Operating systems Windows of the latest generations, despite the rather high stability, are often characterized by unforeseen failures. And very often the culprit of this system behavior is a certain COM Surrogate service. What this process is, most ordinary users do not know, and some generally believe that it is a conspiratorial virus. Let's try to consider some issues related to this service, giving an explanation in the simplest possible language that is understandable to any user.
COM Surrogate: what is this process?
In computer language, this service is one of those system components that are responsible for the correct implementation of COM + rules in the ISS environment. The environment itself is a collection of Internet Information Services. However, this component is not always directly related to the Internet, since it can additionally be used by some tools for working with multimedia.
The service itself in the "Task Manager" is not displayed, because the dllhost process is responsible for its functioning. In addition, the service has a close relationship with the components of the .NET Framework and the drivers of the graphics accelerator installed on the computer.
Errors in the service
But why, then, the service often enough begins to incredibly load the processor and, as they say, eat up RAM?
In most cases, a notification is issued that COM Surrogate has stopped working. What is most sad, the reason for stopping the process is never indicated (a fact is simply stated). This happens mainly due to the incorrect access of COM + components to computer resources.
Less common problems are the appearance of a blue screen. This phenomenon is mainly due to the mismatch of the equipment with the requirements of the operating system, and the drivers have nothing to do with it.
Finally, an explanation can be given, so to speak, for dummies. This process is partially responsible for playing some varieties of multimedia files, which can also cause crashes. We will dwell on them in more detail.
Media Playback Issues
Of course, the above description of the service does not provide a complete picture of what is happening. Let’s try to give an explanation for dummies with simple examples.
For example, a failure of this system component may occur when a user tries to open, say, a video file that has been underloaded or damaged. Naturally, most players simply ignore such objects and do not open them. But the well-known player KMPlayer accesses the above service, after which an error is issued.
On Windows x64, COM Surrogate usually works more or less stably, but on 32-bit systems, crashes appear much more often. Many experts associate such situations with the presence in the system of outdated sets of codecs that are part of TheHDvid and K-Lite packages of any versions.
COM Surrogate: how to delete a process and can it be done?
Now a few words about solving problems with the described component. Some users are wondering about the possibility of uninstalling the COM Surrogate service. What kind of process is this if it loads the system? So, maybe get rid of him completely?
Alas, in the usual sense, this component cannot be removed, but you can get rid of its incorrect behavior, and quite simply. And to begin with, it is worth paying attention to the sets of codecs and decoders. You need to remove them, and then install the latest versions. You can uninstall from the standard section of programs and components of the Control Panel, use your own package uninstallers or special programs to remove applications like iObit Uninstaller. The third option seems to be the most preferable, since such programs are able to automatically remove from the system all remaining computer garbage (folders, files and entries in the system registry). When using the first two methods, you will have to do these things yourself.
How to remove COM Surrogate, or rather, get rid of errors of this service by other methods? There is a more cardinal way. It consists in going to the “Control Panel”, selecting the “System” section and using additional parameters.
On the "Advanced" tab, you need to click the settings button, go to the data execution prevention tab and activate the DEP enable line for all services. Then you need to add the component using the appropriate button and enter the full path to the dllhost.exe file. On systems with 32-bit architecture, it is located in the System32 folder, and on x64 OS it is located in the SysWOW64 directory.
After that, you should find all the folders of temporary files by setting the% temp% command in the "Run" console and delete everything that is in them.
How to determine if it is a virus?
But this is just a brief summary of the COM Surrogate system component . What is this process, a little understood. Now let's move on to the most unpleasant. Today, one can often find viruses that, after penetrating the system, disguise themselves as system processes, including the described service.
Some users, seeing in the "Task Manager" a lot of dllhost processes, begin to complete them one by one. This cannot be done, since the original process can also be completed, after which the system will simply “crash”.
You can identify viruses by the location of executable files that are responsible for active processes, using the PCM menu for this, where the corresponding item is selected. If you see a location other than the above, you can try to remove these components.
In any case, it is necessary to use portable anti-virus scanners or disk bootable anti-viruses, regardless of whether it is possible to delete the found files manually or not. It is believed that the best portable antiviruses are Dr. Web CureIt! and KVRT, and from disk utilities - programs with the general name Rescue Disk.
Finally
It remains to add that the forced termination of active processes associated with the service can lead to unpredictable consequences, so you should not do such things under any circumstances. If there is a suspicion of viruses, it is better to first check the system with a scanner, and only then determine if the executable files of the processes are in locations other than the standard ones.