COM Surrogate. What is this process and how to eliminate errors associated with it?

As you know, any version of Windows is not immune to critical failures, which can even be caused by system processes. One of these is COM Surrogate. Few people can imagine what this is, for example, in the same “Task Manager”. And it is this service that can cause quite serious errors that can lead to a complete crash. Despite all this, dealing with such manifestations can be quite simple. But to understand the methods used to troubleshoot problems, you first need to understand what kind of system component it is and what it is responsible for. For many, the solutions proposed below will allow us to get rid of many problems associated with both the operation of this service and the constant freezes 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 are something between a system applet and a multimedia application control element.

How can I 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, it is a process responsible for starting multimedia programs and playing such content. The system library and the dllhost executable file (COM Surrogate) are responsible for it. What it is in terms of process is not difficult to guess if you analyze the functioning of the component itself.

Which COM object is a COM surrogate

The standard Windows Task Manager won't give you much information about which COM object or DLL file is being processed by the COM surrogate. If you want to see this information, we recommend Microsoft Process Explorer. Download it and you can simply navigate to the dllhost.exe process in Process Explorer to see what COM object or DLL file it hosts.

As we can see in the screenshot above, this particular dllhost.exe process is bound to explorer.exe.

How can stopping a process harm the system?

Many users are experiencing an increase in the load on system resources. Typically, if it is not a virus, but a standard process, the use of RAM and processor does not exceed fifty percent. But completing the process can lead to quite serious failures.

After completing this process, you can even get 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, which are available in the operating system itself (there are currently no third-party tools).

How to solve dllhost exe com surrogate error problem

So, the dllhost exe com surrogate error occurred. Let's look at a few simple examples that will allow us to eliminate this type of error and normalize the operation of the computer. If the cause is outdated codecs, they must be removed. They are the ones who provoke incorrect operation of the system when processing certain files. Often problems arise only with a specific format. Therefore, it is better to remove old codecs, and then download and install new ones. To do this you will need to run the following commands:

Right-click on the “Start” menu and select the “Programs and Features” tab;
Next, a codec patch is selected. There are two varieties of them: K-Lite Codec Pack or TheHDvid-Codec. Right-click on the shortcut and delete.
after which a new version of Kodak is found, downloaded and installed. You can download them here https://k-lite-codec-pack.org.ua/skachat-k-lite-codec-pack

If it is clear that the problem is in the com surrogate process, and at the same time your computer is significantly slowing down, then you can use the “Data Execution Prevention” function to fix it. To do this you need to do the following:

Select the system in the main context menu.
Click on additional options.
Select the “Advanced” tab. After which we need the “Performance” tab, where the “Options” button is selected.
after that we need to go to the desired tab and activate the option “Enable DEP for everyone except”;
below you need to insert the path C:WindowsSystem32dllhost.exe.

After this, all windows close and the Windows system must be restarted.

How to remove the error when the com surrogate program does not work if the problem is directly related to damaged files? Let's use the Resource Monitor component. To do this you need to do the following:

Open the main menu and type your query in the search bar.
Check dllhost.exe;
At the next stage, the “Descriptors” tab is expanded;
There is a line with the entry “Error”;
After which this file is selected and deleted.
Read also: RAW images and Android: everything you need to know

Another option would be to fix the error using the DISM utility. To do this you will need:

Windows 7 error (COM Surrogate): the simplest fix method

The main method for correcting errors is to go to the standard “Control Panel” and in the system section use the settings for additional parameters.

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 system reboot will be required. Perhaps the load on system resources will then decrease.

How to fix the problem?

When an element that the user wants to launch (photo, movie) is broken, an error message “Working has stopped” appears. But to make sure we're doing the right thing, let's check:

You need to launch the Resource Monitor application using the Windows search bar;
A new window will open with different graphs. Select the “CPU” menu and find the “exe” element in the list of processes. After that, click on this process to find out more details about it, which will be displayed at the bottom of the window;
When you find the handle and the path to the movie or image you want to delete becomes clear to you. This action will help clear the error.

Processes associated with the dllhost file

But the above actions sometimes have no effect. In Windows 8, COM Surrogate may also cause an error due to the software not meeting system requirements.

For example, quite often crashes can occur due to the KMPlayer player. Reviews from some users on the Internet even suggest that in order to fix problems, you have to remove a set of K-Lite codecs and decoders or their analogues.

Instead of the standard version, it is better to install the extended one (Mega Codec Pack), but only after completely uninstalling the previous version.

It is better to perform removal not using the operating system tools, but to use uninstaller programs that have an in-depth scanning module for residual objects in the form of directories, files and entries in the system registry. Only in this case is a complete uninstallation guaranteed (Windows’ own tools do not completely remove everything).

Uninstalling codecs

Open the “This PC” folder and in the upper right corner you will see a link to the “Uninstall/Change Programs” action. Click on it:

Find the K-Lite utility or any other utility in the list whose name contains the word “Codec”, and click the “Uninstall” button:

Another method is also relevant for Windows 10: right-click on the “Start” button (or press Win + X) and in the menu that appears, select the very first item – “Applications and features”:

After completing the procedure, be sure to restart the PC.

Has the situation changed for the better? Then let's look at a few more solutions.

What should you never do?

Actually, this is the COM Surrogate service. What kind of applet this is, 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 terminate the process in the “Task Manager” (the system will simply “crash” if there are unresolved errors). Second: under no circumstances should you delete the dllhost.exe file from the System32 folder.

With such actions, even after checking system components for their integrity with the sfc /scannow command, there will be no positive result. You can, of course, try to restore the system or load the last known good configuration, but it is far from certain that functionality will be restored.

Virus check

If none of these methods help, there is a possibility that your computer is infected with viruses. I recommend following the standard procedure:

Press Win + R and enter the command in the line:

%temp%

A folder containing temporary items will be displayed. They all need to be removed:

Download two free utilities – AdwCleaner and CCleaner. The first one does not need installation - just run it and wait for the check to complete. Detected threats will be shown in the report:

Then we move on to using the second utility to clean up traces of the malicious script in the system registry. Detailed instructions (video) can be viewed here.

Now you know COM Surrogate how to remove an error associated with a virus or other reasons. We found out what kind of process this is, but if you have questions on the topic, feel free to ask them under this post in the comments.

Sincerely, Victor!

Results

That's it for the COM Surrogate service. What it is is already clear. Finally, it is especially worth drawing the attention of all users to the fact that it is not recommended to perform any manipulations with the process itself and the file responsible for its execution (unless, of course, you want the operating system to stop working).

If these actions are impossible due to lack of rights to change system parameters, it is advisable to reduce the level of UAC control. The section itself can be found quite simply through the search system, and in the window that appears, the slider that sets security priorities needs to be moved to the lowest position.

Otherwise, I think there should be no problems. This applies to understanding the service itself, the principles of its operation, and the methods that are used in the event of its forced stop. But sometimes even the most ordinary reboot of a stationary computer terminal or laptop helps with short-term failures. But on mobile devices with Windows, no such problems were noticed on board, so these issues were not considered at all (there is no system file in mobile OSes as such).

Virus removal

When the COM Surrogate program stops working due to a virus infection, that is, you were able to initially diagnose the presence of the pest based on the symptoms presented at the beginning of the article, it is necessary to eliminate the lesion. The easiest way is to use Microsoft Security Essentials. The principle of operation is elementary, you need to download it from the link https://windows.microsoft.com/ru-ru/windows/security-essentials-download. After installation, go to “Scan Settings” and set the “Custom” option, then start scanning.