File description |
Cthelper.exe with description CtHelper Application is a process file from company Creative Technology Ltd belonging to product CtHelper Application.
The file is
digitally signed from Creative Labs Inc - VeriSign Time Stamping Services Signer
We do not recommend removing digitally signed files from Creative Labs Inc
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.
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Automatic startup locations |
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001 Running Processes |
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002 Autorun registry entries local machine |
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003 Autorun registry entries Current User |
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034 Winlogon Shell |
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140 Windows\run |
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Digital signatures found for this file |
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Signer of certificate |
Issuer of certificate |
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Creative Labs Inc |
VeriSign Time Stamping Services Signer |
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Creative Labs Inc |
VeriSign Time Stamping Services Signer - G2 |
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Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher |
Microsoft Timestamping Service |
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Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher |
VeriSign Time Stamping Service |
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Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher |
VeriSign Time Stamping Services Signer |
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MD5 security rating in our database |
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64 |
files (Not yet rated
and
not
signed) |
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8 |
files (Safe
and
not
signed) |
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22 |
files (Safe
and
digitally
signed) |
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Some versions of this filename have not yet been checked for safety.
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| Warning: Some malware might rename itself to cthelper.exe. Always make sure that your file is from a verified publisher. |
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Application errors |
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