Windows Services

• Windows services are simply programs that start when Windows boots and run unobtrusively in the background. Many of them are executable files, but others require a launcher--svchost.exe--to assemble program modules from DLL files.
  
  

Location

• The executable file svchost.exe is usually located in the C:\Windows\System32 folder. It checks the Windows Registry--a database that stores configuration settings--for a list of services to load when Windows starts up.
  
  

Viewing Services

• The services managed, or hosted, by svchost.exe can be viewed by running the Tasklist.exe utility within Windows XP Professional or the Process Explorer within Windows XP Home Editions. Windows Defender, the free anti-spyware software for Microsoft, uses a process that is hosted by svchost.exe.