Starting with Windows XP, and then Vista, 7 and 8, many users are faced with the inexplicable taskhost.exe process. Most users have no idea what the taskhost.exe process is currently running. In addition, sometimes the load on the central processor can reach almost 100%. But here is whether it is possible to disable the program, and how to do it so as not to harm the entire system, we now find out.
Taskhost.exe process : what is it?
Finding a detailed description of the process itself is not so easy, not to mention the operating principles of this system service, launched on behalf of the user in a local session with the LOCAL SERVICE, SYSTEM attribute or attribute that displays the user name.
No, this is not a user process in the sense that it is started by the user, this is a system service, but it starts in each specific user login under its own accounts.
So, the user observes in the “Task Manager” the running active taskhost.exe process. What is this from the point of view of the system itself? Judging by the brief description of Microsoft Corporation, this service is responsible for launching 32-bit applications in a form different from standard executable files with the extension .exe. The process itself is akin to the services svchost.exe and rundll.32.exe, since it is capable of simultaneously starting user processes and services of a local session with the extraction of executable codes and commands located in dynamic libraries of the .dll format. It is not clear, however, 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 look, the process itself is really a system, although it starts in every user session. Based on the foregoing, it is easy to guess that excessive processor load may be due to the fact that this service alone calls all registered processes from dynamic libraries (rather than “hanging” in the process tree as several services like svchost.exe). In addition, do not forget that the rundll32.exe service also accesses the libraries along the way, but, apparently, the taskhost.exe process has priority. What does this mean for the system? The only thing is that very often an unforeseen conflict arises between processes that are the first to try to load a particular library.
In addition, many experts attribute the increased consumption of system resources to the fact that the process itself contains the activated function RacSysprepGeneralize, located in the dynamic library RasEngn.dll, which belongs to the standard Windows "Task Scheduler".
Can I disable the taskhost.exe service?
Now a few words about whether it is possible to dispense with the system without this annoying process. Yes you can. However, disabling the service using the forced method in the "Task Manager" will fail. Rather, it is possible to complete the process, but, as practice shows, after a while it will again “rise”.
Process Shutdown Methods
First of all, you can try to disable the "Task Scheduler" itself. But this does not always help, since the above RacSysprepGeneralize function will still work.
To get rid of it, you need to go to the "Task Scheduler Menu" section, called up from the "Control Panel" with the sequential selection of the "Administration" and "Task Scheduler" sections, and then repeat the sequential transition through the "Microsoft" sections, then "Windows" and "RAC". Now, in the "View" menu, you need to specify the display of hidden icons, and then use the right click on the RACTask or RACAgent service (for Windows 7 and Vista, respectively). In the submenu that appears, select the "Disable" command, and then restart the taskhost.exe process in the "Task Manager".
If it is a virus
True, 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 this in this case?
An ordinary computer virus that will need to be removed or cured of the original file using stationary anti-virus software or using anti-virus utilities that load before the start of the “OS”. But, as a rule, such situations are extremely rare.
Total
So we looked at the taskhost.exe process, how to remove it or get rid of malicious threats. In general, the first way to disable the components of the "Task Scheduler" is the most common, and without any intervention in the system registry or in the "OS" as a whole. As practice shows, disabling this service does not affect the system, but it frees up additional resources.
However, as it is already clear, the above described actions to disable the taskhost.exe process need to be performed exclusively when accessing a computer terminal with administrator rights. Otherwise, this action will not take.
Roughly speaking, the user will not only be unable to disable the corresponding services, but in some cases will not even be able to enter the “Control Panel” to make any changes, because sometimes access can be blocked so that the “Control Panel” tab in the “ Start ”is not even displayed, not to mention that you cannot call it from the command line either, no matter how you try.