Desktop

First you would use an anti-virus program.

Then you would scan your system for malware and trojans.

i did both already using the latest and updated AVG anti-virus free edition by grisoft and ad-aware by lavasoft. both turned-up with nothing... is there any other possible reason or explanation for rundll32.exe to consume 100% of my cpu usage other than a virus or malware/trojan causing it? Thanks again, really appreciate the help and advice. best regards.

First, rundll32.exe is an integral part of Windows. It executes dll files and is routinely used.

Most instances I've seen of rundll32 hogging the CPU have been due to malware, particularly downloader trojans and adware.

However, it could be an ill behaved legitimate program causing the problem. Check and see what applications are running as well.

Also give Spybot a try. It will remove malware that Ad-Aware will not. It's available at download.com.

Dalton

You may have a trojan

Note: The rundll32.exe file is located in the c:\windows\System32 folder. In other cases, rundll32.exe is a virus, spyware, trojan or worm! Check this with Security Task Manager.

Virus with same name:
W32.Miroot.Worm - Symantec Corporation
Backdoor.Lastdoor - Symantec Corporation
Trojan.StartPage - Symantec Corporation

Turn off system restore before cleaning with a Trojan/Virus Cleaner.

Spyware and Trojan removers

Previously not quite as important but becoming more and more necessary is separate software specifically for removing spyware and other Trojans. This function is included in the better commercial suites. Good anti-virus programs should stop most Trojans but won't help with spyware. A firewall will warn you if something on your system tries to call out and alert you to many Trojans and spyware. However, if you download and install a lot of programs or you want another line of defense, you should get a separate program specifically for detecting and cleaning out Trojans and spyware. There are at least two good free programs, AdAware and Spybot Search and Destroy.


http://www.filename.info/f/rundll32.exe.html

The others are correct, you need to remove the trojan or malware. Sometimes you have to find the right package that can do that for you.

Try spysweeper and Hijack This. these might be able to find it and remove it.

I know this is going to sound silly, but I did this and it fixed my machine which was really surprising when this happened to me. I defraged and compressed my harddrive after running Anti-Virus, Ad-Aware, SpySweeper, and a ton of other programs.

I also switched to firefox as my browswer after the problem re-emerged 1 month later. I am on the internet at least 6 hours a night doing research, so I made the switch. Haven't had a problem in the last 3 months.

hey there,

so far so good guys... i did all of your advices and so far the rundll32.exe has not acted up again. hopefully it will stay that way. thank you very much to everyone who responded, I really, really appreciate all of the help.

Goodluck to all and best regards!!!

renz