Many processes run under the name “SVCHOST.EXE” and when it has problems, it’s difficult to track down the cause.  Examples of problems include system hangs or 100% CPU utilization that is attributed to the service.  The performance team of Microsoft put together an easy way to conquer these problems, that is if you’re windows savvy.  This applies to w2k, XP and Vista

The highlights:

1) tasklist /SVC /FI “IMAGENAME eq svchost.exe”  compare the process ID with the process ID in task manager having the problem.

2) sc config <service name> type= own

3) bounce the service

http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/archive/2008/01/11/getting-started-with-svchost-exe-troubleshooting.aspx