What is smc.exe? Is smc.exe spyware or a virus?

How to fix smc.exe related problems?
1. Run Security Task Manager to check your smc process
2. Run SpeedUpMyPC to fix related speed issues
3. Run Spyware Doctor to remove persistent malware

Process name: Sygate Agent Firewall

Product: SygateŽ Security Agent and Personal Firewall

Company: Sygate Technologies, Inc.

File: smc.exe

Security Rating: 1


"smc.exe" is a component of Sygate Secure Enterprise that implements firewall protection. Leave it running if you are using this application to protect your PC. http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/process/smc.exe.html 

Get more detailed information about smc.exe and all other running background processes with Security Task Manager.

Note: Any malware can be named anything - so you should check where the files of the running processes are located on your disk. If a "non-Microsoft" .exe file is located in the C:\Windows or C:\Windows\System32 folder, then there is a high risk for a virus, spyware, trojan or worm infection! Check it out!


Click to Run a Free Scan for smc.exe speed issues.


Users Opinions

Average user rating of smc.exe: 4.5 based on 206 votes. Read also the 170 reviews.

876 users ask for this file. 160 users rated it as not dangerous. 6 users rated it as not so dangerous. 19 users rated it as neutral. 10 users rated it as little bit dangerous. 11 users rated it as dangerous. 15 users didn't rate it ("don't know").


All comments about smc.exe:
rate1 it is a firewall   pippo
rate1 This is the Sygate Firewall program running.   Clint
rate1 Should not be removed, provides protection for your computer.They have a free version at the link below.  See also: Link   Howard G.
rate1 it is one of the running processes listed under Windows Task Manager, and is the Sygate firewall program  See also: Link   Kim
rate1 It is the sygate firewall, you won't find much better   Bluescreen
rate0 Part of Sygate Personal firewall Pro   DanBhoy
rate1 Sygate Personal Firewall running in background   MTB
rate1 Sygate Firewall   S!Ri
rate1 good firewall   opportunist
rate1 It is a part of Sygate Personal Firewall   balander
rate1 The Sygate Firewall engine. A very good firewall-program!  See also: Link   Greew
rate1 It is the Sygate Firewall running in the background   Jesper K sevel
rate1 it is great at protecting your computer - leave it  
rate1 Part of the excellent Sygate Firwall program   rob
rate1 Sygate Personal Firewall. Don't remove it.   andrysh
rate1 One of the best firewalls   John
rate1 Sygate Firewall process   ISK
rate1 Sygate Personal Firewall  See also: Link   ...
rate0 Sysgate Personal Firewall  See also: Link   r3l!c
rate1 Sygate Firewall   OuluRock
rate1 Apparently part of sygate personal fwall   Kheldysh
rate1 Part of Sygate firewall. Must have! Sygate 5.6 was a resource hog. Went back to Sygate 5.5, and love it! Download here-  See also: Link   Scott Sutherland
rate1 This firewall rulezzz them all ,see the link and scan with and without it  See also: Link   Haxnoob
rate1 Sygate Firewall, uses a lot of CPU when lots of data going through   p.i.m.p.
rate1 firewall it is the best ever and so esay to use love it  See also: Link   Sygate Firewall
rate1 Part of Sygate Firewall   KK
rate3 Never installed Sygate but it is running? Uses about 20mb ram...   Pabu
rate1 sygate firewall. Should be perfectly safe  
rate0 Don't revove it. It is great at protecting your computer   Lucho
rate1 it's a firewall process.. and a firewall that's freeware! =)   Meister
rate1 The resident part of Sygate Personal Firewall   Sonic
rate1 sygate firewall  
rate3 SMC nor responding errors when also running Norton System works. Machine locks up and needs reboot   Paw
rate0 its sygate   Bill Clinton
rate2 Sygate Firewall but uses up heaps of my CPU for some reason   Freddy
rate1 its a awsome firewall! look in to bittorrent its a good download site check it out u can find sygate firewalls there  
rate1 Sygate personal firewall not to be removed   Chris G Temecula
rate1 Sygate FIREWALL...said, the pro version is easily obtained for free peeps  
rate1 Sygate Firewall File Very Useful, but with a lot of downloading, can (not always) run up about 92% of computer at times (512MB RAM)   Generic User
rate1 thank goodness for sygate - much better than za imo  
rate0 Good firewall. Uses a lot of cpu though.   Jhq
rate0 its sygate personal firewall, great program aswell  
rate0 Sygate is working for your safe.   gio
rate1 sygate firewall , works excellent   vigi
rate1 It's part of Sygate Personal Firewall (Pro).  See also: Link   Michael
rate1 Sygate Personal Firewall  See also: Link   Yogi Bear
rate1 Sygate firewall's "Security Management Console" Must have but is greedy for memory resources.   M Spooner
rate1 process of a good firewall  See also: Link   Mirrakor
rate0 Excellent Firewall Program.  
rate4 Sygate Executable that contantly fails with WIN 98   Mark
rate1 However at times it can consume up to 95% of the cpu cycles on startup.  
rate5 It is a security floor in sygate firewalls, it is a process that is often hijacked   #Jared Somerville
rate2 Sygate firewall process (as you may have guessed!), usualy takes less then 20 cpu, but sometimes goes up to 90's... just restart and cpu usage should go back to normal (dont ask why)   Geeza
rate4 Uses 100 % CPU sometimes   Alex-sasha
rate1 Sygate Personnal Firewall Process   max
rate1 sygate personal firewall works perfectly   tolga
rate1 Sygate Firewall   claudia1220
rate1 Sygate Personal Firewall   Looping
rate1 V5.6 uses lots of CPU, up to 90%, though there is no traffic  See also: Link   Soundman_de
rate1 Its A sygate Firewall,i a using it since 1 year and i never had problems with virus,spyware and all....   Anupam Gupta
rate3 laggs the computer   Kira
rate4 If you check it with Security Task Manager, it says it listens on port 1026, 1027   uhg
rate1 Firewall  
rate1 it's syagate personal firewall  See also: Link   xdevil
rate3 Sygate backround operation. Errors on loading in Win XP means it is constantly closing down. Eats CPU time.   cflat
rate1 This is Sygate Firewall process, and if you get speed over 1mbit it takes 50-95% of the cpu   FrontSlash
rate1 probably greatest firewall, will see what they'll do with new series (5.6+ :)  See also: Link   Ozy`
rate1 This is Sygate Personal Firewall, nothing else, don't panic!   aladin
rate1 Can also be "Multimedia PC by Nortel Networks"  See also: Link   Dracogen
rate0 Can also be "Multimedia PC by Nortel Networks"  See also: Link   Dracogen
rate1 seagate firewall  
rate1 Firewall  
rate1 5.5 uses up to 90-95% of cpu, when downloading @ speeds over 2000kb/s. Besides cpu usage, a very goog fw.   dylan hunt
rate5 It says it listens on ports 3043, 3059 and it is able to record keyboard inputs!!!!!!!!!!!!   ???
rate3 Sygate firewall, should i rather use older version/other firewall with p133 on W98se ?  See also: Link   Gman
rate1 It's part of the Sygate Firewall... but it causes crashes when turning down Windows   alex9110
rate1 Part of Sygate Firewall, can use up to 98% of CPU and 60,000Kb of Memory   Sean
rate1 sygate - no problems with it in the past 2 years  
rate1 Firewall Platinum   Dreher
rate1 Sygate firewall   Mjk
rate5 Be carful, people hacking into the firewall gateway   ZZTOP
rate3 owned by norton now   jim
rate1 Seagate Firewall  See also: Link   BeezleBug
rate1 sygate firewall  See also: Link   luk
rate1 Firewall - Installed it and forgot about it until I was testing remote control s/ware. Wouldn't work. smc had stealthed all the ports to external access!   Chrisxx
rate1 nice firewall... but sometimes lagged... but it is OK bcoz it protect my pc!   jeppy
rate1 Sygate Firewall   americankat
rate1 Excelent Firewall (it´s Free and fights against Windows Threats) What More we can need !!!  See also: Link   Diego Crosinelli
rate1 Sygate firewall - bought out by Symantec - personal not supported  See also: Link   Mike Marion
rate1 firewall sehr gut   jo
rate1 sygate firewall harmlos  
rate3 Sygate Firewall. Can eat 100% CPU. If it crashes it mimics MSBlaster by shutting down PC. But safe otherwise  
rate1 Sygate firewall  
rate3 sygate firewall no longer on my toolbar, an error had occured and i have no more protection   snoozy
rate1 firewall   hein
rate1 Sygate, firewall it is your friend   Hugh Betcha
rate1 great firewall, but a TOTAL memoryhog when downloading via bittorrent - high speed downloads, makes sygate hog 99% CPU   sygate out-phaser
rate1 good firewall does eat a lot of cpu   billybob
rate2 Firewall, but uses lot of CPU damn :-)   Igors Aivars
rate1 Sygate Personal Firewall   Contropolis
rate1 It is a service exe of Sygate Firewall. It shouldn't be terminated. Probably you can't do it anyway.   ilter
rate5 restarts my computer  
rate1 Sygate Firewall   Rohit
rate4 Sygate Personal Firewall - can crash computer taking 98-100% cpu  
rate1 It's Sygate Personal Firewall executable   daimonion666
rate1 sygate firewall - dont worry  See also: Link  
rate3 SPF 5.5, it uses 100% cpu when there is a download with a lan connection... i think it's a bug ^^   Hitsu
rate1 Arquivo residente Sygate Firewall   ElMatador
rate4 Sygate. If you remove from startup list, it will still run as a system service (unable to delete without hijack this or safe mode) and blocks ALL internet connections.. had to do a system restore after removing it to restore my internet connection.. be careful with it..  
rate1 Excellent Firewall, easy to use. The Perfect replace for XP SP2 internal firewall   Kio
rate1 It is part of the Sygate Firewall program. While I have been told by friends with post-secondary training in computers that I have nothing to be worried about, I also sometimes find that when my computer freezes and I go CTRL+ALT+DEL to see which of my running programs are bugging, I will often times see "SMC.exe [not responding]". I don't know if this means that my copy of SMC.exe needs replacing, or if it just means that it's not working at the moment...   Talis
rate1 It belongs to Sygate Firewall. Don't remove.   L.U.H.A
rate1 Main Sygate file   Nicole
rate1 ports can be blocked independently, any program laggs the computer, just know how to config. it..   Frank Smith
rate1 it's sygate personal firewall exe file...   cyrus
rate2 Sygate, but can take 100%CPU... Restart the computer   Apax
rate1 Sygate Personal Firewall  
rate1 It is Sygate Personal Firewall   Sunil.H.V.
rate5 this stupid process is taking almost 100% of my cpu time and I had to have a manual reboot to stop this thing; now it's coming back again! By definition, this is definitely a virus!   thx
rate1 Sygate Personal Firewall  See also: Link   X-Ray.Ger
rate1 Sygate firewall use very little cpu but too much mem   muffin GA
rate1 sehr gute firewall   otto
rate1 Sygate personal firewall, a good but CPU-consuming firewall while downloading  See also: Link   Daniel
rate3 Sygate Agent. On many systems I see it pegging the CPU and turning the system into a brick.   Manny Borges
rate1 It's good firewall   Lazy Lone Lion
rate1 its not dangerous  See also: Link   hans
rate1 A part of Sygate Personal Firewall core. If SPF is not installed, better check your machine for worms -)   MuToGeN
rate5 Located in C:\Documents and Settings\ username ; Registry entry HKCU/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Run listed as "Microsoft System Core"   Paola
rate4 i have installed sygate after i was attacked by trojan through internet as a precaution, but just after installation i started getting Application error from smc.exe. It was just like i got during my system was a patient of trojan spywares. so in my view its something suspicious as a burden for the system.   cybersupam
rate1 Sygate Firewall. Not dangerous. Runs as system service. EVERYONE needs a firewall like this!!!   Trammel
rate3 It eats 100% cpu  
rate1 it is an important component of Symantec Endpoint Protection  See also: Link   Daymon
rate1 Uses 30% of my cpu and I can't turn the bugger off! People will hate me for saying this, but Windows Firewall does the job just as well as uses much less CPU.   Sam Illingworth
rate1 Its an EXCELLENT FIREWALL but it uses lot of CPU if you download 10+ torrents at same time...   test0r
rate0 also part of Symantec Endpoint 11  
rate0 Delays my internet logon by about a minute. Never knew what it was but, like Talis, it's often in Task Manager saying "not responding". I've been clicking "end task" whcih I now presume ends my firewall. If so, I haven't noticed any change in performance. Didn't realise it's probably slowing down my whole (Windows 95) system and causing most my crashes, especially on closing down.   steve
rate5 Sygate security firewall, alters traffic, saps resources, pointless   WVR
rate1 Good firewall, However uses a lot of cpu.   Dr J.
rate1 Sygate firewall   Dr Jay
rate1 It's great firewall,I feel secured against hackers scanning my ports, any attempt to connect to my pc. So 100 % traffic control incoming and outcoming.   Nadir
rate2 Belongs to sygate personal firewall but errors sometimes and askes for 100% CPU, then you'll need a restart  See also: Link   Hans
rate0 hogs too much cpu resources for my liking   brainlicker
rate1 It's Prt of the Sygate Firewall imbeded in the Symantec Endpoint Security   Dmit
rate1 File from Symantec Endpoint antivirus/spyware/worm Protection. Can sometimes hog I/O or CPU.   Rambo
rate1 great firewall   meinie
rate1 Ygate Firewall   Gast
rate1 Also part of Symantec Antivirus   Trish
rate1 Part of Stmantec Enpoint Protection now   Dad
rate1 Does very many in/out writes. Part of the lag problem. There were 2500 in/out writes in 5 minutes on my computer. May be a great firewall but makes your machine run like dirt. If that is good more power to you.   Jeff Hale
rate0 SHOWING ERROR ABOUT SMC.EXE APPLICATION ERROR   PRATIK
rate1 Sygate Firefall Process   Typhoon
rate1 Excellent Firewall   Master
rate1 It's also common if you have Symantec Endpoint Security installed and running (or maybe similar Norton peoduct)   AnGus
rate4 The version I have seen is in Windows\sysWOW64\smc.exe I believe it is a trojan loaded onto the WoW game, current as of Aug 09.  See also: Link   Tarq57
rate3 it take up over (90 percent cpu   hat
rate1 part of symantec antivirus, it can be laggy just after system boot/reboot, no chance to hijack or infect this if used in Symantec antivirus, other part of symantec antivirus will block those attacks   G. v. Munster
rate5 It has completely jacked up my computer using 98% of the available CPU the entire morning. Two thumbs down !!   Ocho the Clown
rate4 Also never installed Sygate but smc.exe is running, using a large amount of resources   enkl4ve
rate1 a super filewall - wish I had it sooner   Steve
rate1 Sygate is much easier to use and is more effective than Zonealarm and should be #1 choice.   Carpenter
rate1 10,000+ resources on average for Sygate firewall   Bobby P
rate1 \Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\Smc.exe goes along with SmcGui.exe so it can also be a part of Symantec antivirus   Jan B
rate1 excellent firewall, blocks everything you want (Sygate Firewall)   Cradle
rate1 It is not SYGATE on my machine. It is part of the Symantec managed virusscanner.   Eddy Boogoo
rate1 Symantec Endpoint Protection   BuR
rate3 Causes 500-4000 page faults / second in my system slowing everything badly!   Janne
rate0 Symantec Endpoint. Immediately after my company installed on my pc performance took a nose dive. Typically runs at 50% of cpu. Apparently has been a problem for at least 3.5 years.   Joseph
rate1 Symantec Endpoint Protection   TieFighter
rate1 Sygate Firefall Process. It will take almost 100% of cpu time   Suresh
rate1 During system boot with sygate installed it can take as much as 98% CPU usage. When it has completed it's tasks and sygate is fully loaded it calmes down to very little CPU usage. Small price to pay for good firewall protection.   Badeye

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More process information

Is smc.exe spyware or a virus, trojans, adware or worm? Is there a known smc.exe error?


Other Processes

smc.exe
[smc.exe in German] [all processes]