What Does Svchost.exe Do and What Should You Cope with It

What Is Svchost.exe

Svchost.exe (Service Host or SvcHost) is a system process, which can host one to multiple Windows services of Windows NT operating system series. Svchost.exe is crucial in the process of achieving sharable service. Many services can share one process to reduce resource consumption in the sharing service process.

According to Microsoft, Svchost.exe is a generic hot process name for services that run from dynamic-link libraries. What does the svchost.exe do? Is it a virus? Why does svchost.exe take so much memory? Don’t worry! You will get all answers in this post of MiniTool.

Is it a virus?

First and foremost, is svchost.exe a virus? The answer varies that depends on different cases. In most cases, it is a key component for plenty of Windows services, rather than a virus. As its literal meaning implies, the purpose of svchost.exe is to provide host services.

In certain cases, svchost.exe is a “virus”. As it is a system process, some malicious code writers may hide virus behind the name svchost. If the file is located in Windows/ system32, probably it is not a virus. In this case, you need carry out a scan operation to ensure safety.

If you don’t have an antivirus software yet, install one right now. Take this post as a guide to select a suitable antivirus software: Is Windows Defender Enough? More Solutions to Protect PC

Which Software Uses Svchost.exe

When Windows starts, the svchost.exe process also begins. You can Check the HKLM hive of the registry (under SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current\Svchost).

Actually, svchost.exe can run in Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP and Windows 2000 besides Windows NT.

In addition, there are some Windows services using svchost.exe including Windows Update, Task Scheduler, Windows Firewall, Bluetooth Support Service, World Wide Web Publishing Service, Superfetch, Network Connections, Plug and Play, Background Tasks Infrastructure Service, DHCP Client, Windows Audio and Remote Procedure Call (RPC).

Why Does Svchost.exe Take So Much Memory

Probably you have seen articles with a title “How to Fix Svchost.exe High CPU” or something like that. Like any other processes, Svchost.exe also needs memory and processor to run.

Therefore, it is rather normal to see the increased memory of svchost.exe (netsvcs), especially in the case of using Service Host. There are 3 main reasons for svchost.exe high CPU and even much bandwidth.

• Windows Update is downloading and installing patches and other updates.
• Other services are used under svchost.exe netsvcs include BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service), Schedule (Task Scheduler), Topics and iphlpsvc (IP Helper).
• The Disk Defragmenter is defragmenting you hard drive.

You can do something to fix the Svchost.exe High CPU or high system consumption issue by stopping the services that are to blame. For instance, if the svchost.exe slows down the computer due to Windows Update, please stop downloading/installing update or disable the update service completely.

In normal case, svchost.exe won’t occupy all system memory, but if this circumstance happens, please refer to how to shut down svchost.exe section.

How to Shut Down Svchost.exe

Here’s how to close svchost.exe on Windows 10.

Step 1: Right click the Start button, and then select Task Manager from the function menu.

Step 2: Scroll down the list to find the svchost.exe service. Right click the service, and then choose the End Task option in the pop-up menu.

Step 3: Check the Abandon the unsaved data and shut down checkbox, and then click on Shut down to finish the operation.

Then Windows will stop the service immediately, and any system resource the service is using will be released to other services and applications.

The most frequently asked questions about svchost.exe are illustrated to you. After reading this post carefully, you will have a deep understanding of the svchost.exe.