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Display Name (?):

Shell Hardware Detection

Short Name (?):

ShellHWDetection

Executable (?):

svchost.exe

Library (?):

shsvcs.dll

Depends On (?):

Remote Procedure Call (RPC)

Supports (?):

None.

Description (?):

Provides notifications for AutoPlay hardware events.

OS (?):

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

Startup (?):

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

Explanation (?):

The shell hardware detection service is used in monitoring floppy drives, CD drives, DVD drives, digital cameras, web cams, hard-drives, ZIP drives, and other internal and external peripherals. This service is especially important for autorun features and turning this service off will cause all autorun options to be disabled. However, removing this service can have very unexpected results as it is very entwined in the Windows subsystem. Disabling it may cause your computer to slow down greatly and have random drive access attempts on drives (such as your floppy). For this reason you should be sure to have this service set to automatic. Setting this service to manual can also cause odd behavior.