Chicony multimedia keyboards have special keys for quick launches of applications installed through the file zhotkey.exe. Hotkeys to launch your email, open My Computer, open the calculator, use volume control, and utilize multimedia tasks such as play, stop, previous or next track are included in the file. There are also hotkeys for easy copy-pasting of files and documents, and Web browser launch. The file is located in the following directory: C:\Windows\System 32\ zhotkey.exe, or C:\Windows\zhotkey.exe. The process is deemed as safe, and issues that concern zhotkey.exe rarely include security threats. Issues usually encountered by users are error prompts that the system displays, the most common of which is “zhotkey.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close.” There were no other major issues encountered by users with regards to the file and its communication with the system. Some users opt to disable the file, because they have no need for the hotkeys; and they find their keyboard still functioning in the normal capacity – without the shortcut key functions.

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

A process usually a part of an installed application such as Chicony Multimedia Keyboard Hotkeys, 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 zhotkey.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 zhotkey.exe, belongs to, in this case Chicony Multimedia Keyboard Hotkeys