REGSVR32.EXE:- Heavy CPU usage - What is it for?

Philocalist

I'm running Vista Home Premium on a dual-core PC with 4GB RAM. Very often (by checking in Task Manager when the PC seems sluggish) I see that regsvr32.exe is using around 50% CPU, and continues to do so until I end the process (so far, without any apparent ill-effects to other software that may be running) ... at which point PC responsiveness returns to where I expect it to be.
Can someone please explain to me what this process does / is for, and is this sort of heavy CPU usage normal / to be expected.
Any thoughts / solutions greatly appreciated! Very Happy

goretsky · Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 11:23 pm Post subject:

Hello,

The REVSVR32.EXE program is used to register (or unregister or re-register) .DLL files with the operating system. Normally, it does not continue run in the background after it has finished its task.

You my want to post a Hijack This log to the HjackThis Logs section of the forum for analysis by one of the experts there, in case this is due to a malicious program.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 1342 Location: Central FL, USA

It may continue to run if it's not the original program , but a Trojan posing as that program.

Do a search for that program name and if you find multiple copies of it, rename them to something like REVSVR32.BAD.

Do them one at a time till you find the one causing you the problems, then delete the bad one.

Good Luck,
The Doctor Cool

Philocalist · Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 10:44 pm Post subject:

Just for the record (and in case anyone come searching Smile

), I think I've identified the problem, though must confess that I have no real 'technical' understanding why it happens - - - no doubt someone wiser than I might be able to chip in? Very Happy

It seems that the culprit (in my case) is a program called ExtractNow (an otherwise nifty little freebie that is immensely helpful if you regularly need to unzip / unrar numerous compressed files, and would welcome automation with a fair degree of control, rather than processing each individual file seperately)

To summarize: the problem occurred again today, i.e. 2 instances of regsvr32.exe going at the same time (and both apparently originating from the same executable, within Windows / System32 - - - EACH hogging CPU usage (according to Task Manager) of around 45%.
From within Task Manager, I was able to identify the respective PID's. Opening up Process Explorer, I could then ascertain that each one was initiated by ExtractNow (by highlighting each process and examining the properties).
In both cases, the Command Line showed that the process had been initiated by ExtractNow (which was now showing as a non - existant process)
So, if not solved, I at least seem to have identified the culprit, which means I can watch for problems, and resolve as necessary.
Thanks to those who tried to help, as always! Laughing

zlim · Joined: Mar 11, 2005 Posts: 2535

Drop the nifty freebie that is hogging up your CPU and grab either Tugzip http://www.tugzip.com/ or 7-zip http://www.7-zip.org/
Tugzip can do multiple extractions at once; I'm not sure about 7zip.

Philocalist · Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 11:55 am Post subject:

Hi zlim, I take your point, but neither 7-zip nor tugzip offers what ExtractNow does.
Bog-standard Winrar will unpack multiple files consecutively, automatically (which I have installed, and is utilised by ExtractNow.
Extract now will scan a folder and subfolders for compressed files, then open them all consecutively and automatically to folders I can designate, after which it will perform an action on the compressed file subject to my choice .. move to Recycle Bin, permanent delete, leave etc.
I agree, finding an alternative and ditching ExtractNow would seem the obvious choice ... I just need to locate the alternative! Very Happy

goretsky · Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2008 5:23 pm Post subject:

Hello,

Perhaps it is a bug in the ExtractNow program? Have you contacted the author to check and see if an update is available which fixes this?

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Philocalist · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 1:47 pm Post subject:

Hey Goretsky ... you must have been reading my mind! I was at the site a few days ago: bad news is that support is non-existant, apart for an online FAQ which does little more than scratch the surface (not unreasonable, I guess, for free software? Smile

)
Good news is that there IS a new version coming soon, though no date is given yet ........
Since I last posted, I've been watching the process closely. Both instances of regsvr32 are initiated at program startup. If left as is, the program works 100% (quick, too!), though understandably other stuff grinds almost to a halt, as the two regsvr32 processes between them hog close to 95% CPU! In defence of the program, I've had not a single crash or hang, even when dealing with several hundred compressed files to un-rar / unzip in sequence ... it works flawlessly apart from this 'hiccup' ... and has so far not caused anything else to crash either.
However, if I terminate both processes after program startup, but before using the program, all works as expected, but without the peripheral slowdown of everything else.
So .. a program hitch? Probably ... but perhaps this was developed before Vista raised its ugly head, and the new version will address the problem?
Will keep you posted! Smile