{"id":8079,"date":"2019-10-08T06:32:57","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T13:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/?p=8079"},"modified":"2025-12-28T23:25:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T07:25:57","slug":"rpcss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/windows-services\/rpcss\/","title":{"rendered":"Essential Windows Services: Remote Procedure Call (RPC) \/ RpcSs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div align=\"center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"no-lazy-load\" src=\"\/blog\/images\/windows-applications-communication.webp\" title=\"Windows Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Service\" alt=\"Windows Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Service\" width=\"256\" height=\"256\" border=\"0\" ><\/div>\n<div id=\"blog-toc-container\" style=\"margin-top:20px;\">\n<p id=\"blog-toc-title\">In this article&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#what-is-rpc-service\">What is the RPC Windows Service?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#stop\">Should I stop the RPC service?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#service-options-disabled\">Why are all the options for the RPC service grayed out?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#questions\">Questions? Problems?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><a name=\"what-is-rpc-service\"><\/a><\/p>\n<hr class=\"blog-section\">\n<div style=\"width:100%;margin-bottom:30px;\">\n<div style=\"margin:0px;float:right;\"><a href=\"#top\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.coretechnologies.com\/images\/top.jpg\" border=\"0\" width=\"50\" height=\"18\" title=\"Go to the top\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"blog-caption\">What is the RPC Windows Service?<\/h2>\n<p>The Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service supports communication between Windows applications.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, the service implements the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Remote_procedure_call\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">RPC protocol<\/a> &mdash; a low-level form of inter-process communication where a client process can make requests of a server process. Microsoft&#8217;s foundational COM and DCOM technologies are built on top of RPC.<\/p>\n<p>The service&#8217;s name is <b>RpcSs<\/b> and it runs inside the shared services host process, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Svchost.exe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">svchost.exe<\/a>:<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><a href=\"\/blog\/images\/remote-procedure-call-windows-service.png\" class=\"zoomPopup\" title=\"RPC Windows Service\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"image-padding\" src=\"\/blog\/images\/remote-procedure-call-windows-service.png\" title=\"RPC Windows Service (click to enlarge)\" alt=\"RPC Windows Service\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p><a name=\"stop\"><\/a><\/p>\n<hr class=\"blog-section\">\n<div style=\"width:100%;margin-bottom:30px;\">\n<div style=\"margin:0px;float:right;\"><a href=\"#top\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.coretechnologies.com\/images\/top.jpg\" border=\"0\" width=\"50\" height=\"18\" title=\"Go to the top\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"blog-caption\">Should I stop the RPC service?<\/h2>\n<p>The answer is no &mdash; you should definitely not stop the service. It&#8217;s far too important.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, if you examine the list of services that depend on the RPC service for smooth operation &mdash; by running the <b>SC ENUMDEPEND<\/b> command &mdash; you will notice that there are a whopping  103 services that need RpcSs on Windows Server 2019!<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><a href=\"\/blog\/images\/rpc-service-dependencies.png\" class=\"zoomPopup\" title=\"RPC Windows Service Dependencies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"image-padding\" src=\"\/blog\/images\/rpc-service-dependencies.png\" title=\"RPC Windows Service Dependencies (click to enlarge)\" alt=\"RPC Windows Service Dependencies\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>If the RPC service stops, those 103 would have to stop as well &mdash; surely crippling your computer.<\/p>\n<p>In their <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/windows-server\/security\/windows-services\/security-guidelines-for-disabling-system-services-in-windows-server#remote-procedure-call-rpc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">guidance on disabling system services on Windows Server 2016<\/a>, Microsoft &#8220;strongly recommends that you have the RPCSS service running&#8221;. However that is a huge understatement. The service is absolutely vital for Windows to run.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"service-options-disabled\"><\/a><\/p>\n<hr class=\"blog-section\">\n<div style=\"width:100%;margin-bottom:30px;\">\n<div style=\"margin:0px;float:right;\"><a href=\"#top\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.coretechnologies.com\/images\/top.jpg\" border=\"0\" width=\"50\" height=\"18\" title=\"Go to the top\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"blog-caption\">Why are all the options for the RPC service grayed out?<\/h2>\n<p>If you examine the <a href=\"\/blog\/images\/remote-procedure-call-windows-service.png\" class=\"zoomPopup\" title=\"RPC Windows Service\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">service&#8217;s screenshot<\/a>, you will notice that the Stop and Pause buttons are disabled &mdash; indicating that the service cannot be interrupted.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the account running the service cannot be changed on the Log On tab:<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><a href=\"\/blog\/images\/rpc-service-logon-tab.png\" class=\"zoomPopup\" title=\"RPC Windows Service Log On tab\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"image-padding\" src=\"\/blog\/images\/rpc-service-logon-tab.png\" title=\"RPC Windows Service Log On tab (click to enlarge)\" alt=\"RPC Windows Service Log On tab\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>You can adjust the recovery settings but not much else.<\/p>\n<p>By limiting changes, Microsoft is clearly shouting: Do not update the RPC service!<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"questions\"><\/a><\/p>\n<hr class=\"blog-section\">\n<div style=\"width:100%;margin-bottom:30px;\">\n<div style=\"margin:0px;float:right;\"><a href=\"#top\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.coretechnologies.com\/images\/top.jpg\" border=\"0\" width=\"50\" height=\"18\" title=\"Go to the top\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"blog-caption\">Questions? Problems?<\/h2>\n<p>If you&#8217;d like to know more about the Windows RPC service, or you have a specific problem, please feel free to <a href=\"\/support\/\">get in touch<\/a>. We will do our best to help you!<\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-top:30px\" align=\"center\">\n<div class=\"cta-button-1\">\n<table role=\"presentation\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" align=\"left\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"center\"><a href=\"\/blog\/tag\/essential-windows-services\/\" title=\"Find more important Windows Services\"><span><nobr>More Essential Windows Services&#8230;<\/nobr><\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- relpost-thumb-wrapper --><div class=\"relpost-thumb-wrapper\"><!-- filter-class --><div class=\"relpost-thumb-container\"><style>.relpost-block-single-image, .relpost-post-image { margin-bottom: 10px; }<\/style><h3>You may also like...<\/h3><div style=\"clear: both\"><\/div><div style=\"clear: both\"><\/div><!-- relpost-block-container --><div class=\"relpost-block-container relpost-block-column-layout\" style=\"--relposth-columns: 3;--relposth-columns_t: 2; --relposth-columns_m: 2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/windows-services\/dcomlaunch\/\"class=\"relpost-block-single\" ><div class=\"relpost-custom-block-single\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"relpost-block-single-image\" alt=\"Essential Windows Services: DcomLaunch \/ DCOM Server Process Launcher\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/dcom-communication-150x150.png\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1\/1\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1\/1\"><\/img><div class=\"relpost-block-single-text\"  style=\"height: 75px;font-family: Arial;  font-size: 12px;  color: #333333;\"><h2 class=\"relpost_card_title\">Essential Windows Services: DcomLaunch \/ DCOM Server Process Launcher<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/windows-services\/profsvc\/\"class=\"relpost-block-single\" ><div class=\"relpost-custom-block-single\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"relpost-block-single-image\" alt=\"Essential Windows Services: User Profile Service \/ ProfSvc\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/user-profile-service-150x150-1.webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1\/1\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1\/1\"><\/img><div class=\"relpost-block-single-text\"  style=\"height: 75px;font-family: Arial;  font-size: 12px;  color: #333333;\"><h2 class=\"relpost_card_title\">Essential Windows Services: User Profile Service \/ ProfSvc<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/windows-services\/how-to-debug-windows-services\/\"class=\"relpost-block-single\" ><div class=\"relpost-custom-block-single\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"relpost-block-single-image\" alt=\"Debug your Windows Services\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/debug-150x150.png\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1\/1\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1\/1\"><\/img><div class=\"relpost-block-single-text\"  style=\"height: 75px;font-family: Arial;  font-size: 12px;  color: #333333;\"><h2 class=\"relpost_card_title\">Investigate Crashes &amp; Memory Leaks in your Windows Services with Microsoft&#039;s Debug Diagnostic Tool<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div><!-- close relpost-block-container --><div style=\"clear: both\"><\/div><\/div><!-- close filter class --><\/div><!-- close relpost-thumb-wrapper -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this article&#8230; What is the RPC Windows Service? Should I stop the RPC service? Why are all the options for the RPC service grayed out? Questions? Problems? What is the RPC Windows Service? The Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/windows-services\/rpcss\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[78,133,134,196],"class_list":["post-8079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-windows-services","tag-essential-windows-services","tag-rpc-service","tag-rpcss","tag-windows-services-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8079"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13295,"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8079\/revisions\/13295"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}