Version 3 ccSvcHst.exe is eating up 50% of my CPU

Norton Security | Norton Internet Security
1

Hi,

 

I have N360 V3 running on a 32 bit Vista machine with 3 Gigs of RAM.  The one of the two ccSvcHst process is eating up about 50% of my RAM.  I tried the online help (twice) and the tech screwed up the machine worse than it was before.  After I cleaned up his mess, I used the removal tool and reinstalled I still have the problem.

 

Details on the symptoms are as follows:

  1.  When system first boots the utilization is low.
  2. After some time (I haven't measured so I can't say for sure) one of the two ccsvchst processes (spikes up to about 50%) and stays there.
  3. I notice that if I click on the tray icon that the the N360 window shows that the Definitions Update has occurred less than 10 minutes ago and sometimes seconds - this happens when i close the window and reopen it.
  4. When I removed and reloaded M360 the definitions were stated to be 56 days old,  now the they are never more than 10 minutes.

I have looked all over the net, including this forum and have not found a fix.  My attempts to get help from Symantec have failed and I am at a loss at what to do.  The only advise that seems to make sense is to dump this product and go to another vendor.  I have been using Norton products and have liked them for over 20 years so hopefully I can get some help.

 

Thanks.

 

2

Hi,

 

I have N360 V3 running on a 32 bit Vista machine with 3 Gigs of RAM.  The one of the two ccSvcHst process is eating up about 50% of my RAM.  I tried the online help (twice) and the tech screwed up the machine worse than it was before.  After I cleaned up his mess, I used the removal tool and reinstalled I still have the problem.

 

Details on the symptoms are as follows:

  1.  When system first boots the utilization is low.
  2. After some time (I haven't measured so I can't say for sure) one of the two ccsvchst processes (spikes up to about 50%) and stays there.
  3. I notice that if I click on the tray icon that the the N360 window shows that the Definitions Update has occurred less than 10 minutes ago and sometimes seconds - this happens when i close the window and reopen it.
  4. When I removed and reloaded M360 the definitions were stated to be 56 days old,  now the they are never more than 10 minutes.

I have looked all over the net, including this forum and have not found a fix.  My attempts to get help from Symantec have failed and I am at a loss at what to do.  The only advise that seems to make sense is to dump this product and go to another vendor.  I have been using Norton products and have liked them for over 20 years so hopefully I can get some help.

 

Thanks.

 

3

The Windows firewall is disabled and there is no other secutirty software on the system.

4

Can you tell us the following:

 

What OS are you running?

Which ccSvcHst is taking CPU? Look at the col "User Name" in "Task Manager" if it says "System" or "Your logged in user name". You don't need to tell us the actual user name.

 

I would like to get some information and collection of that information depends on your OS.

 

Thanks,

5

A correction:

 

Your subject of the post says "CPU" while in the body you mention it's RAM. Can you clarify?

6

In answer to the previous posts I am running VISTA Ultimate.  The ccsvchst process is the system one.  The reference to RAM was a typo and should be CPU.

 

Thanks.

7

As a test can you uninstall Java and see what the levels are then?

8

I removed Java and, after a reboot,  the problem still is occuring.  In fact now there is a message that Norton is cleaning up temporary internet files but it is not completing.

9

gbbryant -

 

Thank you for removing Java and testing that; I have seen this tied up in some web interfaces and causing CPU and AV spikes.  You can reinstall it anytime you would like.

 

I would like to submit two scenarios for reasons:

 

1)  Malware (or malware like) activity is going on in your system and N360's system process (AutoProtect scanning) is responding to that.  (Not very likely from what you ahve supplied but possible.)

 

2) N360 is performing a background process; like scanning and preparing your files to be backed up.  Along this line, have you set up the Backup Function yet?

 

As to the other points in this thread, pulse updates for N360 are scheduled for every 10 minutes as a default.  This is not user adjustable but I do believe that Symantec can adjust it through the Live Update processes to be closer together in times of high virus / malware activity.  The count up time since the last update only shows whole numbers and units.  For example, 1 hour and 58 minutes would show as 1 hour; 27 hours 15 minutes would only display 1 Day. 

 

 In version 3 of N360 there is also a new setting to adjust Automatic Tasks Delay; this is a delay from the time of booting the system and having N360 loaded until N360 starts running any of the automatic background tasks (setting up files for Backup, etc.).  If you adjust this time and monitor the ccSvcHst CPU% usage, do the two coincide?  If they do and since you have effectively just installed the program, then the usage will subside after the 'initial' background tasks have run.

10

We would like some information about the ccSvcHst process taking CPU. It's good that you'r running Vista because getting that information would be easier. How long does the CPU usage lasts?

 

This is what I would like you to do:

 

1. Open "Task Manager"

2. Wait for ccSvcHst process to start taking CPU as you have previously observed

3. Right click on the process and select "Create dump file" (Make sure CPU usage is as you mentioned and note the location of the dump file)

4. Do step 3 again one more time waiting a few sec.

5. It wont hurt to take one more dump if you can but it's not neccessary.

 

I am hoping that the CPU usage stays around for sometime so that you can do steps 3 - 5. It's very easy. If you need to know about these steps, please let me know.

 

Once you have the dump files, zip them up. I will send you more information as how you can send us the dump file. The zip file will be big ~50-100MB.

 

I appreciate your patience and help in this regard.

 

Thanks,

 

11

I have obtained the dump and zipped it.  It is 49 Mbytes.  Please let me know how to get it to you.

 

 

12

I’m not sure but check the upper right hand corner for a yellow envelope and Messages.  Just click on it and it will open into your Private Message interface.

13

No messages… hopefully he or she will get back to me.

14

Hi, gbbryant

 

I have sent you the instructions to upload the files.

 

Thanks,

15

Can you observe one more thing regarding CPU usage? On the task manager, go to "Performance" tab then go to "View" menu and enable "Show kernel times". Kernel times will be shown in red.

 

Do you see high usage in red when you observe CPU usage from ccSvcHst.exe?

 

Thanks,

 

 

16

Yes, I see high kernel usage.

17

We can try disabling one or two components to see if that reduces the CPU usage in your case. Let me know if you see the msg I sent you. I would like to see if that is the case on your computer.

18

It looks like Norton Insight component may be taking CPU for this reported issue. We will look into more the data provided by the OP. We thank him for working with us on this issue.

 

Once we have an update, we will let you know.

 

Thanks,

 

19

Can you try disabling “Norton Community Watch” setting in “Administrative Settings” to see if that makes a difference? You shoiuld rename the dll I mentioned earlier for this.

20

I did as you requested; renamed the DLL and turned off the community watch…  With the DLL renamed the ccsvchst process did not grab the CPU before I turned off the community watch, and it did not after turning of Community Watch.  It appears that the DLL is the culprit.