The mswsock.dll process is also known as the Microsoft Windows Sockets and it is owned by Microsoft Corporation, belonging to Network Location Awareness (NLA). The Windows Sockets allows programmers to develop advanced intranet, Internet and other network-capable applications in order to transmit application data across the wire which is free of the network protocol that is being used. With this process, programmers are given access to advanced Microsoft Windows networking capacities such as QoS (Quality of Service) and multicast. It follows the WOSA (Windows Open System Architecture) model. The process defines the standard SPI (service provided interface) between the API (application programming interface), along with its exported functions and protocol stacks. It makes use of the sockets paradigm that was made popular by Berkeley Software Distribution UNIX. Previously centered on TCP/IP, this process now adds function that would handle several protocols. This program is essential for the functionality of the user’s computer system and should not be removed.

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

A process usually a part of an installed application such as Microsoft Windows Sockets, 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 mswsock.dll. 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 mswsock.dll, belongs to, in this case Microsoft Windows Sockets