I noticed tonight there was a bit more activity on my firewall than there should have been. A quick netstat -o threw me up a mystery IP, which got me a bit suspicious. Checking the firewall shows a kservice.exe running, made by someone called ‘Kontiki’. Added to that, it wasn’t picked up by anti-virus or spyware detection. So let me think back – what did I recently grant permission to use my PC as a server?!?
A bit more investigation and it becomes obvious its part of the ‘package’ that came with Channel 4 (UK)’s new 4OD service that allows you to download their shows online. kservice.exe, from Kontiki, installs itself as a windows service and works as a p2p client in the background, downloading the programs from a distribution of other 4OD users. However, when you quit 4OD, kservice.exe continues to run!
As well as this, it doesnt appear to offer:
- Any sort of option to limit or control the amount of bandwith its using
- Any automatic way of uninstalling
- Any way of changing the port from 8080
I have to admit at this point I was starting to wonder if something had gone wrong with the install. Surely a reputable company wouldnt knowingly install malware on their viewers PCs?? But after a quick Google search I realised I wasn’t the only one (here and here) – it seems Sky By Broadbands customers are having the same problems.
Channel 4 do have a disclaimer on their site:
4oD uses peer to peer (“P2P”) technology. This allows content to be transferred directly from the computers of users of the Service (rather than through a website or directory). If you download Content to your computer, during the Licence Period, we may upload this from your computer (using part of your upstream bandwidth) for the purpose of transferring Content to other users of the Service. Please contact your Internet Service Provider (“ISP”) if you have any queries on this.
But I dont see anything here about it continuing to run after the application has been shut down.
The annoying thing is that Ive actually have a fair bit of use out of 4OD so far. Watching Peep Show and Derren Brown on a weekend when I’ve got some spare time is definitely a bonus, but the fact that I discovered all this out by accident leads me to agree with Geoff – its a little worrying that thousands of people are now running a P2P server on their PC without even knowing it. And how many of these people use ISPs that limit their monthly bandwith?
My solution? My firewall is now blocking internet access to kservice.exe. A little ropey I know, but it’ll allow me to reactivate it again in a few days when theres something on I want to watch! Its not that I have a problem with the whole P2P sharing culture, I just like to be given a choice.
— Update —
It seems to have done the trick. Zonealarm is keeping 4OD off the internet, and when I re-allow internet access, it works fine.
If you’re using Zonealarm and you’re having the same problem, try this:
- Double click the ZoneAlarm logo in the taskbar at the bottom-right of the screen
- In the window that opens, click “Program Control” (left hand side)
- Ensure the “Programs” tab is highlighted (between main and components)
- Scroll down till you see kservice.exe
- To stop the bandwith thievery, scroll right and click whatever’s showing in the “Access – Trusted” column and set it to “Block”. This should put a red cross next to all 4
- To reactivate, click in the “Server – Internet” column and set to “Allow”. This should put change the red crosses to green ticks
Good luck 😉
— Update 2 – 19/2/2008 —
Murad has come up with an application to stop kservice running completely, which could prove to be useful if you want to keep using iPlayer/4OD. Click here for more details.
I totally agree with you. I found today that my pc had uploaded aprox 800Meg of data whilst I was at work. On close examination of my logs from Bandwidth monitor I found it was indeed Kservices that had done it. This really hurts when my isp runs traffic chaping when you exceed a certain threshhold downloaded.
I have done the same and blocked kservice untill I need to grab anything from 4OD.
They should make it clearer on thier site that it is bandwidth intensive even if sat ideal. But hey good to see I have shred 800 Meg of the one program I downloaded. God speed you well Derren Brown 🙂
A SIMPLE SOLUTION FOR WINDOWS XP
My computer was slowing down lots. When I re-booted to thinking it might go away my Spy-bot icon in the bottom left hand corner would not show up. All the programs that load on start up are in the bottom left hand corner. Allso all the programs that I tried to run where sooooo slow. When I tried to open internet explorer, this was tooo slow. I thought it was a virus but when i ran spy-bot and AVG they didnt pick up anything. I uninstalled and turned programs off. I decided to do CTRL+ALT+DELETE and check what ‘processes’ where running. Surely there it was kservice taking up 99% of the processing power of my microprocessor. I knew I had to turn the shit off. I checked start up and couldnt see it. I then remembered to an old Microsoft command call “msconfig”. I typed it in to the run box (see the windows start menue) and then located kservice in the services tab and unchecked the fucker. I also unchecked some suspicious services. Here is a list of all the service I unchecked:
*Adobe LM Service
*Kservice
*##Id_String1.6844F930_16…etc..etc…79762##
After doing this my PC was back up at full speed. HURRAY!!!
1st if your on a capped limit you dont have to worry, nearly every broadband package available today only capps download, not upload, so even if you are uploading 800Meg through the day its pretty likely your not going to lose any of your remaining download limit.
2nd even if you arent losing your bandwidth limits the fact remains that you’ve got an unwanted program using your line without consent even after you have closed 4OD.
Hi Wudds
I don’t know the figures on capped upload limits, but you may well be right. However, many ISPs do have a fair usage policy (for example, here and here) – in the case of Pete B (see above comment), 800mb in a day could potentially equate to 24gb a month! Thats likely to get any ISP asking questions…
Also, most ISPs provide a much lower upload rate than download. Hit this limit and you’ll almost definitely notice the speed difference while surfing the web, etc.
But yeah, I totally agree with the second point. Whether or not your broadband package allows it is incidental – the fact is its there and operating without your consent!
Could you imagine the number of lawsuits that would have kicked off if Microsoft had tried something like this???
Erm, Microsoft is involved with this. UK broadcasters use MS DRM systems with Kontiki (the p2p aplication in question). In fact, Kontiki was selected because of it’s suitablity with MS DRM services.
This is just the start of the rabbit warren, Verisign own Kontiki. Verisign’s core business (in the US of A) is data transfer, but they didn’t have a significant grasp on UK network until now.
All that data transfer is being paid by someone. The end user will pay eventually. If you use Kontiki then you are working for the service and paying for it via ISP charges plus the cost of the ‘rented’ video file which, I imagine, includes the servce overheads from Verisign.
As Versign say “We never stop working for you.” That’s why they love always on p2p.
They ran an advert in the US called “Can you hear me now?”. Here’s a sweet parody: –
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6mmm2KpHX-I
It’s worth pointing out that the BBC’s iPlayer is another Kontiki-powered app. And it’s rubbish. Trying to do anything with the computer while it’s running is impossible because every minute or so, for a few seconds, it maxes out the CPU at 100%, causing all other apps to freeze. The BBC’s web interface for it all is dreadful – I’ve had it crash three times in the space of five minutes, just because I wanted to cancel a download which was incorrectly labelled by the BBC’s encoding muppets. And it crashes with an IE error dialog that you can’t escape from – you have to Ctrl-Alt-Delete and locate the thread that started it (helpfully not called anything like BBC iPlayer or Internet Explorer, but KClient.exe – obviously the first thing a n00b would look for).
On the plus side, the DRM is as effective as any other MS DRM =)
If they’d only allow you to have some control over it. I have an acceptable use policy with a period between 12am and 4pm which isn’t metered – where I’m happy to assist fellow watchers in sharing p2p-programmes. I’m sure most people could handle being committed to koniti if that meant they could choose when it was a good time. As it is I’m only downloading the programmes in the off peak period.
We don’t have the technology for this yet. Meet us half way people!
zeroinfluencer: I think you’re getting confused between Verisign (owners of Kontiki) and Verizon (dodgy advert, big telecoms/data company).
I agree that there should be some way to stop kservice.exe uplading all the time – you could always delete your downloaded programs after watching them, though (or move them to a different folder, if it will let you, and watch using WMP?) then it would have nothing to upload.
Also I hate the way that you can’t stop 4OD running on startup – when it is disabled in ‘msconfig’ it just apears again next time you run it.
BBC iPlayer is slightly better as it has an option not to run on startup.
And with both 4OD and iPlayer installed you still only get one instance of KHost.exe and Kservice.exe running – at least that saves memory
Wow, this is crazy. The BBC and Channel 4 both use Kontiki. I’ve installed both and was wondering why my Internet connection was unusable while they were running.
It’s mindboggling to think that these companies authorise the use of software that effectively turns your computer into a always-on server. Astonishing. And they don’t tell you.
What’s more astonishing is that these are techniques stolen from old-school Napster and file-sharing programs of the 20th century 🙂 This is akin to the police announcing a new way of acquiring squad cars by hot-wiring BMWs they find on the street…
Here’s an important hint.
During the daytime today I downloaded a 30 minute program in minutes. This evening it’s taking me over three hours to download a 60 minute programme.
In other words, the key to using this software, and not having your connection hammered while you download, is to download during the daytime. Don’t do it during the evening when mom and pop are online, and trying to grab the latest episode of Songs of Praise.
And delete any old programmes after you’ve ripped the DRM from them (I do this so I can watch them on my Mac and Linux boxes). Then they can’t be shared peer2peer. And definitely quit the Khost and kservices programmes when you’ve finished downloading.
I suspect it’ll be necessary to delete the actual files from the video store for each Kontiki programme.
I’ve been so naive. I’ve pretty much been using 4OD and iPlayer instead of tv of recent, being very impressed with the download and streaming speeds (as I tend to download during the day). Their route to this is very underhanded – the players were hardly billboarded as P2Ps. This would be perfectly acceptable were there a degree of control over uploading. Even accepting the view that this may lead to interminably slow speeds, a bit of restraint on their behalf would be nice – with 7 or so programmes in the bbc library, Kservice was consistently using over 90% of my CPU at peak times. For no longer – I’ll stream or download and watch off peak and delete, and then turn off Kservice.
Kontiki is a greedy little control freak, but as others have noted, it can be reigned in with a modicum of effort.
The humungous peak CPU usage figures being quoted for the iPlayer implementation are probably connected to the fact that at the moment there are only a few thousand users online concurrently; it’s still only in beta to a group of volunteer testers.
With the programs downloaded from 4OD, how do you find them, move them, and rip the DRM from them, so you can play them independently of the 4OD software?
I just open Task Manager and stop kservice.exe in Processes when my PC boots up. It doesn’t start up again unless I open 4OD.
Very annoying, I’ve been using 4OD for a while now, love it, and don’t care about the P2P bandwidth usage when the program is loaded (I’ve got unlimited Internet usage), but I’ve recently installed BBC Iplayer too, and now I need to quit Kservice or it starts hogging 100% of my CPU, so I can’t use my PC!
Extremely annoying, as I’d love to use 4OD and Iplayer, shame the P2P software they’re based of is crap – it won’t even let me downgrade the thread priority to make it more bearable! Hope this gets sorted soon!
For people who don’t get on with Zonealarm…
there is an easier way.
since it’s a service (kservice)
just goto
Start -> Run and type sc stop kservice
to stop it
and sc start kservice
to start it.
You could even create a shortcut or similar to do that if you really must.
@ Irregular shed
Cheers for the info. I installed the iPlayer a couple of weeks ago but still havent seen anything on there worth compromising my broadband connection for! I did notice that good old kservice was there running away in the background again – just as intrusive as ever. I stopped the activity by using the same process with Zonealarm as I listed in the original article, and there it will stay till I get the time to sit down and work out whats going on in the background, and if its any different to the 4OD version…
@ Matt
I completely agree! Having the choice, in my opinion, is the different between File Sharing and having your PC used as a download server. Without the choice, they may as well make it mandatory in the T&C’s.
@ Marc
Unforunately, you’re not the only one by a long way. At least you’ve realised early and done something about it though!
@ Ben & Kelly
Thanks for the info! Granted its a lot easier way of going about it, but my original intention was to offer a way of stopping until you explicitly tell it to run again! I don’t think I’m organised enough to remember to stop the service every time I boot up my PC. 😉
How2StopKontiki …
OK folks, it’s a 3 way but watch closely …
1> Run REGEDIT.EXE
goto HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
goto File / Export – save as “c:\Kontiki (user).reg”
now delete the line containing Kontiki
2> Run REGEDIT.EXE
goto HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
goto File / Export – save as “c:\Kontiki (computer).reg”
now delete the line containing Kontiki
3> Run SERVICES.MSC
scroll to line “KSERVICE”
right-click, properties
change Startup Type to MANUAL
Done! Now that damned Kontiki won’t hammer your internet upload/download !!!!
To get 4od/etc working when now, just do this :
1> run “C:\Program Files\Kontiki\KHOST.EXE”
2> run SERVICES.MSC
scroll to line “KSERVICE”
click START
When you’ve downloaded your clip/show/etc
1> Task Manager > KHOST.EXE > End Task
2> run SERVICES.MSC
scroll to line “KSERVICE”
click STOP
If you want to restore your settings ….
Start / Run
type in “c:\Kontiki (user).reg”
press Yes
type in “c:\Kontiki (computer).reg”
press Yes
Run SERVICES.MSC
scroll to line “KSERVICE”
right-click, properties
change Startup Type to AUTOMATIC
I’ve just found a kontiki folder in /allusers/aplicationdata agter uninstalling 4od with a proprietry uninstaller.
Please complain to channel 4 and ofcom about the lack of disclosure as to what this is going to do and the fact that the 3rd party components they install remain after uninstalling
“BBC iPlayer is slightly better as it has an option not to run on startup.”
Dont count on it I set that option imediately, but my pc still either errors or asks for internet access at every reboot for delivery manager service Kservice.exe.
My ISP (Newnet) has recently written to their customers asking whether they want a reduction in the usage cap or they want to pay more per month to cover bandwidth costs as apparently running their broadband business is becoming unprofitable due to the heavy usage of bandwidth (they have extremely good connections to the likes of Level 3, LINX, Xchangepoint and OpenTransit) so it seems that I’ll have to pay more to subsidise people running this software and things like it.
I got shot as soon as I discovered what it did and how you couldn’t download anything without allowing it to upload as well.
I’ve a good mind to send Ioko a bill.
I have noticed some unfortunately, and miss leading, though good intentioned comments on your blog.
Firstly, zeroinfluencer Jul 28th, 2007 at 9:30 pm, Verisign is nothing to do with Verizon, who are the big US based telco /mobile operator (http://www.verizon.com/).
If anyone is interested, it work looking at the white papers on the technology at Verisign (http://www.verisign.com/products-services/content-messaging/broadband-delivery/index.html).
By the way, your Kontiki Service is exactly the same PC client, so there isn’t multiple copies even though you might be signed up for say 4OD and BBC iPlayer.
I am surprised to hear that posts are experiencing a feeling of their PC’s being taken over by the likes of this secure private P2P technology.
I would agree that our TV companies should make it far more clear that a P2P service is being used to upload files. And, the points about bandwidth limits, really do apply to your download usage typically.
The key point to this technology from the service providers point of view; how can we satify the massive demand for online content? The use of content delivery networks and private P2P networks is the way to solve the problems of massive demand over the scalability of the current networks available.
@ Phil Carpenter
Thanks for your comments.
I don’t think theres any argument that BBC/Channel 4 have opted to use the most cost effective means of distribution, but thats no excuse for misleading users nor does it make it the most ethical choice. To this day, the 4od disclaimer makes no attempt to warn users that their PC will be set up to constantly upload video content to other users whether they’re using 4OD or not, nor do they give any sort of indication of the amount of bandwith/processing power that said sharing will use. As stated in a follow up article, they’re essentially using your PC as a download server without your explicit permission.
And your comment about the points about bandwith limits “typically” applying to download usage – you tell that to the person whos connection is capped because 4OD has been running for 24 hours straight and chomped through 1gb of data transfer.
Simply put, if a company of the size of Channel 4/BBC want to distribute content in this way, they should explicitly tell you how they’re doing it. Assumptions and claims about how cost ineffective other means are simply aren’t enough.
Let me ask you this – if Ford gave you a new set of alloy wheels for your car for free, would you be happy if you found out they were borrowing your car during the day without asking you? Would you then accept the excuse “Well, we can’t afford to just give them away…”
Simple fact. Intrusive software + operating without explicit permission = malware.
Thanks folks for all the advice on how to defeat Kontiki – but isn’t there a question of fairness here? If we only ‘switch on’ the P2P when we want to download a programme and watch it, we’re relying on there being other people out there who AREN’T doing what we do – ie blocking uploads. After we’ve got what we want, we slam the door shut. The logical result of blocking uploads will be the failure of the system. It only keeps working if enough people allow uploading. We’re taking, but not giving – and that’s not sharing. So – is it weird to talk of the ethics of internet use? – perhaps the right thing to do is to uninstall 4oD, iPlayer etc completely. In other words, is P2P ethical or not?
I agree that it could be considered unethical to turn off the upload function, but its simply a response to an unethical move by the software providers.
I use Bit Torrent and always try my best to keep my share ratio above 1, but thats my choice. I don’t believe they have the right to make that choice for me.
I have no problem with my pc being used to distribute free programs. On the other hand, if I have paid for a program, then others are getting copies of it from my PC using my bandwidth, why am I not getting paid for the honour.
Also, any program which hogs 100% of the CPU time is, by definition, malware and needs to be scrapped. I would put up with the bandwidth rip-off if if only I could actually use my computer as advertised. I will NOT be forced into going into the registry or similar just to win my computer back. It has to go!
Johnnymachine,
Unfortunately, uninstalling 4oD and BBCiPlayer does not get rid of KService.exe. Take this from one who has tried!
“bandwidth”,
not
“bandwith”
@Joe Schmo
Thanks, its one of those words I always tend to mispell when I’m typing too fast. If I cared enough I’d have gone through and changed them all… but I don’t 😉
This Kservice is a plague, which will eventually infect the majority of computers and render them disabled and clogged up.
Users need to be made aware of it’s presence by the installation procedure and user settings/ options allowed.
That way we could allow a reasonable amount of CPU and bandwidth usage by this application without it “taking over” our PC’s as is currently the case.
SORT IT OUT VERISIGN
That would explain why recently my CPU has been hitting 75-100% during the night.
Lets just put it this way, trying to play CoD 4 with a ping of 110 and 100% CPU usage is not fun.
Would also explain why a full system re-set fixes the problem.
Phil Carpenter and Johnnymachine
It is unethical to install a program on a user’s machine which continues to run even when if the service has never been used and even after the service has been uninstalled. Furthermore, the Kontiki programs hide themselves from the start menu ‘all pgrams’ list and the ‘add/remove programs’ list so they are difficult to manage and uninstall. This is more than unethical – it’s dishonest.
[quote]
I would agree that our TV companies should make it far more clear that a P2P service is being used to upload files. And, the points about bandwidth limits, really do apply to your download usage typically.
[/quote]
Though given the amount of bandwidth it’s important to note that whether uploading or downloading contol packets are being sent in the opposite direction, eg a percentage of the ammount uploaded will appear on the download statistics.
When I’m not using 4oD all I do is go to the command prompt Start -> Run and type “cmd”.
Then type
“sc stop kservice”
To start it again type
“sc start kservice”
You can save these commands as seperate .bat files and have the “stop” command run at startup and then just start it when you need to.
hi i noticed Kontiki after i downloaded the channel 4 online link but when i am done i exit it and then open Start > Run > msconfig > startup > then UNCHECK Kontiki so it doesn’t come on automatically on startup. This should solve it helping itself while leaving the software available for your use, after which exit and if necessary uncheck in startup agaim.
I agree that it is out of order that we have no control how it works and for the most part editing registry keys is beyond, shall we say – the songs of praise downloaders. I only just put it on yesterday and was watching my little tv screens turn constant blue today – which was slightly worrying cos i only just got rid of a virus and thought oh no, that shouldn’t be happening. As for fairness, when i am downloading people can download off of me – is that not fair? But when i am not using their service they are still using mine!!!
Also, if my logic is right here, i just downloaded spaced and the DRM only lasts 2 days, so for that two days i will be blasted by anyone who wants it because there are less occurences of it out there – something that doesn’t happen with other peer to peers – there are fewer sources due to the DRM.
Screw it, i think i’ll go back to the old video recorder or pick up the old shows in a bargain bin at hmv.
I found this to unistall it: http://www.pcdoctor-guide.com/wordpress/wp-print.php?p=2452
I havent tried yet but its a start.
Simplest solution
as both Ketan and Ben said above, the easiest way to deal with it if you still want to be able to use 4OD and BBc iPlayer is to use services.msc
1. to stop KService running at start up:
go to start>run and type in “services.msc” (without the quotes), scroll down to the KService entry, right click on it and select properties, change “Startup type” to Manual
2. create a shortcut to stop KService when you’ve closed 4OD/iPlayer:
on the desktop (or anywhere else you fancy really) right click and select New>Shortcut, in the Location box type in “sc stop kservice” (without the quotes) and click next, name it something sensible (like “stopkservice”) and whenever you’re done with iPlayer or 4OD just click the shortcut to stop KService hogging CPU and bandwidth.
The BBC version is more sneaky than you know.
1) Kservice installs as an AUTOMATIC starting service. Whether or not you allow iplayer to start with windows kservice will start
2) The ‘don’t allow sharing when iplayer is off’ option doesn’t work. Kservice just keeps right on running. (Just check in taskmanager)
3) Independent of whether your uploads are capped they are certainly bandwidth limited. There is a well known mechanism whereby a fully loaded UP bandwidth can seriously affect the available DOWN bandwidth. (your computer has to acknowledge receipt of data packets, if the sender doesn’t get timely acknowledgements, because the up bandwidth is saturated, it resends)
4) The BBC’s attempt to restrict iplayer’s use to UK IPs is not very effective. You need a UK proxy to initiate connections, but the actual download by Kontiki is direct to your foreign IP, so the inevitable speed hit of using a proxy does not affect the actual download. (I’m in Ireland with a family member running a proxy in the UK)
This software is poorly thought out and poorly implemented. The only folks who will make money are Verisign/Kontiki. Everyone else will end up paying. Ofcom should be ashamed of themselves for permitting this.
@PeterB
Thanks for sharing. Some interesting points I hadn’t picked up on.
And thanks for pointing out about the upload rate affecting the download rate, thats something I’d forgotten about entirely. Thats an issue I come across a lot using Bit Torrent (although Azureus provides a mechanism for limiting uprate, which is something Kontiki’s tech team obviously decided wasn’t necessary…)
these channels are a bit stinchy, my solution to remove kontiki= open all of your processes in task manager, stop kservices and then you will be able to remove the whole of the kontici folder found in your programme files.
Interesting this…
I have installed 4oD and BBC iPlayer on a 2GB Qosmio toshiba laptop running as a media server serving an xbox 360 as a media extender. I have had the extender playing a programme (wifi from the toshiba) whilst downloading from 4oD…
My veiw is that running the Kservice is the price you pay to be able to download contentent quickly (from others using P2P rather than from dedicated servers).
Instead of stopping and starting Kservice I just make it “idle� by moving downloaded programmes to another directory and wathching them using Media Player.
It looks like Kservice uploads files from specific folders and if they are empty it does nothing.
ANYONE TECHNICAL – IS THIS TRUE…
The reason I got pissed wioth 4oD is that during a recent “upgrade� they seamed to have embedded somethjing in their programmes that forces the use of the 4oD player!!! Meaning you csan’t watch using Media Player…
I am currently complainiong against this change as i want to use the DRM content from my media server to other devices on my network (like the 360)
Very interesting…. I’d rather not have the opportunity to download programmes if what I’m experiencing is the consequence.
I never realised by downloading 4oD would cause so many problems. My advice would be stear well clear of 4oD….
yer its pretty out of order really. I started experiencing problems today and even when I closed down 4OD, and then ksevervices.exe it would pop back and freeze up my comp. Ive just decided to get rid of it and use bit torrent.
Hello There,
Your blog definitely deserves the “Most Useful Blog” Award!
Just been wondering if any of you have experienced the strange occurrence of having MYSTERY FOLDERS appear “out of nowhere” on your system. I found a folder called “VPRO2007” in my Downloads folder filled with 1.15GB (!!) worth of mp3 files mainly by artists I’ve never even heard of, and strangest (and most worryingly) it happened at a time in the day when I normally use 4OD.
Before you suspect the obvious, nope I don’t drink or do drugs nor do I usually have memory lapses (unless I can’t remember that I do have them… #;) and my boyfriend only just learned how to open email attachments and do ebay listings, so he’s definitely beyond suspicion.
The Mind Boggles…
Has this happened to any of you?
Kind regards,
Miranda
just goto run>msconfig>services and then untick Kservice
@Andrew
Thanks for the input. I think thats been suggested a few times in this commend feed alone, but the problem is that I don’t want to have to remember to stop a service every time I watch a program. Theres more info here about how to get round that.
@Miranda
I’m not sure, but its perfectly feasible that it could be from 4OD. Although a quick Google search suggests its actually the name of a music album, relating to the vpro 2007 awards. Do you use bit torrent by any chance???
I came across this blog when i was googling to find out what the hell kservice.exe was, and why it was killing my computer.
Thanks for the steps on zone alarm, i have now blocked it !
Quote
I came across this blog when i was googling to find out what the hell kservice.exe was, and why it was killing my computer. Thanks for the steps on zone alarm, i have now blocked it !
OMG!!!!
I’ve heard of peeps being convicted of wireless internet theft. Hell i have 6 wireless networks in range, could steal easily, whether i do or not i realize its a crime!!
But KService.exe is legal theft.
I’m gutted to think that everytime i limit my torrents download/upload for surfing or whatever task i’m performing, i’m giving them more bandwidth.
I only rebuilt my pc 2 weeks ago and could not understand why so slow. Since blocking Kservice from my pc i’ve noticed a massive increase in performance and torrent downloads up 40-75%.apreciating that torrents do use cache.
Many thx for post
Hi,to limit kservice.exe CPU use, use BES – free (beta) – 1Mb RAM, http://mion.faireal.net/BES
Actually works with any process, but mentions Kontiki in ‘help’.
Also: use, say, ‘Process Tamer’ to reduce priority.
Thanks for this info. I found that KService.exe was running in the background even though all I’d done was boot up the PC and run my browser. I haven’t used 4OD at all, ever. The only similar thing I’ve used is BBC IPlayer.
For a a few weeks I’ve noticed that TaskManager was showing quite a bit of network activity when I wasn’t doing anything. After reading your post I killed the KService.exe process and Hey Presto the mysterious network activity disappeared completely!
This solved all problems for me
1. Uninstall Iplayer Download Manager and/or 4OD using Add/Remove programs.
2. Uninstall Kontiki by running KClean.exe http://static.sky.com/kclean/KClean.exe.
3. Then delete the remnants of the Kontiki folder in Program Files if it’s still there.
4. Check the Services list again. KService should no longer be present.
5. Reinstall Download Manager and/or 4OD.
6. Check Services list. KService should now be present and “Started”.
7. Both programs should now work!
A SIMPLE SOLUTION FOR WINDOWS XP
I had the same problem with my PC. The computer was slowing down lots. When I re-booted to thinking it might go away my Spy-bot icon in the bottom left hand corner would not show up. All the programs that load on start up are in the bottom left hand corner. Allso all the programs that I tried to run where sooooo slow. When I tried to open internet explorer, this was tooo slow. I emmidiatly though it was a virus but when i ran spy-bot and AVG they didnt pick up anything. I turned off unwanted startup processes and I even uninstalled programs on my hard drive to free-up space and add some speed thinking it could sort the problem but nothing worked. I decided to do CTRL+ALT+DELETE and check what ‘processes’ where running. Surely there it was kservice taking up 99% of the processing power of my microprocessor. I knew I had to turn the shit off. I checked start up and couldnt see it. I then remembered to an old Microsoft command call “msconfig”. I typed it in to the run box (see the windows start menue) and then located kservice in the services tab and unchecked the fucker. I also unchecked some suspicious services. Here is a list of all the service I unchecked:
*Adobe LM Service
*Kservice
*##Id_String1.6844F930_16…etc..etc…79762##
After doing this my PC was back up at full speed. HURRAY!!!
I tried to download Channel 4’s 4od last week. I think it partially downloaded itself – it was a big mistake for me as since then I have continuous problems with my computer. It blocked my One Care firewall to the off position and also stopped me creating a VPN connection. Can anyone help as I have tried EVERYTHING…….and my computer is still not working properly
I partially downloaded Channel 4’s 4oD last week and since then I have had CONTINUOUS problems with my computer. My One Care firewall is blocked on the off position and also I am unable to create any VPN connections….has anyone else had these problems and any ideas how to fix it?
Well – like all you guys I wondered why downloading 7 odd movies from SKY Anytime (Legal) to my 4 x Dual core (4GB) Media Center just flatlined the box. Task manager shows the KHost & KService eating 90 – 95% CPU – Hell I have myself a small GRID or a light weight eDonkey running here. Totally rubbish if these ‘Wannabe’ players in the eWorld need to use this type of rob Peter to pay Paul wrap it in a smart GUI and push it as a new technology sad!
Don’t know if any of you Sky peeps have had the same though – if you leave the sky player down – it still downloads and i’m a bit unsure if it’s just the app (Player) that’s hungry or just the whole lot. Maybey I should just check it all out and go Virgin Media Fibre.
Well thants my 2 pence worth.
Sme.
Oh any forget to mention – whats the point in letting me download mutiple movies that they must know will kill their play back (SkyPlayer) software.
Still guess they must make some money from calls to the Tech Desk.
I have also noticed whilst using the sky player, Not only does it share the films you are/or have downloaded, But it also uses the folder for other films not even selected by the user. I was downloading 2 documentries and noticed four films downloading to this folder. What the hell? I never wanted them. And sometimes the library fills up with movies you have not choosen. it is like beeing hacked? This is the folder it uses by default to put the stuff in……
“C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Deliveries\sky_prod”
This is really taking the p!!SS
A SIMPLE SOLUTION FOR WINDOWS XP
I had the same problem with my PC. The computer was slowing down lots. When I re-booted to thinking it might go away my Spy-bot icon in the bottom left hand corner would not show up. All the programs that load on start up are in the bottom left hand corner. Allso all the programs that I tried to run where sooooo slow. When I tried to open internet explorer, this was tooo slow. I emmidiatly though it was a virus but when i ran spy-bot and AVG they didnt pick up anything. I turned off unwanted startup processes and I even uninstalled programs on my hard drive to free-up space and add some speed thinking it could sort the problem but nothing worked. I decided to do CTRL+ALT+DELETE and check what ‘processes’ where running. Surely there it was kservice taking up 99% of the processing power of my microprocessor. I knew I had to turn the shit off. I checked start up and couldnt see it. I then remembered to an old Microsoft command call “msconfig”. I typed it in to the run box (see the windows start menue) and then located kservice in the services tab and unchecked the fucker. I also unchecked some suspicious services. Here is a list of all the service I unchecked:
*Adobe LM Service
*Kservice
*##Id_String1.6844F930_16…etc..etc…79762##
After doing this my PC was back up at full speed. HURRAY!!!