Shot in the dark: System Handle Leak?

[BoxSoft]

I've been having troubles with something in my system leaking handles associated with the "System" process. I've monitored this with Process Explorer from SysInternals, and I've personally seen the System process amass over 1.5 million handles (in approximately 12 hours).

I didn't realize something was wrong until I started having troubles with my backups. Acronis TrueImage couldn't perform its automatic nightly backup, due to a shortage of resources to allocate the necessary handles. At first I figured it was a problem with that software, so I've been experimenting with various settings, hunting down clues on the net, etc.

Then I realized the real culprit was another program consuming all those handles. Unfortunately, its a System related process (driver, service, or perhaps even virus). It appears to be something that loads on startup, because I can boot my machine and watch those handles grow, without loading any other apps.

Now you're probably wondering why I'm posting this here. Well I looked back in my Acronis logs, and my backups first started to fail on April 15th. I checked my Programs and Features tool in Control Panel, and I happened to install PDF-Viewer on April 14th. I don't think you guys install any resident software that runs when the viewer isn't open, and the leak starts without my opening the viewer.

BTW, I just checked my Windows Update logs, and there are a bunch of entries on Apr 15th, including a new driver for my USB Sound Blaster. (The rest are Microsoft Security Updates, so I have more faith in those.) I'm more inclined to think one of these are the culprit, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask if you've had any reports of handle leaks. (A simple search of your forum didn't find anything.) Thanks for taking the time to read this.

[Chris - Tracker Supp]

Hi Mike,

Unfortunate that you are suffering such issues, but we can assure you that in 12 years we have never had any such issues with program integrity, or security vulnerabilities to date. Wish you the best in solving those though.

Regards,
Chris

[BoxSoft]

Thanks, Chris. I'm sure it's something else that's the culprit. Sadly, it's going to be almost impossible to fix, and my best option is probably a full reinstall of my OS and all other software (a real PITA <g>).

[Chris - Tracker Supp]

Yeah, I've had rogue processes in systems past that I had to trace back to hidden dll files that were loaded at startup, viruses, that would lauch nonrelated process handles through necessary Windows processes. And get embedded in the system files that spawn many process handles everytime I'd boot up. I believe the only cure for my past woes of this nature has been the old microsoft standby. Reformat and reinstall to be sure. Sorry I couldn't be of more help mate.

Chris

[Lzcat - Tracker Supp]

You may try one of free antivirus scanners (1, maybe in safe mode) or even offline scanners (1, you will nedd burn cd on clean PC and boot from it). If this is a virus there is high probability it can be found (and in many cases - cured).
For sure reinstall is better for system, but at least you will know was this virus or not.