Help and Support causes Windows XP to stop responding (839017)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional

SYMPTOMS

When you start Help and Support, your computer may become slow or may stop responding. After several minutes, the computer may respond normally.

CAUSE

This problem may occur if the Helpsvc.exe process exhausts your computer resources. The Helpsvc.exe process may use up to 100% of the CPU resources on your computer for several minutes. To view CPU usage for Helpsvc.exe, start the Task Manager, and then click the Processes tab.

RESOLUTION

Service pack information

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Windows XP. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322389 How to obtain the latest Windows XP service pack

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Windows XP service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel. 
  Date         Time    Version        Size       File name	    Platform
   --------------------------------------------------------------------
   15-Apr-2004  01:59                     2,435  Dataspec.xml  IA-64
   15-Apr-2004  02:07  5.1.2600.1517  2,636,288  Helpsvc.exe   IA-64
   15-Apr-2004  02:00                     2,435  Dataspec.xml  x86
   15-Apr-2004  22:02  5.1.2600.1517    703,488  Helpsvc.exe	  x86

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

824684 Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:6/1/2006
Keywords:kbQFE kbHotfixServer kbWinXPsp2fix kbWinXPpreSP2fix kbfix kbbug KB839017 kbAudITPRO kbAudEndUser
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