SVCHOST.exe – What is it and why are there so many of them?

I get asked this a lot.  When you run Task Manager in XP and look at the process list, you see tons of svchost.exe processes running.  You can’t kill them (you don’t really want to) and there’s no obvious reason that there are so many of them.

What are they?  Microsoft describes them like this:

“Svchost.exe is a generic host process name for services that run from dynamic-link libraries (DLLs).”

Helpful isn’t it?  Simply put, you can’t run a DLL without a host program.  Since Microsoft needs to run lots of different services that are DLL’s, it created a generic host executable to run them – svchost.exe.  There are lots of instances of svchost for a couple of reasons.  First and foremost, redundancy.  If all of the OS DLL’s were under one process alone, if any one of them crashed the host process, the entire operating system would crash.  Second, Microsoft likes to logically group similar services under similar hosts.

So how do you see what’s what?  There are a couple of ways.  In XP, there is a command line utility to view process information.  Run tasklist /SVC from a command line.  The output looks like this:

If you are running Vista or Windows 7, the Task Manager is much more helpful.  You can right click on a svchost process, then choose “Go to Services”.  This will open the services tab and highlight the related services.

There is a great utility called svchost viewer that shows you the services for each svchost process in a nice, easy to read tree view.  Download the program here.  Thanks to HowToGeek for the tip.

Related Posts

• Open Source Software PBX - ready for prime time? I've been working with a client who needs to replace an aging PBX but is (as is everyone) extremely cost averse.  What are their options? A vendor supported PBX plus desktop phone sets together would probably cost them more than $10k.  Obviously a vendor supported system has losts of advantages from a......
• Remote reboot from MMC Have you ever needed to reboot a machine remotely? This is easy to do via MMC, the Microsoft Management Console. In XP, do the following. 1) Right click the My Computer icon and choose manage to bring up the MMC. 2) From there, go to the Action menu and choose......
• Outlook for the iPhone? eWeek is reporting that a Microsoft Executive, Stephen Elop, while speaking at the Web 2.0 Expo hinted that Microsoft will eventually release a version of the Office suite for mobile devices, specifically the iPhone.  I think this is important for a couple of reasons.  It further emphasizes MS' current move......
• iPhone 3.0 installed I've been using the iPhone 3.0 software for a couple of days now and other than a minor installation glitch (my fault) the upgrade was painless.  Everything seems to work as advertised, and so far, I like what I see. WiFi improvements - One of the things that really bugged......
• TweetDeck to manage your Tweets Twitter is taking off like wildfire - you just can't get away from it.  I'm still not a huge buyer of the technology, but as the number of people I follow increases, I've been having a hard time sorting through the posts. Until now. Enter TweetDeck, "A Simple and Fast......

Related Websites

• Windows 7: Does It Really Matter How Good It Is? There's been a lot of talk about how critical the release of Windows 7 will be for Microsoft. The company's reputation took a beating in the early days of Vista. It was a rough release to say the least. There were driver issues, stability issues, software compatibility issues, and of......
• Why Not To Use Quicken and Microsoft Money Technology has certainly made our lives a whole lot easier in the last couple of days. To imagine that there used to be a time where we had to read the newspaper to check the weather, or drive-by the movie theater to see when shows were playing. There are now......
• The Real Benefits of Hosted PBX Hosted PBX has been prevailing in market for quite some period, but only recently its clubbed with many new features. It has started attracting the business peoples of all levels regardless of their breadth and width. The earlier stage when this technology was launched it was considered as quiet......
• Peter's Landing Marina, Huntington Beach, CA Phone: (714) 840-1387 Marine Stand By Channel? Yes, the marina monitors channel 16. Average Water Depth? At this time, they do not provide the exact depth. Please contact them before arrival for the current water depths. Is there a pumpout station? Yes, the marina offers this service. Is there......
• Create your web page with NetBeans - Part 2 In this part we will make the first step of creating a web page with NetBeans, and make sure that the web server is working. Start the IDE, switch to the Projects window, and choose File > New Project. The Choose Project panel opens. In the Categories list, choose PHP.......