As you know, any version of Windows is not immune from the emergence of critical failures that can be caused even by system processes. One such is COM Surrogate. What is it, for example, in the same "Task Manager", few people imagine. And it is this service that can cause quite serious errors that can lead to complete failure. Despite all this, it is quite simple to deal with such manifestations. But to understand the methods used for troubleshooting, first you need to figure out what kind of system component it is and what it is responsible for. The solutions proposed below will help many to get rid of many problems associated with the operation of this service, and with the constant hangs of the operating system due to failures that it can provoke.
COM Surrogate process : what is it?
The process itself and the EXE file responsible for its execution is a cross between the system applet and the multimedia application control element.
How to explain this? Let's look at the COM Surrogate system process (Windows 7 x64). What it is? This is a service for launching applications that use COM + rules for the IIS environment in which commands are executed. On the one hand, as already mentioned, this is a system service, on the other hand, a process responsible for launching multimedia programs and playing such content. The system library and the dllhost (COM Surrogate) executable are responsible for it. What is this in terms of the process, it is easy to guess if you analyze the functioning of the component itself.
What could harm the termination of the process to the system?
Many users observe an increase in the load on system resources. Usually, if it is not a virus, but a standard process, the use of RAM and a processor does not exceed fifty percent. But the completion of the process can lead to quite serious failures.
Having completed this process, you can even get the appearance of the so-called blue screen of death, which is fraught with serious consequences. In this case, you will have to have some means of eliminating errors of this kind that are available in the operating system itself (third-party tools currently exist).
Windows 7 Error (COM Surrogate): Simplest Fix Method
The main method of error correction is to go into the standard “Control Panel” and use the settings for additional parameters in the system section.
Here you need to go to the data execution prevention tab and stop using DEP for all programs by activating the line below and making changes to the list by adding the dllhost.exe file (it is located in the System32 directory). Upon completion of all actions, a complete reboot of the system is required. Perhaps the load on system resources after this will decrease.
Processes associated with the dllhost file
But the above actions sometimes do not give an effect. In Windows 8, COM Surrogate may also cause an error due to a software mismatch with system requirements.
So, for example, quite often failures can occur due to the KMPlayer player. Reviews of some users on the Internet even say that to fix problems you have to delete a set of codecs and decoders K-Lite or their analogues.
Instead of the standard version, it is better to install the advanced (Mega Codec Pack), but only after the complete removal of the previous version.
Removing it is better not to use the tools of the operating system, but to use uninstaller programs, in which there is a module for in-depth scanning of residual objects in the form of directories, files and entries in the system registry. Only in this case, a complete uninstallation is guaranteed (Windows native toolkit does not completely remove everything).
What can not be done in any case?
Actually, this is the COM Surrogate service. What kind of applet, I think, is at least a little clear. Now it is necessary to consider those actions that cannot be performed under any circumstances.
The first condition: it is strictly forbidden to complete the process in the "Task Manager" (the system will simply "crash" if there are unresolved errors). Second: in no case can you delete the dllhost.exe file from the System32 folder.
With such actions, even after checking the system components for their integrity, the sfc / scannow command will not give a positive result. You can, of course, try to restore the system or load the last successful configuration, but it’s far from the fact that the functionality will be restored.
Summary
That's it for the COM Surrogate service. What it is is already clear. Finally, it is especially worthwhile to draw the attention of all users to the fact that it is not recommended to perform any kind of manipulations with the process itself and the file responsible for its execution at all (unless, of course, you want the operating system to stop working).
If these actions are not possible due to the lack of rights to change system parameters, you may be advised to lower the level of UAC control. The section itself can be easily found through the search system, and in the window that appears, the slider that sets the security priorities must be moved to the lowest position.
The rest, I think, should not be a problem. This also applies to the understanding of the service itself, and the principles of its work, and the methods that are used in case of its forced stop. But sometimes even with short-term failures even the most ordinary reboot of a stationary computer terminal or laptop helps. But on mobile devices with Windows on board such problems were not noticed, therefore, these issues were not considered at all (there is no system file in mobile OS as such).