What is CCC.exe?

CCC.exe is the ATI Catalyst Control Center.  Catalyst Control Center is part of your video card drivers and packaged software for an ATI family of video cards.  It adds features that allow you to quickly change your display settings, monitor layout, etc.  It’s not spyware or malware, unless you notice it is running outside of the C:\Program Files\ATI Technology folder, in which case you should investigate further.

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What is conhost.exe?

The conhost.exe process fixes a fundamental problem in the way previous versions of Microsoft Windows handled console windows.  In Windows Vista, this caused drag and drop to work incorrectly.

While scanning your system regularly for viruses and malware is certainly recommended, the good new is as long as conhost.exe is running from the system32 folder, and is signed by Microsoft it’s not a virus or file you should be worried about.

What does conhost.exe do?

Fundamentally there’s a problem with the way the console process works on previous versions of Windows, such as Windows Vista. Previously they were hosted under the csrss.exe (Client Server Runtime Process) service. This process runs as a system-privileged account.

You may have noticed that the console window in Windows XP doesn’t even use the active theme. It’s completely ignored. This is because the CSRSS process doesn’t have the ability to be themed.

In Windows Vista, it appears to use the same theme as everything else, but you’ll notice that the scrollbars are still using the old style. This is because the DWM (Desktop Window Manager) process handles drawing the title bars, but underneath it still works the same way, and the scrollbars are part of the window itself.

You’ll also notice that Windows Vista broke the ability to drag and drop files from Explorer straight into the command prompt. This is because of security issues between the CSRSS process running with a higher level of privileges.

Windows 7 Changes Everything

Checking it out in Process Explorer under Windows 7 shows that the conhost.exe process is running underneath the csrss.exe process.

The conhost.exe process sitting in the middle between CSRSS and cmd.exe allows Windows 7 to fix both of the problems in previous versions of Windows—not only do the scrollbars draw correctly, but you can actually drag and drop a files from Explorer straight into the command prompt:

And it’ll paste in the path onto the command line. (of course this example isn’t very useful).

More Information

If you really want to be sure, check out the file properties for the conhost.exe executable, and you’ll see that the description says Console Window Host:

If you look at the details of the process from within Process Explorer, you’ll notice that the ComSpec is set to cmd.exe, a clear indication that it’s hosting the command prompt.

And that explains what the conhost.exe process does.  It’s not spyware, a virus, or malware!

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Bill Gates: I prefer PC’s over Mac’s because there’s a lot more software available for Windows.

Steve Jobs: So long as you include anti-virus and anti-spyware programs.

It just doesn’t get much truer than that boys!

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Note: This process disables the Offline Files feature which is not available in Home versions of Vista or Windows 7

What Is It?

Mobsync.exe is a process that belongs to Microsoft Sync Center and the Offline Files feature. It’s associated with a device like a Windows Mobile phone with ActiveSync, a SQL Server installation, or if you have Internet Explorer (a feature in IE 6 not in IE7 or above) set to synchronize pages for viewing offline. The process is not a threat and shouldn’t be deleted if you’re using the feature. If you go into Control Panel, you can launch Sync Center and manage its settings.

If it gets activated for using Offline Files, it will show up in the taskbar in Vista and Windows 7.

How Do I Turn it Off?

So you’re  not sure how the heck it got turned on, and want it off. You could go into Task Manager each time and end the process, but that is extremely annoying.

Disable mobsync.exe in Windows 7

Click on the Start Menu and enter offline files into the search box and hit Enter.

In the Offline Files window click the Disable offline files button then click Ok.

You’ll need to restart the computer for the new setting to take effect. After a reboot, the Sync Center icon should be gone and not be running in Task Manger.

Disable in Vista

Open Control Panel and select Network and Internet.

Next click on Offline Files.

In the Offline Files window, click on the Disable Offline Files button and click Ok.

A restart is required and after that, it should be disabled and you won’t see it in the Taskbar or running in Task Manager.

If you have a home version of Vista or Windows 7, you will see mobsync.exe running in task manager, but closing out of Sync Center should stop the process. If you were using Sync Center and ActiveSync to manage a mobile device and no longer need it, you can uninstall ActiveSync software and it should stop mobsync.exe as well.

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What it is, is a simple little process that runs all the time, just to check once a week, or once a month to check if there is a Java update available (from Sun Microsystems, who makes the Java VM). The whole rest of the time it is running, it simply wastes memory on your machine.

If you’re like me, then you hate wasting memory on your machine. Espcially on a Windows based machine. So let’s get rid of it!

What you’ll need to do is open up Control Panel, and then if you are in XP you can click on the Java icon, or in Vista you can click on Additional Options, and then click on Java.

Once you have the Java Control Panel open, select the Update tab, and then uncheck the box for “Check for Updates Automatically”

You’ll receive a warning message stating that if somebody finds a security hole in Java that it will take up to a month before you are protected from it:

After you click the Never Check button above, you’ll probably receive this error message if you are in Windows Vista, stating that it also hasn’t been properly certified to work with Vista in the first place. Just click that it works correctly.

That’s it, you’re done. Kiss jusched.exe bye! Now, just remember to go to Java.com every so often and check for an update. I’d suggest once every couple of months will be fine.

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Uninstallation

The entire IntelliPoint or IntelliType software can be easily uninstalled by opening Add/Remove programs, selecting Microsoft IntelliType in the list, and choosing to uninstall. Note that removal of the software will remove functionality that you might be used to, and isn’t necessarily recommended.

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General Information

This process is the core executable for IntelliPoint. It is not a threat, and should not necessarily be removed or deleted, as long as it’s installed in the normal location.

File Location

The process is usually installed in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft IntelliPoint directory, but depending on your installation it could be located in a different place.

Manufacturer

This process is created by Microsoft

Uninstallation

The entire IntelliPoint or IntelliType software can be easily uninstalled by opening Add/Remove programs, selecting Microsoft IntelliPoint in the list, and choosing to uninstall. Note that removal of the software will remove functionality that you might be used to, and isn’t necessarily recommended.

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