How to remove dllhost error

dllhost.exe file information

The process COM Surrogate belongs to the software Microsoft® Windows® Operating System or dllhost.exe or TestAOL7Extract or WINS Client or MicrosoftR WindowsR Operating System or Microsoft¢ç Windows¢ç Operating System or Microsoft? Windows? Operating System or Windows Host Services or Panasonic Document Management or dllhost.exe by Microsoft Corporation (www.microsoft.com) or Noco or Tybee Software.

Description: File dllhost.exe is located in the folder C:\Windows\System32. Known file sizes on Windows XP are 5120 bytes (88% of all occurrence), 4608 bytes, 5632 bytes, 7168 bytes.
File dllhost.exe is a Windows system file. The program has no visible window. It is a Microsoft signed file. Therefore the technical security rating is 3% dangerous, however also read the users reviews.

If dllhost.exe is located in a subfolder of "C:\Documents and Settings" then the security rating is 67% dangerous. File size is 417792 bytes (68% of all occurrence), 393216 bytes, 438272 bytes. There is no information about the maker of the file. It is not a Windows core file. The program starts upon Windows startup (see Registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run, HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run). The program has no visible window. dllhost.exe is able to monitor applications, manipulate other programs.

If dllhost.exe is located in a subfolder of C:\Windows then the security rating is 74% dangerous. File size is 58325 bytes (18% of all occurrence), 4608 bytes, 217088 bytes, 58388 bytes, 58463 bytes, 58385 bytes, 58202 bytes, 58308 bytes, 1270796 bytes, 58264 bytes, 58414 bytes. It is not a Windows system file. Program has no file description. The program is not visible. dllhost.exe is located in the Windows folder, but it is not a Windows core file. dllhost.exe is able to hide itself, monitor applications, record inputs, manipulate other programs.

If dllhost.exe is located in a subfolder of C:\Windows\System32 then the security rating is 84% dangerous. File size is 10240 bytes (77% of all occurrence), 114688 bytes, 13312 bytes.

If dllhost.exe is located in the folder C:\Windows then the security rating is 82% dangerous. File size is 762368 bytes (50% of all occurrence), 50688 bytes, 276840 bytes.

If dllhost.exe is located in a subfolder of "C:\Program Files" then the security rating is 47% dangerous. File size is 393216 bytes (66% of all occurrence), 5632 bytes.

If dllhost.exe is located in a subfolder of "C:\Program Files\Common Files" then the security rating is 58% dangerous. File size is 656384 bytes.

External information from Paul Collins:

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Important: Some malware camouflage themselves as dllhost.exe, particularly if they are located in c:\windows or c:\windows\system32 folder. Thus check the dllhost.exe process on your pc whether it is pest. We recommend Security Task Manager for verifying your computer's security. It is one of the Top Download Picks of 2005 of The Washington Post and PC World.

Links: dllhost.exe, dllhost.exe

I had some sort of worm, filepath C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\dll.exe, which is not legit... if you have this, then see the link.... but yeah, if it's located in System32, then everything's OK. I've also found a dll.exe in my I386 folder. Anybody have any idea whether this is legit or not? Can't find any information whatsoever.
  Lisa   (further information)

die datei befand sich bei mir im autostart und nicht im windows verzeichnis - legte mein outlook lahm - im inet ging so gut wie gar nichts - nachdem ich die datei umbenannt hatte - lief mein system wieder einwandfrei
  pirli  

Happened after upgrade to windows media 11 and urge music
   

I have two hard disk in my pc both hard disk have operating system, i just boot my pc using the other disk drive operating system , then search for the file dllhost.exe on the infected hard drive from there i deleted that file, then i rebooted my pc using the infected drive there is no more trace of dllhost.exe on my pc.
  sannysweet  

found file hiding in c:/documentsand settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup so therefore would start everytime computer started and hung cpu at 99% would only delete when started in safemode then all was ok again
  Brian  

As mentioned above, there is a legitimate and there is a malicious file with the same name found in Win 2000 machines in our facility. While Sygate cought its activity right away, I couldn't kill the process from the task manager. Fortunately, Spygate was able to terminate the process and after that I was able to delete the malicious files found by the search option. The malicious version has all caps DLLHOST.EXE so it's easy to recognize. While active, the machines were cloged and worked slower than PC XT from 20 years ago. Good luck.
  MakDen the Terminator  

executed by Software installers, harmless service ...
  Chief5B  

Why would this appear in your windows/startup? Is it safe to delete it from that point?
  SMS  

Proceso anfitrión de Microsoft DCOM DLL - dllhost.exe es parte del sistema Microsoft Windows. dllhost.exe gestiona aplicaciones basadas en DLLs. Este proceso es importante para la estabilidad y seguridad del sistema y no debería ser detenido.
  Nacho  

Bit more explantion, "stop" the dllhost.exe service running by going to comp mgmt services COM+ System Application and clicking stop because no dependancies were listed for my current configuration/running system.
  wguru  

You can check your list of startup programs, if it is there try deleting it. If you are unable to delete it, it is a virus. It also stops you from launching task manager.
  nogi  

More comments can be found here:
    (further information)

dllhost scanner

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