Introducing the Windows svchost.exe file

Also known as Generic Host Process for Win32 Services the svchost.exe file is used by the Windows OS to load ‘DLL’ files needed to run the Operating System on your computer.

It can handle 32-bit DLLs and checks the services from the registry making a list of all the services which are needed to be loaded at startup. There can be more svchost.exe running at the same time as you might have noticed whenever checking Task Manager and each of them contains a group of services for better performances and easier debugging.

The svchost.exe file’s location is dependent on the operating system but can be found under the /system32/ directory or sometimes in the /dllcache/ directory.

The registry identifies the svchost.exe file at the following address:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Svchost

To view the service list run in Svchost you can write the following command in DOS PROMPT: Tasklist /SVC then hit Enter.

Caution!
The svchost.exe file is vulnerable and can be infected by viruses or Trojans that’s why it’s highly recommended to have antivirus software installed on your PC.

Do not attempt deleting the svchost.exe file as it is used by Windows and most probably the OS won’t function properly or won’t start any more.

Checking out what are in the svchost.exe file

Depending on the operating System, you can use either tlist.exe or tasklist.exe or by using Windows defender.

Running these applications you can type “tasklist /svc” or “tlist -s” (without quotation marks) in DOS Prompt.