What is svchost.exe?

KristyKristy
edited June 2005 in Science & Tech
Well, what is it? I have 5 of them in my processes and I was curious what the heck it was.. anyone? :)

Thanks,
- Kristy

Comments

  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited June 2005
    This information may be of help.

    For what it's worth, it's not unusual to have several instances of it running at once. I have four of them on my main machine. :)
  • Shadow2018Shadow2018 Northwest Missouri
    edited June 2005
    It is a legitimate file irregardless of how many instances you have. As long as they are all in the system32 folder.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    amendment: MOST of the time they are legitimate. Some of the newest malware and trojans actually run as windows services.

    SVCHOST.EXE is the process that represents a system service. It's a way for a windows service to hook into the shell. (yes, techie nerds, I'm oversimplifying).

    That said, SVCHOST is usually legit. If you are having problems with your computer though, you should probably post a hijack this log for us to look at.
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