C windows system32 mctadmin exe

MCTADMIN.EXE — Media Center Tray Admin

Overview

mctadmin.exe is a legitimate executable file associated with Windows Media Center (WMC) in older versions of Windows, primarily Windows Vista and Windows 7. It stands for «Media Center Tray Admin». Its primary function is to manage and provide access to Media Center features from the system tray (notification area). It’s important to note that Windows Media Center is deprecated and no longer included or supported in Windows 10 and later versions. Attempting to run this executable on a modern system might result in errors or no action at all.

Origin and Purpose

• Origin: Microsoft Corporation. This file is a component of the Windows Media Center package.
• Purpose:
  • Provides quick access to Windows Media Center features via a system tray icon.
  • Handles background tasks related to Media Center, such as scheduled recordings and updates.
  • Allows users to quickly open Media Center or adjust its settings.
  • Manages notifications related to Media Center activities.

Is MCTADMIN.EXE a Virus?

In its original, unaltered form, mctadmin.exe is not a virus. It’s a legitimate part of Windows Media Center. However, like any executable file, it could be replaced or infected by malware. This is especially true given the deprecated nature of Media Center, making it a less scrutinized target.

Could MCTADMIN.EXE Become a Virus?

Yes, mctadmin.exe could become associated with malware in several ways:

1. File Replacement: Malware can replace the legitimate mctadmin.exe file with a malicious one. This is a common tactic used by viruses to disguise themselves as legitimate system processes.

2. Process Injection: Sophisticated malware can inject malicious code into the running mctadmin.exe process. This allows the malware to execute within the context of a trusted process, making it harder to detect.

3. DLL Hijacking: If mctadmin.exe relies on specific DLL files, malware could replace those DLLs with malicious versions. When mctadmin.exe is launched, it would inadvertently load the malicious DLLs.

4. Exploiting Vulnerabilities: While less likely due to Media Center’s deprecated status, any unpatched vulnerabilities in older versions of Media Center or related components could potentially be exploited by malware targeting mctadmin.exe.

How to Identify a Malicious MCTADMIN.EXE

If you suspect that mctadmin.exe is malicious, consider these steps:

1. File Location: The legitimate mctadmin.exe is usually located in C:\Windows\ehome\. If it’s found elsewhere, it’s highly suspicious.

2. Digital Signature: Check the digital signature of the file. Right-click on mctadmin.exe, select «Properties,» and go to the «Digital Signatures» tab. A legitimate file should be signed by Microsoft. If there’s no signature, or the signature is invalid or from an untrusted source, it’s likely malicious.

3. File Size and Hash: Compare the file size and hash (e.g., MD5, SHA256) of the suspicious mctadmin.exe with known good copies (from a clean installation on a similar system, if possible). Significant differences indicate a modified, potentially malicious file. You can use online hash checking services or tools like PowerShell’s Get-FileHash to calculate the hash.

4. Resource Usage: Monitor mctadmin.exe‘s CPU, memory, and network usage using Task Manager. Unusually high or erratic resource consumption, especially when Media Center isn’t actively being used, could indicate malicious activity.

5. Network Connections: Use tools like TCPView (from Sysinternals) or Resource Monitor to check the network connections made by mctadmin.exe. Connections to unusual or suspicious IP addresses or domains are red flags.

6. Antivirus Scan: Perform a full system scan with a reputable and up-to-date antivirus program.

7. System Behavior: Be alert for any unusual system behavior, such as unexpected pop-ups, slow performance, or changes to system settings, that might coincide with mctadmin.exe activity.

How to Remove a Malicious MCTADMIN.EXE

If you’ve confirmed that mctadmin.exe is malicious, take these steps:

1. Boot into Safe Mode: Restart your computer in Safe Mode. This prevents most malware from running automatically.

2. Use Antivirus Software: Run a full system scan with your antivirus software in Safe Mode. Let the antivirus attempt to remove or quarantine the infected file.

3. Manual Removal (Advanced Users Only): If the antivirus can’t remove it, you can try to delete the file manually. However, this can be risky and might damage your system if done incorrectly. Ensure you have a backup before attempting manual removal. You might need to take ownership of the file and modify its permissions before you can delete it.

4. System Restore: If you have a System Restore point created before the infection, try restoring your system to that point.

5. Reinstall Windows (Last Resort): If all else fails, the safest and most reliable way to remove deeply ingrained malware is to reinstall Windows. Make sure to back up your important data before reinstalling.

Deprecated Status and Modern Systems

Crucially, mctadmin.exe is associated with a deprecated feature (Windows Media Center). On Windows 10 and later, it should not be present or running. If you find mctadmin.exe on a modern Windows system, it’s highly likely to be malicious or a leftover from an incomplete upgrade. The safest course of action on modern systems is to treat it as potentially malicious and investigate thoroughly. There is no legitimate reason for it to be running on a Windows 10 or later system.

Стала очень странно вести себя домашняя машина:

— Вылет компонентов «Мозиллы» буквально при каждом клике мышкой (plugin-container и flashgot). Бесило невероятно, переустановка «Мозиллы» не помогла.

— Сообщения о том, что что-то не может загрузится. Fences, например.

— Внезапные самопроизвольные закрытия программ.

— Повышенная фоновая загрузка ядер процессора.

Вообще, возникло ощущение нестабильной работы.

NOD32, который у меня установлен, сообщал при проверке об инфицированных процессах в памяти:

— taskhost.exe
— dwm.exe
— Wininit.exe

При этом вылечить он их не мог.

Больше никаких вирусов в системе не найдено.

Загрузил свежую CureIT. Не найдено ничего.

Загрузился со свежего Kaspersky Rescue Disk. Найдено 9 зараженных архивов в профиле пользователя в кэше «Мозиллы», судя по названиям, что-то имеющее отношение к java. Удалил.

Перезагрузился.

Легче не стало.

Стало ясно, что что-то подцепил.

Вспомнил, что два дня назад занесло меня на порносайт, где я ткнул в ссылку, которую тыкать не следовало. Рука дрогнула… Немедленно стали открываться несколько окон, я их все закрыл, ушел оттуда, проверил сразу автозагрузку — все было чисто, и успокоился.

А зря.

Проблемы начались после перезагрузки.

Плюнул, засучил рукава, вооружился Starter`ом и HJT и стал ковырять вручную.

Выявлено:

24FC2AE3CE7.exe

Сидело в автозагрузке в скрытой папке c:\Systemhost\. Рядышком лежал файл без расширения:

39D698AA0379401

Это точно что-то левое.

Кроме того, HJT обнаружил автозапуск из реестра файликов:

c:\windows\system32\mctadmin.exe

c:\windows\system32\PAStiSvc.exe

которые, вроде бы, являются системными файлами. Но почему такой странный способ запуска?

Кроме этого, HJT ругнулся на неизвестный файл vsocklib.dll в winsock и предложил запустить Lspfix.

Так и сделал, Lspfix сказал, что есть проблемы с winsock и нужно его восстановить.

Папку systemhost из корня диска удалил, winsock восстановил, записи в реестре и папке автозагрузки на автозапуск прибил.

Перезагрузился. Все пришло в норму. Подозрительные файлы по традиции заслал Вебу.

Вот, может кому интересно…

Заодно и потрахался… (((

Get to know about mctadmin.exe

mctadmin.exe is not a required startup process as you can use it when you need to. It’s a Microsoft file that controls the local content in a Local Pack to the current user’s profile. It’s often found in C:\Window\System32\mctadmin.exe and if you don’t want it to run and occupy system resources, it’s up to your choice to disable it. Besides, many threats tend to use the system name of this process to camouflage themselves. But you should be cautious to modify it because you need to change registry setting which stores its file and entries.

Error message that you may encounter

The file mctadmin.exe is missing.

The specified module could not be found.

There was a problem starting C:\Users\LILY~1.CAR\AppData\Local\PlAYTO~1\Updater.dll.

This system is shutting down. Please save all work in progress and log off. Any unsaved changes will be lost.

What cause mctadmin.exe error?

Problems happen in the server that makes the system hive grow unexpectedly

Lost cluster or Cross-Linked files occur

Infected files and programs are saved in system

Programs use conflicting memory

Incompatible version of this file with Windows system

Intensive application conflict

A file has been located into the wrong place

Lacking of enough RAM and disk space

The unexpected consequences brought by mctadmin.exe error

The malware takes up excessive CPU usage and hard disk space

Extremely slow system performance

Unable to delete program completely

Various error message pop up on screen

Computer doesn’t react to users’ instruction

Extremely sluggish Internet speed

Private information is stolen and transmitted to remote controller

System performance become rather instable and awkward

How to troubleshoot mctadmin.exe error within a few steps?

Method 1 Make a Windows Update

1. Open Microsoft Internet Explorer and type in Microsoft Update and press Enter.

2. If the Automatic Updates in your computer hasn’t been turned on, click Turn on Automatic Updates on the right side of the page. If it’s already turned on, you just need to wait for your computer automatically installing the updates.

3. In the Automatic Updates window, click OK.

Method 2 Uninstall relevant programs and reinstall new ones

1. Go to Control Panel from Start menu.
2. Double click Add/Remove Programs icon to enter next page.
3. Search the problematic programs related to the issue and click them.
4. Uninstall them by clicking Remove button for each of them.
5. Click OK and reboot your computer.
6. Download the deleted programs on website and reinstall them into system.

Method 3 Check Windows registry for errors

The Windows registry is a large database that comprises the information and configurations for hardware, software and applications running on your computer. Whenever you install programs, its keys and values are written into the registry, where you can modify them or implement troubleshooting steps to repair problematic programs. If the registry is not properly maintained, it can suffer errors that cause system and application problems such as blue screen of death, dll error and registry start-up error. To repair mctadmin.exe error, firstly you should settle down registry problems.

A beneficial registry cleaning tool can help tune up registry functioning and troubleshoot any problem Windows registry may face. With a registry cleaner’s help, computer can run exceedingly fast because the viruses in registry can be quickly detected, the junk files in registry can be completely removed and the registry statistics can be updated to the newest version. How to fix mctadmin.exe error and dispel Windows registry problems absolutely?

This file is a part of the Microsoft Windows system. EXE is short for executable and these types of files are used on Windows computers to install or run software.

Some programs may need mctadmin.exe to run properly, so if this file is missing you may encounter issues when trying to launch applications or games. Often, you will get an error message that says “mctadmin.exe missing” that tells you which specific file needs to be restored so that the application or game can continue functioning.

To resolve these issues caused by a missing mctadmin.exe, read the suggestions below.

How to fix mctadmin.exe missing error?

If the mctadmin.exe missing error appears on your PC, you can use the methods below. Some are automatic, which means you can start a process to let the system automatically restore the file. Others are manual, meaning you will have to manually download mctadmin.exe and move it to the correct program installation folder. If you are not very experienced with digging through system files and would prefer not to, you can simply go straight to an automatic method.

Here our list of solutions to try:

• Method 1: Download mctadmin.exe
• Method 2: Fix the missing mctadmin.exe error automatically
• Method 3: Update drivers to restore missing .exe files
• Method 4: Scan your PC for malware
• Method 5: Use System File Checker (SFC)
• Method 6: Fix corrupted mctadmin.exe file by performing System Restore

Method 1: Download mctadmin.exe

This is the most straightforward approach, but it is fully manual and will require you to download the right exe file and place it in the correct folder on your PC.

Look through the list of available versions of mctadmin.exe then select the correct file and click “Download”. If you are unsure which one to download, read the section below or choose an automatic method.

How to choose the correct version of mctadmin.exe?

When looking through the list of EXE files, pay attention to whether it’s a 64-, or 32-bit file, as well as the language it uses. For 64-bit programs, use 64-bit files if they are listed above.

It’s best to choose those EXE files whose language corresponds to the language of your program, if possible. It’s also recommended to choose the latest version to ensure up-to-date functionality.

As long as you get these two parameters right, you won’t have any issues downloading the right file.

Where to place the mctadmin.exe file?

After you’ve downloaded the correct EXE file, place it inside the program installation folder. Alternatively, you can put the mctadmin.exe file within the Windows system directory.

How to register mctadmin.exe?

If placing the missing mctadmin.exe file into the proper directory doesn’t seem to solve the problem, this means you need to register it. To do so, copy your EXE file to the C:\Windows\System32 folder, then open a command prompt with administrator privileges. There, type “regsvr32 mctadmin.exe” and press Enter.

Method 2: Fix the missing mctadmin.exe error automatically

Outbyte PC Repair allows you to automatically repair EXE errors, without you having to worry about choosing the right file or registering it. The utility will not only download the correct version of mctadmin.exe for free and suggest the right directory to install it to but will also resolve other issues related to the mctadmin.exe file.

1. Download mctadmin.exe
2. Fix the missing mctadmin.exe error automatically
3. Update drivers to restore missing .exe files

Method 3: Update drivers to restore missing .exe files

Driver updates for the Windows operating system, as well as for network adapters, monitors, printers, etc., can be downloaded individually and installed from the Windows Update Center or by using specialized utilities.

Option 1 — Automatic Device Drivers Update

Outbyte Driver Updater automatically updates drivers on Windows. Routine manual driver updates are now a thing of the past. Just with a few clicks you can automatically search your system for outdated drivers and update all of them.

1. Download the Outbyte Driver Updater
2. Install the application
3. Launch the app
4. Driver Updater will scan your system for outdated and missing drivers
5. Click Update to automatically update all drivers

Option 2 — Manually Update Device Drivers

Of course, you can also choose to update your drivers yourself one by one. First you will need to look through them to find the outdated ones, then search for the updates online. Here’s how to do that:

1. Go to Taskbar’s search box and type Device Manager, then select Device Manager in the search results.
2. Select a category to look at the devices’ names — right-click the one that needs to be updated
3. Choose Search automatically for updated driver software
4. Select Update Driver
5. Windows might not be able to find the new driver automatically. In this case, you can find the driver on the manufacturer’s website, where all the necessary instructions are available. Just make sure to find the official website so that you only download the trusted driver and not some malicious software.

Method 4: Scan your PC for malware to fix the mctadmin.exe error

Since EXE files communicate directly with your system to give instructions, they are very common targets for malware, which can intentionally corrupt these files in order to substitute them with its own malicious files. If you suspect that this is what’s causing errors on your system, you should scan your computer for malware and eliminate it as soon as possible.

Option 1 — Windows Defender

The new version of Windows 10 has a built-in application called «Windows Defender», which allows you to check your computer for viruses and remove malware. In order to use the Windows Defender offline scan, follow these steps:

1. Press the Win key or click Start and click on the gear icon to open Settings. Alternatively press Win + I key combination.
2. Select the Update and Security option and go to the Windows Defender section.
3. At the bottom of the Defender settings there is a checkbox labeled «Windows Defender Offline scan». To start it, click «Scan Now». Note that you will have to save all unsaved data before restarting your PC.

After you click the “Scan Now” button, the computer will reboot and automatically start searching for viruses and malware. Upon completion of the scan, the computer will restart, and in the notifications, you will see a report on the completed scan.

Option 2 — Outbyte AVarmor

Outbyte products are some of the most popular and effective programs for dealing with malware and unwanted programs, and they will come in handy even if you have a high-quality third-party antivirus installed. This software is specifically designed to complement your antivirus, not replace it. In the new version of Outbyte, scans can be performed in real time and manually. To initiate a manual scan please follow the steps below:

1. Launch Outbyte AVarmor and click the Scan Now button. Also, you can select the Scan option on the left side of the program’s window and click Full Scan. The system will begin scanning and you will be able to see the scan results.
2. Select items that you want to quarantine and press the “Quarantine Selected” button. After they’ve been quarantined, you may be prompted to reboot the computer.
3. After the program has been restarted, you can delete all quarantined objects by going to the appropriate section of the program. However, if you found that your system started to encounter errors after something was quarantined, you should restore the file instead.

Method 5: Fix the mctadmin.exe missing error with System File Checker (SFC)

Many users are familiar with the sfc/scannow system file integrity check command, which automatically checks and fixes protected Windows system files. It is often one of the first things experienced Windows users do when they encounter errors.

To execute this command, you have to run Command Prompt as an administrator.

1. Start the command line as an administrator in Windows by pressing the Win key on your keyboard and typing «Command Prompt» in the search field, then — right-click on the result and select “Run as administrator”. Alternatively, you can press the Win + X key combination which will open the menu where you can select Command Prompt (Admin).
2. Type sfc / scannow while in Command Prompt and hit Enter. After entering the command, a system check will begin. It will take a while, so please be patient. Once the process is complete you will see this message: “Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.” or “Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them”.

Keep in mind that System File Checker (SFC) cannot fix integrity errors for those system files that are currently being used by the operating system. To fix these files you have to run SFC command through the command prompt in the Windows recovery environment. You can get into Windows Recovery Environment from the login screen by clicking Shutdown, then holding down the Shift key while selecting Restart.

In Windows 10, you can press Win key, select Settings > Update & security > Recovery and under Advanced Startup, click Restart now. You can also boot from the installation disk or bootable USB flash drive with the Windows 10 distribution. On the installation screen select your preferred language and then select “System Restore”. After that, go to “Troubleshooting” > “Advanced Settings” > “Command Prompt”. Once in Command Prompt type the following command: sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=C:\Windows, where C is the partition with the installed operating system and C:\Windows, is the path to the Windows 10 folder.

This operation will take a while and it is important to wait until it is complete. When finished, close the command prompt and restart the computer as usual. You should find that the mctadmin.exe missing error is gone.

Method 6: Fix the corrupted mctadmin.exe file by performing a System Restore

System Restore is very useful if you want to fix mctadmin.exe error, or almost any other error. Using the «System Restore» function, you can choose to restore Windows to a date when the mctadmin.exe file was not damaged. Restoring Windows to an earlier date cancels changes that were made to system files since that date. Please follow the steps below to roll back Windows using System Restore and get rid of the mctadmin.exe error.

1. Press the Win + R keys combination to launch the Run dialog.
2. Type sfc /scannow while in Command Prompt and hit Enter.

After entering the command, a system check will begin. It will take a while, so please be patient. Once the operation is complete you will see this message: “Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.” or “Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them”.

1. Type rstrui in the Run text box and click OK or hit Enter. This will open the system recovery utility.
2. The “System Restore” window may include the “Choose a different restore point” option. If so, select this option and click Next. Check the “Show more restore points” checkbox to see a complete list of dates.
3. Click the «Next» button and then click «Finish» to confirm your restore point. At this point, your computer will reboot normally and boot up with a restored version of Windows, and the mctadmin.exe error should be resolved.