A frequently asked question is "svchost.exe, what does it do?". Anyway svchost. exe runs and controls vital Windows services that are required for system performance, connectivity updates, and security. Stopping a svchost. exe process often means the disablement of important features or even system instability. So, before you kill any Service Host process, make sure to find out which services are tied to it via Task Manager in order not to break essential Windows operations.