KVELLER Posted July 20, 2017 (edited) Does anyone know anything about this "rundll32" process that likes to eat 40% of the CPU? I've encountered it in Windows 7 and 8, and under the same circumstances: I'm playing some old game (late 90s/early 00s) and everything works fine, until some day I'll try to start a game and it won't work the first time, but if I click on in a second time, it will start, but with stuttering. After messing for a bit with the Task Manager I realized that the first time I try to start the game, the rundll32 process starts, as well as the game's .exe process (even though the game isn't actually running) and at the second attempt the game will open. If I finish this annoying process, it will just start again next time I try to start the game. TL;DR: The game won't start unless the rundll32 process is running. I remember reading somewhere that what this process does is help with the compatibility with 32-bit applications, but what I don't understand is why in the hell Windows decides that it's necessary, considering it was working fine without the process. Also, if I Alt-Tab out of the game and close the process with the Task Manager everything works fine, but not every game allows to Alt-Tab. 0 Share this post Link to post
Csonicgo Posted July 20, 2017 Rundll32 handles dynamic linked libraries for programs. My best guess is that there may be miscommunication between the way the game EXE expects rundll32 to work, and how it actually works. That you mention "late 90s" leads me to believe this may be the case. 1 Share this post Link to post
KVELLER Posted July 20, 2017 49 minutes ago, Csonicgo said: Rundll32 handles dynamic linked libraries for programs. My best guess is that there may be miscommunication between the way the game EXE expects rundll32 to work, and how it actually works. That you mention "late 90s" leads me to believe this may be the case. Compatibility problems, in other words? 0 Share this post Link to post
Csonicgo Posted July 20, 2017 27 minutes ago, KVELLER said: Compatibility problems, in other words? Yeah. Welcome to Windows :P Windows is usually better about compatibility than other OSes. and the software "runs". 0 Share this post Link to post
KVELLER Posted July 20, 2017 2 hours ago, Csonicgo said: Yeah. Welcome to Windows :P Windows is usually better about compatibility than other OSes. and the software "runs". Well, I can't complaint considering I'm running stuff that it's almost 20 years old :P 0 Share this post Link to post
Cruduxy Pegg Posted July 21, 2017 Used to happen on warcraft 3. Luckly after a game started I could safely kill rundll32 in task manager (Well coud, didn't need it much). Don't think there is much you can do about it unless there are fan fixes or official patches that support newer windows versions. 1 Share this post Link to post
