ESET Antivirus software is executed through the file ekrn.exe. This executable is specifically associated with the NOD32 Antivirus software. The software provides PC protection against viruses; whether these are the more commonly types of viruses or these are new outbreaks. Real-time protection ensures the safety of the PC system, blocking malicious files before they can launch on the computers. Viruses already found lurking somewhere in the system are instantly deleted the minute they are detected, to prevent them from rendering the system vulnerable to many other virus attacks. The file is a background service that runs with the identifier name, “ekrn.” It is executed through the Services and App Controller provided by Microsoft, which has the file extension of services.exe. Typically, file size is about 718.71 KB. Location of the process file is C:\Program Files\ESET\ESET NOD32 Antivirus\ekrn.exe. The file version 4.0.470.0 is compatible with a 64-bit Windows platform. Process name is ESET Smart Security.

Most non-system processes that are running can be stopped because they are not involved in running your operating system. ekrn.exe. is used by ESET Smart Security, If you shut down ekrn.exe, it will likely start again at a later time either after you restart your computer or after an application start. To stop ekrn.exe, permanently you need to uninstall the application that runs this process which in this case is ESET Smart Security, 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 ekrn.exe

A process usually a part of an installed application such as ESET Smart Security, 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 ekrn.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 ekrn.exe, belongs to, in this case ESET Smart Security