Taskhost.exe: what is this process, can I get rid of it?

Starting with Windows XP, and then Vista, 7 and 8, many users are faced with the operation of an inexplicable taskhost.exe process. Most users have no idea what taskhost.exe process is currently running. In addition, sometimes the load on the central processor can reach almost 100%. But if we can disable the program, and how to do it, so as not to harm the entire system, we now know.

The taskhost.exe process : what is it?

Finding a detailed description of the process itself is not so simple, let alone the principles of the functioning of this system service, run as a user in a local session with the attribute LOCAL SERVICE, SYSTEM or an attribute that displays the user name.

No, this is not a user process in the sense that it is launched by the user, this is a system service, but it starts at each specific user input under their accounts.

So, the user watches taskhost.exe in Task Manager. What is this from the point of view of the system itself? Based on a brief description of Microsoft Corporation, this service is responsible for running 32-bit applications in a form that is different from standard executable files with the extension .exe. The process itself is akin to the services svchost.exe and rundll.32.exe, because it is able to simultaneously run user processes and services of the local session with extraction of executable codes and commands located in dynamic libraries of the .dll format. It's unclear, really, why it was necessary to create a duplicate service, but, as they say, Windows developers know better.

Why does the taskhost.exe process load the processor?

In theory, if you understand, the process itself is really a system, although it runs in every user session. Proceeding from the foregoing, it is not difficult to guess that the excessive load on the processor can be due to the fact that this service alone calls all registered processes from dynamic libraries (rather than "hangs" in the process tree in the form of several services like svchost.exe). In addition, we should not forget that the rundll32.exe service also attracts to libraries, but, judging by everything, the taskhost.exe process has priority. What does this mean for the system? But only that very often there is an unforeseen conflict between the processes that tend to be the first to download a particular library.

In addition, many experts associate increased consumption of system resources with the fact that the process itself contains the activated function RacSysprepGeneralize, which is located in the dynamic library RasEngn.dll, which is related to the standard "Task Scheduler" Windows.

Can I disable the taskhost.exe service?

Now a few words about whether it is possible to get along in the system without this annoying process. Yes, you can. However, you can not disable the service by using the forced method in the "Task Manager". Rather, you can complete the process, but, as practice shows, after a while he will again "rise again."

Methods to turn off the process

First of all, you can try to disable the Task Scheduler itself. But this does not always help, because the above function RacSysprepGeneralize will still work.

To get rid of it, you need to enter the "Task Scheduler" section, called from the "Control Panel" with a sequential selection of the "Administration" and "Task Scheduler" sections, and then repeat the sequential move through the sections "Microsoft", then "Windows" and «RAC». Now in the "View" menu you will need to specify the display of hidden icons, then use the right click on the service RACTask or RACAgent (for Windows 7 and Vista respectively). In the submenu that appears, select the "Disconnect" command, and then re-complete the taskhost.exe process in the "Task Manager".

If it's a virus

Not always, however, such a service can be considered a system component. In some situations, another suspicious service (or two or more with the same or non-system attributes) taskhost.exe may be present in the process tree. What is it in this case?

A common computer virus that will need to remove or disinfect the original file using a stationary antivirus software or using antivirus utilities that load before the start of the "operating system". But, as a rule, such situations are extremely rare.

The result

So we looked at the taskhost.exe process, how to remove it or get rid of malicious threats. In general, the first way to disconnect the components of the "Task Scheduler" is the most common, and without any intervention in the system registry or in the "operating system" as a whole. As practice shows, disabling this service on the system does not affect, but frees additional resources.

However, as is already clear, the above described actions to disable the taskhost.exe process must be performed only when accessing a computer terminal with administrator rights. Otherwise, this action does not work.

Roughly speaking, the user not only will not be able to disable the corresponding services, but in some cases even fails to enter the "Control Panel" to make any changes, because sometimes access can be blocked so that the label "Control Panel" in the menu " Start "is not even displayed, not to mention that you can not call it from the command line, no matter how hard you try.