Hkcmd.exe: what is this process and whether it needs to be disabled or deleted

Many owners of computer equipment based on Intel chipsets quite often in autoloading observe a certain incomprehensible process - hkcmd.exe. What it is, very few people imagine clearly. And some generally consider it a virus. Is it really?

Hkcmd.exe: what is this process at startup?

Of course, today the Internet has a lot of viruses that can masquerade as the background processes of Windows systems. However, if you look at the file and run the hkcmd.exe process, what it is will become clear when referring to the official description.

In fact (if it's not a virus, of course) the hkcmd.exe process running in the background and being booted at system startup is the official Intel service responsible for the combination of hotkeys when configuring the parameters of graphics chipsets and for advanced features when changing them. Determine that the virus before us can be quite simple.

To do this, you need to look at the location of the file. By default, this is Windows / System32 / hkcmd.exe. If you call the process properties in a graph, the location of this object is different from the one just mentioned, there is no doubt that this is a threat. The same applies to situations where, for some reason, there are several such processes in the Task Manager.

Variety of components

The described object is not the only possible component of the downloadable service. In fact, the process can have a notation like hkcmd module, igfxtray or hotkeyscmds.

However, they are all executable components of the Intel Hotkey Command Module utility, and can sometimes be called by the shareware application of the True Key security system, which is positioned as a means of protecting passwords and any other confidential data with the ability to install biometric control or determine access permissions by facial features . In any case, the search file for the accompanying process should be searched for by the path System32 / hkcmd.exe (or its version). But how justified is the use of this service?

Should I disable or remove hkcmd.exe (hkcmd module)?

By and large, deactivate or remove this component is not recommended. You can do this only in cases where when working in the background, the process consumes system resources too much, or on the local computer simply do not use additional graphics settings.

The same applies to weak processors and a relatively small amount of RAM. However, if you do not have a powerful antivirus installed in your system, it is not desirable to disable or remove the service. In particular, this also applies to the True Key utility.

Disconnect and delete methods

As for disabling this component, everything is simple. In the simplest case, you can use either the msconfig command that is specified in the Run (Win + R) console where the Startup tab is selected, or go directly to the appropriate tab in the Task Manager (in Windows 10 , the system configuration still redirects the user to The dispatcher).

Here, to deactivate the service, you just need to uncheck the line with its name, after which it will be required to perform a complete reboot of the system.

If to talk about complete removal, you can perform such an operation from the standard section of programs and components in the Control Panel or use special utilities or optimizer programs.

In the simplest version, CCleaner is perfect, and for disabling the auto start item, and removing the service. But for uninstalling, you can also use an equally powerful program called iObit Uninstaller. In any case, such applications allow not only to uninstall unnecessary programs, but also to clean the disk of the remaining garbage after deletion in the form of files, folders or even entries in the system registry.

Just in case, if the user is still not sure that all components of these Intel services are completely and completely removed, you can simply open the System32 directory and check if the above files are present there. Naturally, the name of the component can also be searched in the system registry, which is accessed by the regedit command in the "Run" menu, and the search is called either by Ctrl + F or by the corresponding line in the file menu.

Conclusion

That's all, as for the hkcmd.exe process. What is it, I think, is already clear. As for the issue of disabling or removing this component, provided that the user does not plan to use the advanced settings and capabilities of Intel integrated graphics chips, it can be completely painless for the system. And in the case of low-power processors or lack of RAM in this way, you can even slightly increase the performance of your computer or laptop.

Finally, if the user has doubts about the fact that this process is a virus (this must be confirmed by the different location of the desired file), immediately it is recommended to perform a full scan of the system by antivirus, but at the same time to use portable scanners or disk programs intended for downloading before Start the system.