Why HelpSvc.exe Is Causing Windows XP to Stop Responding - Using High CPU and Memory?

Many users have reported problems with HelpSvc.exe on the Internet. For example:

• HelpSvc.exe has gone insane!! - For the past two weeks I've come back to my computer only to notice that HelpSvc.exe is taking up 100% of one CPU and System is taking up about 60% of another...
• I have had to kill the HelpSvc.exe process every time I return to my laptop after an idle period...
• The same happens to one of my Win2003 machines; I've seen it using upwards of 1GB of RAM (!) at times...

Microsoft acknowledged that there is a problem with HelpSvc.exe and has issued a hot fix KB839017 with the following description of the problem: When you start Help and Support, your computer may become slow or may stop responding. After several minutes, the computer may respond normally.

But Microsoft's description of the problem is wrong. The problem has little to do with starting "Help and Support":

• If you start Help and Support from the Start menu, HelpSvc.exe runs perfectly fine. You can try this yourself.
• The real problem is that some other conditions trigger the system to automatically launch HelpSvc.exe and causing HelpSvc.exe goes out of control, taking 100% CPU and consuming large amount of memory, like 1,000,000K or more.

One user reported that this issue can occur if one or more of the PCHealth components in your computer are damaged and suggested to rebuild all PCHealth components.

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