM] ( OM ) OT Windows XP PC question
> According to Symantec the file "svchst.exe" is created by a worm called
> W32Debsis.A. It also creates other files and modifies the registry. See:
> <http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2007-120513-3733-99&tabid=2>
>
> You are infected.
>
> Chuck Norcutt
>
>
> Jim Nichols wrote:
>> Thanks, Chuck. I tried today to see what was using abnormal resources,
>> and
>> all that I detected was one of the "svchst.exe" type activities. These
>> encompass so many things that it is hard to find what is really going on.
>> I
>> will try again tomorrow to see if I can pin it down. It is more of a
>> curiosity issue than a problem.
>>
>> Jim Nichols
>> Tullahoma, TN USA
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Chuck Norcutt" <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> To: "Olympus Camera Discussion" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Saturday, December 19, 2009 5:09 PM
>> Subject: Re: [OM] ( OM ) OT Windows XP PC question
>>
>>
>>> If you have 2.5GB of memory and only 80 emails in the file the memory
>>> usage is small and you should not be using virtual memory unless you've
>>> got many other things running. You can use task manager to check on
>>> real and virtual memory usage. You could try temporarily disabling
>>> Norton to see what effect it has. I got rid of Norton many years ago
>>> and have sworn never to go back. Using Avast! at the moment. But
>>> Avast! is an on demand virus checker testing both program and data files
>>> as they are opened and used. That's as opposed to most other virus
>>> checkers with do a batch run against the disk contents, say, once per
>>> day. I prefer it but it demands a fast processor not to introduce any
>>> appreciable delay in the loading. But if the processor is fast enough
>>> it can keep up with the much slower disk.
>>>
>>> Now that I've said that I have to question what I told you before. I
>>> think Norton (which I believe to be a once/day batch processor would
>>> have previously checked your email program and data files on its last
>>> batch run and would not be testing them again on load. But it would be
>>> checking the incoming new mail before appending to the mail file. If
>>> that's all true disabling Norton might have no visible effect on
>>> performance at all.
>>>
>>> Chuck Norcutt
>>>
>>> Jim Nichols wrote:
>>>> Thanks, Chuck. I have 2.5GB of memory and, normally, 30 to 80 emails
>>>> from
>>>> two photo lists, so this is probably the explanation. It never seems
>>>> to
>>>> change, and Norton never finds problems, so I guess I will just live
>>>> with
>>>> it. That is the only slow-down that I experience with Norton.
>>>>
>>>> Jim Nichols
>>>> Tullahoma, TN USA
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Chuck Norcutt" <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>> To: "Olympus Camera Discussion" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>> Sent: Saturday, December 19, 2009 2:08 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [OM] ( OM ) OT Windows XP PC question
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> I'm not Joel but would suggest that this consists of two parts with
>>>>> the
>>>>> longer being: (1) loading and parsing of the email file into some form
>>>>> of linked list in memory in preparation for pre-pending the new
>>>>> entries
>>>>> and (2) loading the requisite parts of Norton anti-virus that deals
>>>>> with
>>>>> email.
>>>>>
>>>>> Note that (1) could take a long time if you have lots of mail in the
>>>>> file and small memory in the computer which will force use of virtual
>>>>> memory to hold the in-memory version of the mail file.
>>>>>
>>>>> Chuck Norcutt
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Jim Nichols wrote:
>>>>>> Joel,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Since you seem well versed in this sort of activity, I would like to
>>>>>> see
>>>>>> if
>>>>>> you have ever noticed one peculiarity that I see each day. I use
>>>>>> Norton,
>>>>>> and just updated to the 2010 version. With both the 2009 and 2010
>>>>>> versions,
>>>>>> I note that, on the first email that I click on each morning, the
>>>>>> computer
>>>>>> disk activity light is on for 30 to 60 seconds, before the email
>>>>>> content
>>>>>> is
>>>>>> displayed. After the first one, all is normal. ( I turn my system
>>>>>> off
>>>>>> at
>>>>>> night, and restart each morning.)
>>>>>> Does this have an easy explanation?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Jim Nichols
>>>>>> Tullahoma, TN USA
>>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>>> From: "Joel Wilcox" <jfwilcox@xxxxxxxxx>
>>>>>> To: "Olympus Camera Discussion" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>>> Sent: Saturday, December 19, 2009 8:53 AM
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [OM] ( OM ) OT Windows XP PC question
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Sat, Dec 19, 2009 at 7:08 AM, Brian Swale <bj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>> Yes, I have also wondered why the computer frequently shows disk
>>>>>>>> activity,
>>>>>>>> when really there seems to be no reason why. Sometimes it goes on
>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>> many seconds.
>>>>>>> I tend to watch most activity using the already-mentioned Zone
>>>>>>> Alarm,
>>>>>>> and the most frequent items that ask for access are Apple's Bonjour
>>>>>>> service, Java, and AVG, which all seem to want to phone home. This
>>>>>>> is
>>>>>>> appropriate for those services, so no problems. There is a free
>>>>>>> utility called Startup Inspector which allows you to tweak your
>>>>>>> startup folder stuff. I still use it on the family computer (which
>>>>>>> I
>>>>>>> don't monitor very much), though I prefer just to evaluate requests
>>>>>>> on
>>>>>>> the computers I use a lot by letting Zone Alarm do its thing.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> AVG 9.0 appears to be quite active. I assume most virus checkers
>>>>>>> are.
>>>>>>> I also notice when there is disk activity that the ZA icon is
>>>>>>> active,
>>>>>>> and as long as I see that, I don't worry as I do allow known good
>>>>>>> guys
>>>>>>> to phone home to check for updates, etc.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Joel W.
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> _________________________________________________________________
>>>>>>> Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
>>>>>>> Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
>>>>>>> Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> _________________________________________________________________
>>>>> Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
>>>>> Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
>>>>> Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>> --
>>> _________________________________________________________________
>>> Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
>>> Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
>>> Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
> --
> _________________________________________________________________
> Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
> Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
> Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
>
>
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