What is the "dllhost.exe" process on Windows 8? Is the "dllhost.exe" process a virus? Can I terminate the "dllhost.exe" process?

"dllhost.exe - COM Surrogate" process for "COM+ System Application" services manages the configuration and tracking of Component Object Model (COM)+-based components. If the service is stopped, most COM+-based components will not function properly.

"dllhost.exe" process is created by "svchost.exe" process.

On the Processes tab of "Task Manager", "dllhost.exe" process may be listed as:

Image Name   PID   Memory    Description

dllhost.exe  5772  22,520 K  COM Surrogate

Additional information about "dllhost.exe" process:

Command line:
   C:\Windows\system32\DllHost.exe 
   /Processid:{76D0CB12-7604-4048-B83C-1005C7DDC503}
   
Started by: svchost.exe

Files used:
C:\Program Files\Windows Photo Viewer\en-US\PhotoViewer.dll.mui
C:\Users\...\AppData\Local\Temp
C:\Windows\Fonts\StaticCache.dat
C:\Windows\Fonts\segoeui.ttf
C:\Windows\Fonts\segoeuib.ttf
C:\Windows\System32
C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color\sRGB Color Space Profile.icm

Registry keys: 
HKCU\Software\Classes
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Direct3D
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Direct3D\Drivers
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options
HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\GraphicsDrivers\Scheduler
HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Nls
HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Session Manager

"dllhost.exe" process is not a virus. You should not terminate "dllhost.exe" process.

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