Many users online are reporting about the process named rundll32 exe in the Task Manager. But most of the users don’t know whether it is a Windows process they don’t know about or it’s a virus that harms the system. The threat about rundll32 exe is in the mind of the people as many hackers and other cyber attackers are using the name of rundll32 exe process to form a malicious malware or virus to attack the people so we would recommend you to install a reliable antivirus program on your system to protect your system from such attacks. But actually, rundll32 exe is not a virus then what it is. Let’s dig deep into this article.
What is the rundll32 exe process in my Task Manager?
FYI, RunDLL32 exe file is a DLL file and here, DLL stands for Dynamic-link library. If you happen to know something about the technical language or if you are a tech geek who peeps into the system files randomly to explore that you might have seen many DLL files in the system. So what these DLL files do is to store and save application log entities. These stored application logic entities are used by the application at a time when they are run by the users. Sometimes some applications do not work properly if its required DLL file is missing or in case if an application is unable to reach out to its DLL file.
So Rundll32.exe is the genuine Windows system process that uses DLLs and puts their data and entities into the memories of the system so any application can easily use them when needed. Rundll.exe process program is significant and necessary as it ensures the smooth and secure function of applications on your Windows so we recommend you not disabling it. Rundll32 Exe is not a virus but is a useful tool for the system. In other words, it helps in the execution of the DLL files because the system cannot use the DLL file directly without requiring rundll32 exe. So this process is necessary and you could not be able to use any application on your computer without rundll32 exe.
Can I disable the rundll32.exe process?
Now if we say yes, you can stop the rundll32 Exe process then your questions would be “should I disable rundll32 exe” or “how to stop rundll32.exe process.” But you should keep in mind that disabling the rundll32 exe process on your system would affect the other functions of your system. Sometimes disabling the rundll32.exe process may also lead to complete non-function of the application, unstable system performance, and restart the system. So we do not recommend you to kill the rudll32.exe process on your Windows through the Task Manager or any other method.
Is rundll32 exe a virus? Can rundll32.exe harm my Windows system?
The answer to this question would be bipolar as the rundll.exe process is actually carried out by a .exe file. Here, .exe means executable file and in the Windows system, many times such executable files may contain malware or some virus may disguise them as the system file. So, rundll32 exe can be a virus and cannot be a virus. There are some ways to find out if the file or process you are looking for is malware or not.
How to find if rundll32.exe is a virus or not?
The first thing you need to do is go and search for the location to ensure rundll32 exe you are seeing in the Task Manager is located at the system file or not. So search for “rundll32.exe” in the search tool of the system check whether it is stored in System32, WinSxS, or SysWOW64 system folders in the C drive. To double-check, open the properties of the file and check the description saying “windows host process (rundll32)”. If you do not find the .exe file in some other place then it could be a virus or malware.
If you see two processes running with the same name of rundll32.exe then it is guaranteed that you are looking at the virus rundll32 exe. You can also check the properties of the process directly from the Task Manager to find out which one is the system process and which one is a malware. So we would recommend you to use a genuine and reliable antivirus tool to protect your system from such malware.
Final Words:
So if you are seeing a single process on your system with the name rundll32.exe then you do not need to worry about it but if you find out the two processes with the same name or a file is located at a folder other than system then run the full scan using your antivirus software. This is the only way of removing the rundll32 exe virus from the system.