Evaluating the various processes running in the background of my system is almost a ritual for me, something I do on a continuous basis, just to ensure that there are no malicious files or programs amongst them. Typically I’d used Windows Task Manager, despite the various alternatives, because of its efficiency and ease of use. Starting Windows Task Manager is a simple process, simply right click on the Taskbar and select Start Task Manager, once it loads up, click on the Processes Tab and observe.

Have you had to contend with your CPU being at 100% utilisation for extended periods of time? It’s not an uncommon scenario for the msmpeng.exe process to unexpectedly consume large portions of available CPU resources. So what exactly is the msmpeng.exe process and what measures are available to you, to rectify the various associated issues.

The rtvscan.exe process is an integral part of the Symantec Internet Security Suite responsible for the real-time scanning component of the application. Its duties are to detect malicious code hidden within files before they get onto your system. This works by the rtvscan.exe file scanning the file(s) as and when they are first copied to your system, notifying the user when or if it detects a suspicious file.

Wfcrun32.exe is a legitimate file that is known as Citrix Connection Manager. This process is associated with Citrix software, as you may have already guessed, an online plug-in application, created by Citrix Systems. The purpose of this file is to ensure all other applications are working as they should.

The igfxsrvc.exe process is an integral component of the Intel graphics accelerator and on-board graphics chipset drivers. Although not nearly as powerful as the more notable Nvidia and AMD graphics cards, these on-board graphics media accelerators are able to produce a fairly impressive gaming experience. This particular process is supported on a wide range of Windows based operating systems, such as Windows XP/7/8/8.1.

Ifrmewrk.exe is the Intel PRO/Set Wireless WiFi Framework which is used for setting up, managing and editing network profiles, used to connect to a network. This component also has additional advanced features such as channel selection (used for setting up ad-hoc networks) and power management. Through the WiFi Connection Utility, users are able to monitor their current connection details, such as connection speed, signal quality etc, users can also scan for available WiFi networks and troubleshoot problems with their current connection.

Mcshield.exe is a non-system process that is a part of the McAfee Anti-Virus program. This process is considered safe, for the most part, posing little to no threat to your system. That said, there are a number of issues users report having with this process, all of which I hope to explain in this post.

There are a number of valid reasons why you may be reading this post, you may have stumbled upon the splwow64.exe process while looking through Windows Task Manager and wondered what it was, why it was running on your computer, or whether it was a virus. Additionally, you could have come face to face with a splwow64.exe related error, either way; this file is not a virus, so you needn’t worry there.