cthelper.exe information

Information and startup locations can be examined on this page: verify all your files to make sure that they are legitimate, digitally signed and from the company Creative Technology Ltd to which they should belong. cthelper.exe security and file info CtHelper Application - CtHelper Application - Creative Technology Ltd Filetype : exe What is cthelper.exe? Cthelper.exe is a part of the Creative SoundBlaster drivers. Its purpose is to provide third party software with an interface through which developers can create plugins and utilize advanced features of the card. This process is not critical to the operation of the system and is safe to kill or disable. Note, however, that killing this process may prevent certain applications from using your sound card, including many audio and video codecs. Dangers of cthelper As this is a common program that is installed on most systems with a Creative SoundBlaster sound card, it is common for virus writers and spyware vendors to disguise their malware as the genuine cthelper.exe. Some malicious files may have the same name as this process but be stored somewhere other than in %SystemRoot%\System32. Other malware may use a name that appears similar but has slight differences in spelling or with appended digits. The following malware is known to disguise itself as this process: W32/Rbot-XI (%SystemRoot%) This is a Trojan horse that allows a remote attacker to gain full control over an infected system via IRC. It is known to spread via the RPC DCOM vulnerability in Windows XP (before Service Pack 1). W32/Rbot-XB (%SystemRoot%\System32) This is a Trojan horse that allows a remote attacker to gain full control over an infected system via IRC. It is known to spread via the RPC DCOM vulnerability in Windows XP. There is typically no more than one instance of cthelper.exe running at a given time. The presence of more than one instance of this process in the Task Manager may be an indicator of a malware infection. Furthermore, if you do not have a Creative sound card, you should never see this process anywhere on your system. Common problems Cthelper hangs when shutting down the system This is known to occur in Windows Vista. Try updating your sound card drivers. If the problem persists, you may wish to disable the process. Cthelper.exe uses 100% CPU time This is known to occur in isolated cases. Try updating your sound card drivers. If the problem persists, disable the process. Possible error for this file: Application error, the application has generated errors and will be closed by windows Our recommendation:  Click here to run a FREE Scan for CTHELPER.EXE related errors

MD5 File security rating

A MD5 hash is a unique fingerprint of a file. Different files/versions can have the same filenames. The MD5 hash verifies that the legitimate file is not altered. Runscanner (Freeware) can help you checking the file's MD5 hashes Cthelper.exe files in Runscanner database   46 different item(s) in database   5 different item(s) in database   15 different item(s) in database Green items are verified safe to use Unrated items are not yet checked for safety. Red items are not safe (typically virusses, spyware or other malware) This file is digitally signed by it's publisher. This means that the file is from the company claiming to created it, this does not mean by default that the file is safe

General file info

Product name:  CtHelper Application Description:  CtHelper Application Company:  Creative Technology Ltd Fix CTHELPER.EXE errors:  Free registry scan

Pacman startup database

CTHELPER is a background task that is a plug-in manager for Creative drivers. The theory is that 3rd party manufacturers can use the CTHELPER plug-in interface to produce drivers, add-on features, and fixes that will integrate with a tighter fit with Creative's sound drivers and utilities. Given its purpose CTHELPER would normally be classified as a "leave alone" background task. It also allows Creative speaker setup to be synchronized with Windows Control Panel speaker setting. Without it running that check box in Creative speaker setting is not functional (settings are not in sync). Unfortunately there are often problems with CTHELPER, most notably that it can use 100% of CPU time so it's best left disabled unless you need it Added by the RBOT-XB WORM! Note - do not confuse with the Creative application of the same name described here info provided by sysinfo.org