searchprotocolhost.exe task purpose and description:

SearchProtocolHost.exe is a executable software module that may have been preinstalled on your computer. The exact folder location for this file is also listed below, always verify the file and location as spyware and virus writers often use similiar named files and place them elsewhere on your computer. This software program is from Microsoft, and you may see this running continuously in the background on your tasklist. If you see this and see it consuming a huge amount of resources (or if it is slowing your computer down, you can run services.msc and disable it). This was an old issue that Microsoft was reportedly trying to fix, so hopefully this is no longer an issue. You may see this appear in your tasklist if you recently installed Microsoft software (like Microsoft Office, etc.). This software file is considered safe and is not virus or spyware related. (See the details below for the actual location of this file.)

Actual process or task name: (You can view alphabetical task list here)
searchprotocolhost.exe

File type:
This is an executable program.

Where is this file and folder located on my computer?
The actual disk location of this program is: C:\Windows\system32\SearchProtocolHost.exe

General information:
Be aware that many tasks will be similiar names to existing tasks or processes. You can always view the running tasks on your computer by pressing ctrl-alt-del to view the windows "task manager", and then view the "processes" tab. This will show you all tasks running or currently active on your PC. Although this shows you all running tasks, it does not show dll file thats are loaded, as they get loaded as part of other processes. Many spyware writers attempt to hide their files on your computer, for example, searchprotocolhost.exe may be intentionally misspelled to look like a similiar task, or spyware may be named very similiar to a Windows system task. The reason they do this is so you cannot easily recognize the name in your tasklist as I have mentioned above. Make sure always check the location of the file if you are concerned. You can always find the location of searchprotocolhost.exe on your computer by using your Windows search options, but I will also try to list the file location of every file described on this website, so you can verify the correct location. You can view the entire tasklist directory with the link below.

View entire task list here!