Another big thankyou for your work. I had the same problem and uninstalling version 6 tcp/ip solved it.

So I ask - why did version 6 tcp/ip get installed or activated last week? I think it came from an Earthlink update. i can't be sure, but that seems to be when the problem started.

Anyway, I appreciate the knowledge.

I'm almost positive that Earthlink installed just like you thought. The following link points to a website with a powerpoint demonstration that explains the differences between v4 the most common version and the new v6

http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~dranch/NETWORKS/IPV6/

if anyone sees this plz help i am having the same problem but my cpu usage is constantly at 50-60 when it is idle it is usaully at 1-10 usage. This started happening last night i am trying to do what you guys did but i jst simply do not know enough about computers to do what you can.

I was hoping that you guys could email me with the step by steps or another way to solve it or simply post it.
Thnx in advance

Right click on My Network places and go to properties.
Right click on Local Area connection and go to Properties
Highlight and DELETE TCP/IP version 6 ONLY
DO NOT delete Internet protocol TCP/IP if that's all you see. Let us know what happens.

My problem started as soon as I installed Norton SW 2006....searched Symantec, Dell & MS sites to no avail! Thanks!!

Glad it helped. Take a look at this forum as well. http://www.gidforums.com/t-9152.html
You will see what I and others think of Norton.

Just wanted to post another confirmation of sucess.

"Finally I decided to just delete Version 6 TCP/IP *restarted* and it worked!!"

I too thought I was trying to deal with a trojan, virus, or other malware. Seems the problem was just another undocumented "feature" of XP.

Mucho Gracias to JAMMMM for posting THE solution to this maddening problem. I thank you and my processor thanks you.

I second all of the thanks. This just started happening to me on my XP home system in the past few days. However, I didn't seem to have an option to delete version 6 tcp/ip. I unchecked it and restarted, but that did nothing. So, I uninstalled it, and this worked. Normally I think of delete and uninstall as different things, so did I make a mistake, or was this what you had in mind? Thanks again,

I have another suggestion that worked for me, since I removed TCP/IP v6 and still got taken over by tcpsvcs.exe. In XP go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services. Go to Simple TCP/IP Services, double-click on it, and under Startup Type choose Disabled.

HI.
in Control Panel --> Install applications --> install windows components
--> Network Service --- (toggle, disable choice SIMPLE SERVICE TCP/IP).

When you restart win XP, must go without problems.

HI.