Tag Archives: 100% cpu

sbamsvc.exe uses 100% CPU, slows PC

Computer Aid Posted on by

PC (core2 duo) was running slow for about 15 minutes after starting… after which, it would speed up a bit, and the hard drive light would stop flashing like crazy.

But as soon as something was started (eg internet explorer), everything would slow down again for about a minute or so.

Task manager showed that the main culprit was sbamsvc.exe

So, I start investigating and find its a part of Bigpond Internet Security (BIS) called SunBelt.

OK, I’ve never liked BIS, and in this case, I advocated upgrading to Windows 7 – 64-bit, which meant I would be able to remove this annoying excuse for internet security.

very slow PC due to spoolsv.exe using 100% CPU

Computer Aid Posted on by

Customer has a PC that seems almost stopped.

The mouse pointer moves without a problem, but actions like clicking on the start button take over 1 minute to complete…

I try safe mode, and the PC operates normally.

Maybe its an infection… but there are none of the obvious signs (popups and strange startup programs).

I restart in normal mode, and start the task manager as quickly as possible. Hopefully I’ll get a look at whats causing the problem before task manager becomes unusable.

And it works. I see spoolsv.exe sitting at 100% cpu usage.

Hold on. spoolsv is the printer spool service… why would a print spooler go haywire?

Anyway, I kill the process, and everything returns to normal… for about 1 minute.

Then everything starts slowing down again.

A look at task manager shows that spoolsv.exe has been restarted…

Hmmm, I guess I’ll just lower the priority of the spooler… but permission is denied. In that case, I stop the spooler service (control panel -> administrative tools -> services)

Now I can use the system, and look for a solution.

It seems that a few different places on the net agree that the best way to resolve this to delete the files in the c:windowssystem32spoolprinters

I’m a bit more cautious, so I start in safe mode, make sure the spooler service is stopped (and spoolsv.exe is not running). Then I move the 2 files (*.spl & *.shd) to a temporary folder.

I restart the PC, and the problem is finally fixed.

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