"Host porocess for Windows Services stopped working and was closed" error message????

Unfortunatly that error message is very "Generic" as the title suggests, the root cause of the problem could be one of many things. Is there something specific you are doing when it happens? Does it happen when you leave the computer alone not doing anything?

I have seen it once before due to a wireless driver misbehaving - every time the user tried to connect to a particular wireless network it failed and they got the Generic Host Process crash, getting an updated driver helped in that instance.

Go to a CMD prompt by typing Windows and R key and in the Run dialog box that opens up typing CMD and then the Enter key.  Then type TASKLIST /SVC and the Enter key.  Copy the process list connected with SVCHOST.EXE to your next comment so we can find what process might be the problem...

There seems to be a bunch of "SVCHOST.EXE" listed when I type TASKLIST/SVC in the Cammand Prompt

Which shold I list here. Or is there a way to copy all of them and paste them here?

Click on the little icon at the top left of the CMD window where you have listed all the tasks connected with svchost.exe -> you will get a menu where you can select Edit -> Select All, then type Ctrl and C to copy it to a clipboard and paste it to a comment with Ctrl and V.

Ok, thank you. I will do that tonight and post the results.

Ok, here are the results:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6000]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

C:\Users\FFR>TASKLIST /SVC

Image Name                     PID Services
========================= ======== ============================================
System Idle Process              0 N/A
System                           4 N/A
smss.exe                       444 N/A
csrss.exe                      584 N/A
wininit.exe                    636 N/A
csrss.exe                      648 N/A
services.exe                   680 N/A
lsass.exe                      692 KeyIso, SamSs
lsm.exe                        704 N/A
winlogon.exe                   832 N/A
svchost.exe                    892 DcomLaunch, PlugPlay
svchost.exe                    948 RpcSs
svchost.exe                   1068 Audiosrv, Dhcp, Eventlog, lmhosts, wscsvc
svchost.exe                   1116 AudioEndpointBuilder, EMDMgmt, hidserv,
                                   Netman, PcaSvc, SysMain,
                                   TabletInputService, TrkWks, UxSms,
                                   WdiSystemHost, Wlansvc, WPDBusEnum, wudfsvc
svchost.exe                   1152 AeLookupSvc, Appinfo, BITS, Browser,
                                   EapHost, gpsvc, IKEEXT, iphlpsvc,
                                   LanmanServer, MMCSS, ProfSvc, RasMan,
                                   Schedule, seclogon, SENS, ShellHWDetection,
                                   Themes, Winmgmt, wuauserv
audiodg.exe                   1264 N/A
SLsvc.exe                     1308 slsvc
svchost.exe                   1352 EventSystem, fdPHost, FDResPub,
                                   LanmanWorkstation, netprofm, nsi, SSDPSRV,
                                   upnphost, W32Time, WebClient
svchost.exe                   1576 CryptSvc, Dnscache, KtmRm, NlaSvc, TapiSrv,
                                   TermService
ccSvcHst.exe                  1684 ccEvtMgr, ccSetMgr, LiveUpdate Notice Ex
AppSvc32.exe                  1804 SymAppCore
dwm.exe                       1916 N/A
WLTRYSVC.EXE                  1924 wltrysvc
BCMWLTRY.EXE                  1952 N/A
explorer.exe                  1964 N/A
aawservice.exe                1972 aawservice
spoolsv.exe                   1252 Spooler
taskeng.exe                   1472 N/A
svchost.exe                   1584 BFE, DPS, MpsSvc
AEstSrv.exe                   2392 AESTFilters
AppleMobileDeviceService.     2404 Apple Mobile Device
AluSchedulerSvc.exe           2436 Automatic LiveUpdate Scheduler
svchost.exe                   2472 BthServ
ccSvcHst.exe                  2484 CLTNetCnService
svchost.exe                   2552 hpqcxs08, hpqddsvc
mozybackup.exe                2568 mozybackup
svchost.exe                   2624 Net Driver HPZ12
svchost.exe                   2660 Pml Driver HPZ12
svchost.exe                   2808 PolicyAgent
mozybackup.exe                2840 N/A
stacsv.exe                    3024 STacSV
svchost.exe                   3068 stisvc
svchost.exe                   3100 WerSvc
SearchIndexer.exe             3156 WSearch
XAudio.exe                    3196 XAudioService
SDWinSec.exe                  3252 SBSDWSCService
svchost.exe                   3868 HPSLPSVC
taskeng.exe                   3880 N/A
SynTPEnh.exe                  2088 N/A
sttray.exe                    2388 N/A
wmdc.exe                      2480 N/A
WLTRAY.EXE                    2648 N/A
ccApp.exe                     2644 N/A
iTunesHelper.exe              2856 N/A
rundll32.exe                  2884 N/A
rundll32.exe                   540 N/A
hpwuSchd2.exe                 3476 N/A
rundll32.exe                  3532 N/A
svchost.exe                   3760 RapiMgr, WcesComm
ipoint.exe                    3776 N/A
ehtray.exe                    3416 N/A
BTTray.exe                     888 N/A
hpqtra08.exe                   368 N/A
mozystat.exe                  3512 N/A
dpupdchk.exe                  2280 N/A
BTStackServer.exe              856 N/A
ehmsas.exe                    3584 N/A
iPodService.exe               4724 iPod Service
wuauclt.exe                   5880 N/A
TrustedInstaller.exe          5892 TrustedInstaller
symlcsvc.exe                  5948 Symantec Core LC
FullTiltPoker.exe             4292 N/A
ptrack2.exe                   5828 N/A
PAHud.exe                     4924 N/A
PAHud.exe                     5476 N/A
taskeng.exe                   3404 N/A
ieuser.exe                    3396 N/A
iexplore.exe                  3772 N/A
LMIBroker.exe                 4872 N/A
FlashUtil9d.exe               5556 N/A
cmd.exe                       3240 N/A
tasklist.exe                  5144 N/A
WmiPrvSE.exe                  5080 N/A

C:\Users\FFR>

Wow, that's an awful lot of SVCHOST entries!  I did a comparison with my pc, and the only ones you have that are missing from mine are in the following list, along with info I found by googling:

- hpqcxs08, hpqddsvc
      HP printer services.  
- Net Driver HPZ12
     http://blogger.ziesemer.com/2007/11/hp-net-driver-hpz12-service-causing.html
- Pml Driver HPZ12
     http://www.pchell.com/support/msconfig_access_denied_error.shtml
- HPSLPSVC
      http://forums12.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?admit=109447627+1203172787220+28353475&threadId=1177917
- RapiMgr, WcesComm
     http://www.processlibrary.com/directory/files/rapimgr
     http://www.processlibrary.com/directory/files/wcescomm
- Appinfo
     couldn't find anything about this
- EapHost
     http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/trans/windowsnet/07_0118_tn_eaphost.mspx
- gpsvc
     http://www.prevx.com/filenames/2861863962740443032-0/GPSVC.EXE.html
- BthServ
     http://www.greatis.com/vista/DLL/b/bthserv.dll.htm


I would suggest you use MSCONFIG to disable startup programs and services to try and narrow down on what is causing the problem.  In Windows 98/ME/XP/Vista, you can choose which programs are run at startup by using the Microsoft Configuration utility:  click on the Start button, choose Run, type in MSCONFIG (doesn't need to be all capitals), click OK.  Choose the Startup tab, deselect programs to run at startup by removing the check mark.  In Windows 9x/ME, you may need to disable just about everything except Explorer, ScanRegistry and SysTray.  In Windows XP, just click on the button for Disable All. Reboot and see if the problem goes away.  If it does then re-enable the startup programs one (or a few) at a time, reboot, and when the problem occurs again, there is your culprit.  If you have a great number of apps to narrow down on in trying to track down the culprit, do it instead by dividing up the loading programs into successively smaller halves:  disable half of them; if the problem doesn't go away, then the offending app is within the other half, so divide that group into half; or if the problem does go away, then the disabled group contains the offender, so again narrow down by dividing in half.  

In Windows XP/Vista: If the problem continues to come up with all startup programs disabled, then it is probably a driver or service.  You can click on the Services tab in MSCONFIG, click on the button for Hide All Microsoft Services, leaving only third-party services displayed, then try turning them off in the same way you did for startup programs.  Finally, if third-party services are eliminated from being the cause of the problem, you could try narrowing down on Microsoft services in the same way.

By the way, here is a  pretty good page about debugging SVCHOST:

http://www.wiredprairie.us/journal/2006/10/how_to_identify_whats_really_r.html
How to identify what's really running as SVCHOST.EXE on XP+

I have disabled many start up items. I also noticed that in my task manager my PC's CPU usage shows a range of from 2% all the way up to 100% CPU usage. I'm not sure what is using so much of my system.

Here's a screenshot of my task manager "processes" tab that shows at 97%:
[IMG]http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff92/ffrllc/CPUUsage.jpg [/IMG]



Would this have anything to do with the problem?

In that last screenshot you linked to, there is a process called PAHud.exe that is eating up a lot of CPU time.  I searched Google and found this:

http://pokeracesoftware.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=29077&sid=b0f1d70ffb39152a8c90336d75d72267
help PAHud.exe has a trojan

So do you have something called PokerAceSoftware on your computer?

And another process eating up CPU is ptrack2.exe.  Found a representative site here:

http://www.pokertracker.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=74882&sid=dbfbb3a3270beba386bbe0d81128552d
Lowering CPU priority for ptrack2.exe
 
So also something called PokerTracker?

If these are on your computer, maybe you need to uninstall them...

I have both of these programs on my PC and use them often. Is there something wrong with them? Would unistalling them and re-installing them lower their CPU usage?

Thanks.

Would uninstalling and reinstalling them correct the problem?  Possibly.  Are you sure they are compatible with Windows Vista?  (Anything on the manufacturer's site about that?)

Yes, they are both Vista compatible.

it looks like one program is using 9% and the other 12%. Are these numbers really that high for a program to be running at?

I'm not really sure about that, but they are the highest numbers on that page.  I DON'T see all the active processes adding up to 97%, as shown at the bottom of the Task Manager window.  Maybe you should scan your computer for viruses, trojans, rootkits, etc.

This could be a problem with viruses/trojans/spyware or other malware. Some free online virus scanners:

http://housecall.antivirus.com 

http://www.pcpitstop.com/antivirus/default.asp 

http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm 

Also try these free programs to rid your system of spyware, trojans, and other malware:

http://download.com.com/3000-2144-10194058.html?tag=lst-0-1
Spybot - Search & Destroy

http://download.com.com/3000-2094-10045910.html?legacy=cnet
LavaSoft Ad-aware  

I use BOTH of the above programs on my 3 Windows systems; what one program misses, the other catches.  Also make sure to download the most up-to-date data before you run the programs.

Another very good freeware program for ridding yourself of spyware is this:

http://www.superantispyware.com/
SuperAntiSpyware

I ran several searches using different programs (mentioned and others) and nothing has found anything on my system.

Next step?


THANKS.

I'm still somewhat concerned about that difference of 97% and the total CPU used by processes in your linked image from Task Manager.  I wonder if you could have a rootkit?  You could download and try this free program formerly made by SysInternals and now available from Microsoft:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897445.aspx
RootkitRevealer

I can't run that program. I get an error message. Here's an image of the error mesage:
[IMG]http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff92/ffrllc/Root.jpg [/IMG]

What happens if you click on the link for "Show me the message"?

By the way, there is no need to surround your image with [IMG] and [/IMG]  That is what is messing up its being displayed in my browser (I had to use my Page Editor Admin Edit ability to put a space before the [/IMG] in order to not have an error.)  You can just use the Attach file box below the comment, if you want.

In Windows Vista, you may need to run the RootkitRevealer program in Administrator mode (right click it and select Run as Administrator.)

I did run it as administrator, but it still gave me the error message.

When I click show this message it says it can't display.