High CPU Usage by COM Surrogate

Question

Can somebody help me!!! I am in a trouble with "COM Surrogate". I formatted my pc but it didn't work.

CPU is Intel Core I7-3630QM and RAM is 12 GB. I use windows 8.1 Single Language.

Answer 1

Hi DJLef,

It has been a while since you posted your message, but I think, it will also help others. I had the same problem and found out that it was only a Windows 7 problem, and fixed it as follows:

1. Deactivate the "intermediate storage" of thumbnails under Windows 7.
2. Download the software "Process Monitor": http://www.chip.de/downloads/Process-Monitor\_22625020.html
3. Start "Process Monitor": There you will find the file on which dllhost.exe attempts to get access over and over again. In my case it was an .avi file on my Desktop.
4. When you have found your file, remove the file from your computer.

The problem should be solved!

Good luck!

ks

Answer 2

Today, a new update was installed by my pc automatically and when I restarted the pc, I saw that the problem was solved. Thanks a lot for your attention.

Answer 3

Hi Mansur,

Were there any changes (hardware or software) made to the computer prior to the issue?

The dllhost.exe process goes by the name COM Surrogate and the only time you're likely even to notice its existence is when it crashes and you get the message COM Surrogate has stopped working.

The COM Surrogate is a fancy name for Sacrificial process for a COM object that is run outside of the process that requested it. Explorer uses the COM Surrogate when extracting thumbnails, for example. If you go to a folder with thumbnails enabled, Explorer will fire off a COM Surrogate and use it to compute the thumbnails for the documents in the folder. It does this because Explorer has learned not to trust thumbnail extractors; they have a poor track record for stability.

 Explorer has decided to absorb the performance penalty in exchange for the improved reliability resulting in moving these dodgy bits of code out of the main Explorer process. When the thumbnail extractor crashes, the crash destroys the COM Surrogate process instead of Explorer.

Perform SFC(System File Checker) scan and see if it helps.

**http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833/en-us**

Please reply if you have any questions.

Answer 4

I performed that and I received the following message

but problem still exist. When I open some folders, CPU usage of COM Surrogate is getting higher (about 15%-20%). By the way, I didn't receive any crashing message. I set up windows again yesterday but this issue didn't change.

Answer 5

Hi Mansur,

Place the computer in clean boot and check if it helps in getting the issue resolved.

To help troubleshoot error messages and other issues, you can start Windows 8.1 by using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. This kind of startup is known as a "clean boot." A clean boot helps eliminate software conflicts.

**How to perform a clean boot in Windows**

Note: Check the title “How to reset the computer to start as usual after clean boot troubleshooting” for reverting to normal mode.

Please reply if you have any questions.