Data Exchange Host

Hello everyone,

I have a rather ambiguous inquiry. A process named 'Data Exchange Host' occasionally pops up under my task manager processes. It doesn't run at start up and doesn't appear commonly but has left me confused as I can't figure out what's causing it to start. According to google the process is related to virtual machines, which I do not use. I was suspicious that malware might be causing it and reinstalled my windows a week ago (PC was already due for a clean install), though the process still appears occasionally. Since the fresh install I have not downloaded or installed anything risky and haven't surfed shady websites that might infect my PC so I'm ruling out malware. The bulk of software on my system is from windows updates and official drivers/programs from my hardware's manufacturers.

Is there a way to figure out what's prompting the process to run?

 

You need to say what your system is - desktop or laptop. Also if it is a branded system, what the name and full model number is and what Operating System it uses.
Data Exchange Host is normally part of Hyper-V which most systems have.
Here is a (long) article explaining it.
https://www.altaro.com/hyper-v/hyper-v-key-value-pair-data-exchange-part-1-explanation/

 

OS is Windows 10 Pro, build 1709 (I got it from microsoft's media creation tool). Desktop system, not branded.

I keep the Hyper-V services disabled.

 

In your BIOS have you got Hardware Virtualization support enabled ( might be called Virtualization technology,or vtx ) ?
If so try disabling if you do not use, or, intend to use Hyper-V.
Otherwise, check that the relevent box is unticked -- (Turn Windows features on and off- the opposite of the turn on instructions- make sure none of the Hyper - V have a tick . - If they have untick them. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/hyper-v-on-windows/quick-start/enable-hyper-v
Restart, and see if it cures it.

 

I come with news. Sorry for the delay, Data Exchange Host doesn't appear often. I have had the Hyper-V services disabled since before starting the topic, it hasn't helped. My bios also doesn't seem to have an option for hardware virtualization, or if it does it's not obvious enough for me to see. Could the option be named in any other way?

Since I last posted I've noticed the process appear only once, used Microsoft Process Exporer as suggested by dr.moriarty to check it out. Can anyone make anything out of this?

 

Since I don't use virtual machines and have the Hyper-V services disabled, it must be local processes prompting data exchange.

That clears things up. Thank you, Tim.