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Display Name (?):

Remote Procedure Call (RPC)

Short Name (?):

RpcSs

Executable (?):

svchost.exe

Library (?):

rpcss.dll

Depends On (?):

None.

Supports (?):

Background Intelligent Transfer Service, Biometric Resource Manager, Castle Service, Certificate Propagation, COM+ Event System, Computer Data Synchronization Manager, COM+ System Application, Cryptographic Services, Digital ID Management Service, Diskeeper, Distributed Link Tracking Client, Distributed Link Tracking Server, Distributed Transaction Coordinator, DNS Server, Error Reporting Service, Fax, Fax Service, File Replication, Group Policy Client, Help and Support, Human Interface Device Access, Indexing Service, Infrared Monitor, Internet Authentication Service, IPSEC Policy Agent, IPSEC Services, IPv6 Helper Service, Kerberos Key Distribution Center, Layer 2 Service, Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service, Logical Disk Manager, Machine Debug Manager, Message Queuing, Messenger, MS Software Shadow Copy Provider, Network Connections, Network Provisioning Service, Offline Files Service, On-line Presentation Broadcast, Print Spooler, Protected Storage, QoS RSVP, Remote Administration Service, Remote Desktop Help Session Manager, Remote Registry, Remote Server Manager, Remote Storage Engine, Remote Storage File, Remote Storage Media, Remote Storage Notification, Remote Storage Server, Removable Storage, Resultant Set of Policy Provider, RIP Listener, Routing and Remote Access, SafeDocs Restore Service, SAM WinFS Account Store, Security Accounts Manager, Security Center, Shell Hardware Detection, Smartcard Removal Policy, System Maintenance Service, System Restore Service, Task Scheduler, Telephony, Telnet, Terminal Server Licensing, Terminal Services, Volume Shadow Copy, Web Element Manager, Windows Audio, Windows Image Acquisition (WIA), Windows Installer, Windows Internet Name Service (WINS), Windows Management Instrumentation, Windows Media Connect (WMC) Helper, Windows Media Monitor Service, Windows Media Program Service, Windows Media Services, Windows Media Station Service, Windows Media Unicast Service, Windows User Mode Driver Framework, Wireless Configuration, Wireless Zero Configuration, WMI.jobs, WMI Performance Adapter

Description (?):

Provides the endpoint mapper and other miscellaneous RPC services.

OS (?):

2000 Professional, XP Home/Professional, Vista Home/Business, 2000 Server, Server 2003, Vista Server

Startup (?):

Default	Home	Workstation	Server	Minimal	Tweaked	Automatic
Automatic	Automatic	Automatic	Automatic	Automatic	Automatic	Automatic

Explanation (?):

The Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service is used in supporting a UNIX standard that allows for network library sharing. What is known as a portmapper function is used in creating access point procedures that allow for external applications to connect through this service so that they may use its resources. Once a port has been mapped any program that uses the correct syntax may access through this service and have access to its functions. In simplistic terms this allows one computer to execute commands on another computer using a set standard through port 135.

As you may have guessed this has the ability to be a security risk. Actually, the RPC ability on UNIX has been such too, but luckily NT has not been affected by it which most likely be attributed to the fact that Microsoft does not document this service very well. As such very few applications actually use it. In Windows 9x this service is supported through the use of rpcss.exe and can be found in version 2.0 of the winsock.

But, even though this service is designed mainly for network functions and is not used by 3rd party functions it is imperative that you do not disable this service. In fact you should always leave this service set to automatic. This is due to the design of the client/server NT kernel that uses the RPC system to pass itself data from different modules much like it uses DCOM and COM+. In fact, by disabling this service your NT based system will be unable to coordinate actions between the user's profile and the kernel making your system unusable.