From WA5CAB at cs.com Tue Dec 12 12:30:04 2017 From: WA5CAB at cs.com (WA5CAB at cs.com) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2017 12:30:04 -0500 Subject: [Ham-Computers] Problem with XP Message-ID: <86e94.2f77458f.47616c1b@cs.com> Aaron, Sorry to be so long in responding. But you nailed it in one. I decided that if shutting down WUAU didn't drop the CPU usage and SVCHOST RAM usage, I could always simply reboot the machine. So I started Task Manager and then brought up a Command Prompt window and stopped wuauserv. Both parameters returned to normal. Realizing that there are unlikely to be any more XP patches released, not having the automatic update service isn't a show stopper as I can always check for Office 2007 updates manually. But is there a way to fix it short of reinstalling XP (which probably can't be done anyway)? In a message dated 11/20/2017 19:06:36 PM Central Standard Time, nn6o.lists at pacbell.net writes: > SVCHOST is the Microsoft program that hosts Windows services. Each > instance of SVCHOST can actually be hosting several services - exactly how a > service is attached to each SVCHOST instance, I don't know. But, you can see > a breakdown of each SVCHOST instance using a utility such as Process > Explorer by SysInternals. The SysInternals treasure chest of utilities is so > good that Microsoft acquired them several years ago and it's now under their > TechNet umbrella of things. More on Process Explorer a little later... > > Since each SVCHOST instance can host multiple services, it's hard to know > exactly what is taking up CPU time without the proper utility (such as > Process Explorer). Also, without knowing what services each instance is > hosting, you could be killing several services by killing that one SVCHOST > instance. > > But, being that the system is running Windows XP, I'm willing to bet that > it's the Automatic Updates service (WUAU) eating up CPU cycles. WUAU is > known to cause high CPU utilization esp when the updates database is corrupt > or when one of the updates is doing some type of "telemetry" gathering. To > find out if it's WUAU, next time you notice high CPU utilization in an > SVCHOST instance, try stopping the WUAU service. To do this, open an elevated > Command Prompt (run as Administrator) and enter the following: > > net stop wuauserv > > and press enter. Wait a minute or two, and check the Task Manager - if > CPU utilization returns to normal, then the Windows Update service is the > culprit and more diagnosis is needed to determine exactly why. > > Process Explorer - you can download Process Explorer or the entire > SysInternals suite of utilities here: > > http://www.sysinternals.org > > Once you install either, run Process Explorer and it will show you a > window similar to Windows Task Manager, but in more detail. If you click on the > "Process" column header, it will switch views between A-Z sort, Z-A sort, > and breakout or threaded view that shows the process hierarchy (this > includes showing each service under each instance of SVCHOST). You can also move > the mouse pointer over each process to see the threads running under it, > or the command-line of how it started. This will help clue you in to what > might be eating CPU cycles. Once you've found the particular thread, > determine if it's safe to terminate, right-click it, and select "kill process". > Or, if you know the service name, it's better to use "net stop > servicename" in a command prompt to safely stop the service (or, use "sc stop > servicename" as an alternative with no feedback). > > I hope this helps you track down the issue...I'm pretty sure it's Windows > Update, but let us know what you find. If it is Windows Update, there are > several possible fixes, but no guarantees. Sometimes, the high cpu use > lasts for several minutes to several hours/days, then everything is back to > normal - this would be the Windows Updates telemetry gathering mentioned > earlier. Or, WUAU might also be trying to self-correct a database problem and > is rebuilding it. Suffice it to say, WUAU has it's issues. > > 73, > > - Aaron Hsu, NN6O > {nn6o}@arrl.net > Robert Downs - Houston wa5cab dot com (Web Store) MVPA 9480 From WA5CAB at cs.com Tue Dec 12 13:02:34 2017 From: WA5CAB at cs.com (WA5CAB at cs.com) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2017 13:02:34 -0500 Subject: [Ham-Computers] Office 2007. POP3 & IMAP Problems Message-ID: <870b8.2d8658b9.476173b9@cs.com> For legacy reasons more than any other, we use MS Office 2007 (or 2010) Outlook as the mail manager for our Comcast.net email accounts. I recently needed another essentially dummy email address so added one to our COMCAST.NET isp. After several hours on the phone (mostly on hold) fixing what turned out to apparently have been a case of fat fingering the password for the new account, it is up and running on the XP machine using Office 2007 well enough to satisfy the need. In the process of getting the new address working, I learned that Comcast is in the process of switching all email accounts from POP3 to IMAP. All new ones can only be IMAP. Eventually the older ones will be forced to change but no one seems to know when. However, somehow incoming emails to the new IMAP address are not coming into the Personal Folders\Inbox as all of the others always have. I haven't yet tracked down exactly where they are going but will. I did not knowingly select a location for storing incoming mail during any of the several times that I added to address to the Outlook instance. When I open Tools/Account Settings, the names of the five addresses are shown along with their Type (POP3 or IMAP). When I click on one of the POP3 addresses, the screen among other things shows where incoming mail is stored and has a Change Folder button. When I click the IMAP one, the destination is shown but there is no option to change it (no Change Folder button). Does anyone how to change this or if it can be done? As I don't actually use this address, there would be no problem with deleting and re-adding it. In getting past the password mistake, and some other issues, I've already done that at least four times. Robert Downs - Houston wa5cab dot com (Web Store) MVPA 9480