Solved CPU/memory overusage

[Wtchdrmd]

I originally posted this yesterday on an old thread and got no comments, so here it is as a new thread. First, I am a physician (anesthesiologist) and a moderate computer geek. I am troubleshooting (for free) a friend's daughter's Toshiba satellite laptop running Win7 Home. The complaint was - running extremely slow. I have found and corrected multiple problems, and the unit works much better, but one problem remains. A process named WmiPrvSE.exe is constantly running and using 40-50% of the CPU and 2 GB of memory. I have read the other threads on this, and it seems to be relatively common and hard to diagnose. This computer is used on a wireless home network, and I think the problem is in that area. If you terminate the process, another one immediately begins. As suggested in another thread, I looked under services.msc and WMIPerformance is in manual mode. I installed Windows Process Explorer, and the tree leading to this process, from bottom to top, is WmiPrvSE.exe, then svchost.exe, then services.exe, then wininit.exe. I cannot suspend or change the priority of the WmiPrvSE.exe. Closing it just starts another of the same process, and killing the tree also results in another process. I am a new user of ProcExplorer - how can I identify the origin of this problem ?

 

[Skylais]

I originally posted this yesterday on an old thread and got no comments, so here it is as a new thread. First, I am a physician (anesthesiologist) and a moderate computer geek. I am troubleshooting (for free) a friend's daughter's Toshiba satellite laptop running Win7 Home. The complaint was - running extremely slow. I have found and corrected multiple problems, and the unit works much better, but one problem remains. A process named WmiPrvSE.exe is constantly running and using 40-50% of the CPU and 2 GB of memory. I have read the other threads on this, and it seems to be relatively common and hard to diagnose. This computer is used on a wireless home network, and I think the problem is in that area. If you terminate the process, another one immediately begins. As suggested in another thread, I looked under services.msc and WMIPerformance is in manual mode. I installed Windows Process Explorer, and the tree leading to this process, from bottom to top, is WmiPrvSE.exe, then svchost.exe, then services.exe, then wininit.exe. I cannot suspend or change the priority of the WmiPrvSE.exe. Closing it just starts another of the same process, and killing the tree also results in another process. I am a new user of ProcExplorer - how can I identify the origin of this problem ?

Okay well this service is used by the os, so finding it in the hard drive and deleting or trying to close it will just reopen it and or restore itself. As of your fixing up i am guessing u scanned it for viruses and such correct? search the hard drive for "Wmiprvse.exe" and send a screenshot of what appears. As well make sure the one running is a 32 bit edition or 64 bit edition depending on the system. 32 bit will have the "*32" after them.
Also if you can, please turn off gadgets in windows features. Here is a little help if you need it : http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/8114-gadgets-turn-off.html

 

[Wtchdrmd]

Skylais - thanks for your help. Here is where I am : 1) I turned off Gadgets in the Windows Features pane but nothing changed 2) I booted into Safe Mode and the problem disappeared ! The CPU and memory usage were back to normal. Unfortunately, booting back into Win7 restarted the problem. 3) I tried turning off services in the Task Manager one by one but could not find any that affected the problem 4) I put in the regedit change supplied by Microsoft to permanently turn off the sidebar but the problem only seemed to get worse, with occasional full stops due to 100% CPU usage 5) After a few more starts, startup failed and I was offered startup repair. That's what is happening now. I'll post again when I see where I end up.

 

[Skylais]

Skylais - thanks for your help. Here is where I am : 1) I turned off Gadgets in the Windows Features pane but nothing changed 2) I booted into Safe Mode and the problem disappeared ! The CPU and memory usage were back to normal. Unfortunately, booting back into Win7 restarted the problem. 3) I tried turning off services in the Task Manager one by one but could not find any that affected the problem 4) I put in the regedit change supplied by Microsoft to permanently turn off the sidebar but the problem only seemed to get worse, with occasional full stops due to 100% CPU usage 5) After a few more starts, startup failed and I was offered startup repair. That's what is happening now. I'll post again when I see where I end up.

Sounds good, seems like a very troubling pain. Also if you want you could try this if you have not already.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html
It scans for corruptions and the such.

 

[Wtchdrmd]

Success, but I don't fully understand. Startup Repair returned the computer to the baseline with the same problem. I opened msconfig and started randomly closing startup applications until I isolated the problem. Something called Search Protect, manufactured by Conduit, was the offending item. Actually, items, as there were two instances of it from different origins, and both had to be turned off to stop the CPU/memory usage. Allow either one to start and CPU usage went back to 40-60% continuously. With both items off, the computer behaves normally. I will Google search this item, and if you have any knowledge of it I would be interested to know more about it.

 

[DocBrown]

Have you run any programs to check for SpyWare ? Such as MalWareBytes ?

 

[Skylais]

Success, but I don't fully understand. Startup Repair returned the computer to the baseline with the same problem. I opened msconfig and started randomly closing startup applications until I isolated the problem. Something called Search Protect, manufactured by Conduit, was the offending item. Actually, items, as there were two instances of it from different origins, and both had to be turned off to stop the CPU/memory usage. Allow either one to start and CPU usage went back to 40-60% continuously. With both items off, the computer behaves normally. I will Google search this item, and if you have any knowledge of it I would be interested to know more about it.

Conduit i find on lots of pc's its a really low level type of malware sometimes but normally don't really harm people. just sits there. IT could be classified as a virus though, it uses the web browsers to track everything you do basically. its annoying, usually it changes the search engines and stuff too. It comes in a lot of installations surprisingly as an add on piece that people skipping thru usually select yes to.
Remove it from your pc, under programs and features, run a virus scan and remove any add ons it added. It tends to add browser add ons. After uninstall if u can reset the web browser, and run something like clceaner to clean out the temp folder and clean the web browsers.

 

[Wtchdrmd]

Skylais - thanks again for your help. After removing Search Protect, StrongVault and Yontoo the problem was solved and the computer functions normally.

 

[Skylais]

Skylais - thanks again for your help. After removing Search Protect, StrongVault and Yontoo the problem was solved and the computer functions normally.

Ha how weird, just removed all 3 of those from a friend of mine's computer like 2 weeks ago. Anyways thanks for marking the thread solved, im glad i could be of any assistance even though you pretty much figured it all out.

 

[CMPA]

HELP please

Dear All,
I am sorry for my ignorance but I have same problem in my PC but I don't know how to find and get ride of this program/malware/virus that is making my PC so so slow and it is impossible to use.
can anyone run me through it pleaseeee? I know this issue its been resolved but I just got problem.

thank you in advance.

 

[jabarker76]

malware bytes usually will get rid of conduit, you will have to remove the add on toolbars from add remove programs