The ctad.exe process is an executable component file of the Cisco Trust Agent application, which is a Windows program classified as a network security tool that serves as a core component of the Cisco Network Admission Control (NAC) software. The Cisco Trust Agent application is installed in client systems to assist the server, through the NAC software, in determining if the client systems comply with the security policies and requirements of the network, and for the server to grant or deny these client systems access to the network and its resources. The ctad.exe process is specifically deployed into client systems as the executable program dispatcher file of the Cisco Trust Agent Service application, which is a small built-in program that aids in the implementation of the real time monitoring functionalities of the NAC software. The ctad.exe process is placed in the system upon the installation of the Cisco Trust Agent program, which is distributed as a bundled application with the Cisco Security Agent software and as a free standalone application that can be downloaded from the Cisco support website.

Most non-system processes that are running can be stopped because they are not involved in running your operating system. ctad.exe. is used by Cisco Trust Agent and Cisco Trust Agent Service Application and Cisco Network Admission Control (NAC), If you shut down ctad.exe, it will likely start again at a later time either after you restart your computer or after an application start. To stop ctad.exe, permanently you need to uninstall the application that runs this process which in this case is Cisco Trust Agent and Cisco Trust Agent Service Application and Cisco Network Admission Control (NAC), from your system.

After uninstalling applications it is a good idea to scan you Windows registry for any left over traces of applications. Registry Reviver by ReviverSoft is a great tool for doing this.

The ReviverSoft experts have not yet reviewed ctad.exe

A process usually a part of an installed application such as Cisco Trust Agent and Cisco Trust Agent Service Application and Cisco Network Admission Control (NAC), or your operating system that is responsible for running in functions of that application. Some application require that they have processes running all the time so they can do things such as check for updates or notify you when you get an instant message. Some poorly written applications have many processes that run that may not be required and take up valuable processing power within your computer.

We have not received any complaint about this process having higher than normal impact on PC performance. If you have had bad experiences with it please let us know in a comment below and we will investigate it further.

The first thing you should do if ctad.exe. is causing errors on your computer is to run a Windows registry scan with Registry Reviver If you are still seeing errors after this you should uninstall the program that ctad.exe, belongs to, in this case Cisco Trust Agent and Cisco Trust Agent Service Application and Cisco Network Admission Control (NAC)