svchost.exe Service Host: Network Service using all my net connection!

Question

I have posted this before for windows 10 to no avail and now with my windows 11 PC it is just the same. This thing runs for hours at a time making anything like YouTube unusable for for the duration, it adds latency to any online game and generally means you have to just sit and wait for it to finish. No process should take over your machine like this without any way to constrain it. I have tried all the suggestions in previous comments, limiting download speed, metered connection etc, nothing stops it. You end task it just pops up again.

It is without doubt the worst part of windows and ruins my experience on a daily / weekly basis or of course whenever it feels like popping up. I cannot see what it could possibly be downloading for so long. Please someone tell me what this thing is doing and why I can't stop it. I have had people say before it is an essential part of windows, so would that mean windows stops functioning if my PC were purely offline?

I have turned off delivery optimisation, so it can't be a peer to peer windows update.

I see people have been having trouble with this for years, surely there must be an answer please!!

Thanks,

Melkior

Answer 1

Hi Melkior UK,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

svchost.exe, which stands for "Service Host," is a crucial system process in the Microsoft Windows operating system.

It plays a significant role in managing and hosting multiple Windows services. These services are fundamental components of the operating system that perform various tasks and functions, such as network communication, hardware management, system maintenance, and more. svchost.exe is designed to act as a container for these services, rather than running them directly.  While it may appear as though multiple instances of svchost.exe are running, each one is responsible for different sets of services.

Safe mode would be a good choice for analyzing the problem. 

Safe mode starts the device with only limited drivers and services.

Start your PC in safe mode in Windows - Microsoft Support

We look forward to hearing from you about your observations regarding svchost.exe in Safe Mode. Thanks for your patience and understanding!

Best Regards,

Kyo - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 2

Many thanks for taking the time to reply Kyo.

When I expand the task it does appear to be Delivery Optimisation that is running even though I have turned it off in settings:

It appears to be what is running as this item below (before i made changes) continually shows as running and when I force stop, you can see the process and network utilisation going away:

However after are around 1 min it would just start up again.

You can't amend Delivery Optimisation to 'disabled' in windows as you don't have access, but I found this tutorial on how to regedit DoSvc to prevent it running. This seems to have worked and finally disabled Delivery Optimisation:

Delivery Optimization Won’t Turn Off In Windows 10 - YouTube

I appreciate this probably isn't advised, but suddenly I have my PC back and until there is a better solution, this has worked for me.

I will post again if it causes any future issues, but all looking good thus far and I hope it helps others. Credit to video creator (Kapil Arya Microsoft MVP) for the solution.

Thanks,

Melkior.

Answer 3

Hi Melkior UK,

Thank you for getting back to us.

Thanks for sharing the detailed ideas of MVP here.  In addition to directly checking the service status, you can also consider using Process Explorer to analyze the svchost.exe process. For specific tips on using Process Explorer, you can also consult experts in Microsoft Learn.

Process Explorer - Sysinternals | Microsoft Learn

Here is a link to the forum where you can raise specific scenarios and share your idea to help solve the problem.

Sysinternals - Microsoft Q&A

Have a nice day!

Best Regards,

Kyo - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist