Why/how is svchost.exe using 6.5GB of memory?

Question

What is going on here? I have almost nothing running.

By almost nothing, I mean Firefox, and some background network applications that are entirely passive and would never use this much memory.

Related services: UxSms, TrkWks, SysMain, PcaSvc, Netman, CscService, AudioEndpointBuilder, TabletInputService

The only thing I can think of is that I was running Virtualbox with Ubuntu for a little while but that is limited to 2GB of memory and it's no longer running.

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Edit: I am most interested in the question of why/how? Likely a leak somewhere but given the services listed above, do any stand out as being a potential culprit?

Solution 1

svchost.exe is the process that runs all your Windows services. One of them has gone mad apparently. Right-click on svchost.exe and select "Go to Service(s)". That will tell you which service it is, and you can use Services Manager to restart or disable it if you don't need it.

For a better description with nice screenshots check out:

• How-To Geek: What is svchost.exe And Why Is It Running?

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Per your update, you can check out a couple of those services:

1. CscService: Related to the "offline folders" feature of Windows. Do you use that?
2. UxSms: Related to Desktop Window Manager. Try disabling Aero, see if the problem occurs.

Solution 2

After splitting suspected services to separate processes I was able to identify Network Store Interface Service (nsi) to be the cause of memory leak in my case (Windows 7).

There is ten-page thread about this issue at http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-system/nsi-memory-leaks-fixed-yet/f3c3e9db-36a7-45df-9dbd-de9455378498.

It mentions a couple of hotfixes available for download on demand:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2847346/en-us

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2950358/en-us

There is also a similar fix for Vista and Server 2008:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2743187/EN-US

Solution 3

Another option: Use Process Explorer.
It can be downloaded via Microsoft TechNet.

It displays all running processes, you can easily see which svchost.exe is using CPU or RAM resources, to track down which service is runnning wild.

Tip:
When hovering the mouse cursor over the 'svchost.exe' entries, all services associated with this process are listed in an infotip window.
Alternatively, select the process, click "Properties" and choose the "Services" tab.

Solution 4

This happens after updating to Windows 7 Service Pack 1. Memory leaks can happen when the background service for Windows Update (netsvcs) is enabled. You can find more info here, among other places. See Awa's answer here to verify that Windows Update is at fault.

One inelegant solution to this issue is to turn off Windows Update and install all updates manually. Run services.msc and set Windows Update and Background Intelligent Transfer Service to Disabled. See here for general instructions on services.

However, several updates to fix this issue have been rolled out by Microsoft. When you first run Windows Update in a new installation of Win7 SP1, it will insist on installing Windows Update Agent [WUA] 7.6.7600.320 (KB2887535), before it lets you check for other updates. Let it do so or apply the update manually if installing offline. After doing so, you might not be able to install other updates automatically until this issue is resolved.

Then, manually download and install the following update:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3083324

This updates the Windows Update Agent to version 7.6.7601.18979.

This is the newest update in a series released by Microsoft to address the issue. Each has been replaced by a newer version, and it seems that you only need to install the newest one. However, if this does not fix the issue, you can try installing an older update in the series, or perhaps install them all sequentially. In chronological order, consult the following updates:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2990214
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3050265 (June 2015)
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3065987 (July 2015)
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3075851 (August 2015)
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3083324 (September 2015)

Then, according to this answer, install this update:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3102810 (20-Oct-2015)

This updates the WUA to version 7.6.7601.19046. Theoretically, you should be able to just skip to this step and be fine. However, this update claims to not replace earlier updates, which is why it might be advisable to install the aforementioned update(s) first.

Lastly, it might be advisable to disable the two aforementioned services before manually installing these updates, then re-enable them afterwards. I think you should be fine either way, though you might want to restart your machine after each update, just to be sure.

Reports vary, but this should fix your troubles with Windows Update hogging memory and CPU :)

Solution 5

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2889748 new hotfix diagnosed and solved by microsoft.

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Comments

[Admin]

See also blogs.technet.com/b/askperf/archive/2008/01/11/…

[Admin]

See more usefull info windowstechinfo.com/2015/05/…

[Enigma]

Both of those things are possible with task manager also btw.

[Awal]

True, but I think Process Explorer is making this a bit easier. You can also view all threads, stack, network connections and security settings etc. of the svchost.exe process in question, as well as detailed performance data and graphs for a single process only.

[Havenard]

Can it tell which of the many services running under each svchost process is consuming all the memory? Because if not, then its useless.

[Awal]

Basically, yes. You can view the CPU usage / cycles per thread and also settings like memory priority. The service that belongs to a given thread is also listed. It's not a debugging or profiling tool, though.

[Enigma]

I had to kill it but Windows recovered. It wasn't a virus but seems to be a leak issue related to the network driver.

[MSalters]

Keep in mind that if none of your other programs are using RAM (as in this question), then it's a good idea for SuperFetch to use the remaining RAM. Unused RAM is wasted RAM.

[Sam Hasler]

I had that hotfix installed and it fixed it for a number of months but recently (I suspect after a windows update) it has started happening again. Reapplying the hotfix doesn't seem to have any effect. Anyone else in a similar situation? Any solution?

[tfrascaroli]

This might be a little too late, but in my case it's always the wuauserv service, also known as Windows Update. It uses more than 700Mb in my poor 1 Gb RAM PC. I always have to stop that service so I can do something.

[Mark Berry]

Brilliant, thanks very much! In my case, 2847346 seems to have fixed it--back to 4KB usage on that task. That service isolation trick will be handy for other troubleshooting as well.

[Pacerier]

@Colin, How can we right-click and 'Go to Service(s)' using Sysinternals Process Explorer? There doesn't seem to be that option in right-click menu : i.stack.imgur.com/8M5Hm.png

[Jamie Hanrahan]

Keep also in mind that SuperFetch doesn't appear to use RAM. The RAM it uses for file cacheing (It's not just applications) is on the standby page list, where it's part of "Available" memory. And it stays on the standby page list, and is still considered "available". It is not part of any svchost process's working set. So if you're looking for reasons why you either have little "available" RAM, or an overly large working set in one of the svchost processes, SuperFetch is not it.

[bwDraco]

Although this may answer the question, you should give a more detailed description of the linked content and explain how it relates to the question. This will help ensure that this answer remains useful in the event the linked page is removed or goes offline. For more information, see this Meta Stack Exchange post.

[Broken_Code]

This fixed my problem a lot of the other answers are useful but windows update takes the absolute most

[Redoman]

What's the latest update/fix to install, as of today?