Windows 10: File open in COM Surrogate

I have no idea what COM Surrogate is, but, recently I've had a lot of trouble with it. I'll try to throw something in the trash, or even put the file in some other location and it won't let me. I get the following message (see screenshot) and the only way I can get rid of it is to log out and then log back in.

Can someone help me with this problem?

I just found an article that this could be a Trojan. Is there some way for me to know if that's the case?

:)

 

Unable to remove file properties Windows 10 Version 1511 (build 10586.3) COM Surrogate and now (build 10586.29) and (10586.104) and (10586.218)

Unfortunately this does not work. Both "COM Surrogate" and "dllhost.exe" are not present until you attempt to remove file properties. Once you do open properties and then select Remove Properties then com surrogate and dllhost appear, however, if you kill
both that will close the item you are attempting to remove properties from, etc.

Thanks for the input though!

 

the action file cant be completed because the file is open COM surrogate windows 10

the action file cant be completed because the file is open COM surrogate windows 10

 

Right click the Taskbar and start the Task Manager. At the bottom, Take the drop down arrow and choose More Details. Under the Processes tab look for COM Surrogate and End the task, there may be more then one. Try it again.

 

The first time there were 2 listings. I did it twice more and there were 3 each time.

 

COM Surrogate is a process that is used by more then one program. So, it will always come back. Right after Ending the Process, then do whatever you were doing with the file, dragging it to the trash or moving it, or whatever.

 

If you enable command line view in task manager then you might see if dllhost.exe is running like this:







If that's the case then it's likely that you have one or more folders containing one or more corrupt images which explorer cannot create thumbnails for or else the thumbnails are corrupted. this can also happen especially with folders that contain video files where thumbnails are created.

The solution is tricky. Either scan for and delete corrupt image files and videos (if you know how to do it) or else move all suspect folders to an external drive and disconnect it. Reboot and test. If the problem has gone you would move folders back one at a time testing after each move.

 

Temporarily disable thumbnail previews in explorer:

Enable or Disable Thumbnail Previews in File Explorer in Windows 10 Customization Tutorials

Disable thumbnail cache:

Thumbnail Cache - Enable or Disable - Windows 7 Help Forums

Reboot,

Clear and reset thumbnail cache:

Clear and Reset Thumbnail Cache in Windows 10 Customization Tutorials

Then force deleting the image file. From admin command prompt:

DEL /F /S /Q /A "Full Path To\prime3.jpg"

Enter the full path to the file between the quotes.

 

Thank you for this; very nice of you to provide all the tutorials.