is this a vorus/malware/adware or what?

Chances are good that svchost is not a virus.

svchost= service host. i.e. The process is doing something on behalf of some other app. 99% of the time it is something legitimate.

This is also why googling svchost is 100% guaranteed to get you absolutely nowhere since everyone has something else running as svchost and consequently reports different issues.

If your avast is up-to-date then you can chill imo.
 
my avast is up to date, all it says is "cation potential infection was detected", and does nothing else
 
moved to NOD32. you will never look back. Synchost is a service. I suggest running process explorer which will give you all your answers.
 
you normally have a few svchost.exe running in task manager, as this process is used everytime windows has to run a 16bit application.

now, *coughs to clear throat*, very few proper apps nowdays are written in 16bit code. make of that what you will, but sometimes it is correct to see 7 or 8 of them, and other times it is wrong if even one is showing, depending on what application/s you are running.

a lot of the older common virus' are written in 16bit, so the best i can guess is...I dont know. not enough info to draw a conclusion, but the short answer is that svchost.exe is a valid windows application...process explorer should allow yout o see WHY it is running, which is really where the answer will lie
:-)
 
Run a netstat and see if you have open connections to somewhere dodge.
 
phoenix911 said:
what more would u like? :confused:
Click to expand...
A short description of what you were doing when that popped up would help. When did it say "cation potential infection was detected"? In what kind of a dialog? Did the resident scanner pick it up or the mail scanner? What was being scanned? What email application? Type of attachment received/contents of email? What OS/Service pack? etc

This is like phoning a car mechanic and telling him you think something in the car might be broken, but you're not sure...and then expect the mechanic to know which part of the car is the problem without him seeing the car or even knowing what type of car it is.:confused:

werner said:
you normally have a few svchost.exe running in task manager, as this process is used everytime windows has to run a 16bit application.
Click to expand...
16bit apps use svchost, but most of the svchosts are normal services running in the background. Hell, I've got 10 :eek: svchosts running on Vista 64 bit and I doubt I've got 10x 16bit apps running. *Makes mental note to check why there are so many*

Process Monitor can be used to identify what services are running in which svchost.exe
 
noswal said:
Also, do you have a firewall running?
Click to expand...

well yes

im using XP SP2, wasn't scanning anything. just downloaded something... and boom thats when it hit.. now the on-access scanner pops up every few seconds shouting that terrible words... i used so many spyware programs, even used hijackthis but nothing
 
phoenix911 said:
heres a screen shot from my process explorer... its greek to me. can u guys come up with anything?

http://mybroadband.co.za/photos/showphoto.php?photo=3841&size=big&cat=500
Click to expand...

I was actually just about to suggest downloading that program :rolleyes:

There is a way to expand the tree so that when you click on each svchost, it will show you what program it belongs to.
Often most of those things are services like RDP etc. If you see a program you are not sure of, then google it

Also, do you have system restore on or off? Virus's often lurk there and when you restart your pc the virus comes back.

Check your Add/Remove programs list for strange programs or ones you dont need. Often downloaded free stuff screws up your pc more!

And click Run and type regedit

Then browse to - HKEY_LOCAL MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CurrentVersion\Run

Virus's also hide there and startup when windows starts.

I often find one antivirus isnt enough. Run a AVG scan aswell as Nod or woteva you are running. Download TrojanHunter, that works really well too. (i dont have a link...google it)
 
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MeNeZ said:
Also, do you have system restore on or off? Virus's often lurk there and when you restart your pc the virus comes back.
Click to expand...

i dont want to sound dumb but where do i check this.. i dont mess with these kinda things
 
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