Being a legitimate executable process, malware may be camouflaged as this utility to appear genuine. These malware tend to have an identical name to the drwtsn32.exe, but are stored in different locations to its usual location, %SystemRoot%\System32. There may also be appended digits and/ or spelling differences to make it indecipherable. Therefore, differences in name or incorrect locations should be looked out for, though there are no known adware, Trojans, or viruses disguised as this particular process.

Malware infections can sometimes be noticed when there is more than a single instance of the process running at one particular instance, as only one should be running. Moreover, extended periods of drwtsn32.exe running are not normal, as it runs for a short period of time only. Extended running periods for this process when noticed may point to malware infections. Some systems may detect the process as a virus, but that does not mean it necessarily is. Potential viruses are indicated by some heuristics of virus scanners and may be the result of a scan, this is because the process exhibits traits of some known viruses.

Commonly, when shutting down, the message drwtsn32.exe – DLL Initialization Failed comes on. Numerous incompatible software instances may cause this message to appear during shutdown; therefore, it is recommended that one uninstall any software that was installed between the periods of the last known successful shutdown, to the shutdown when the message was first displayed. Damaged software may also result in the occurrence of this message during shutdown. Missing and damaged system files should be scanned for using “sfc /scannow”. Application errors should then be looked for in the Event viewer log, looking for damaged or missing applications. Files that may need to be re-installed should be re-installed via the installation disc from Windows.

Unless the process is suspected to be the cause of any problems, it should not be deleted or disabled, as its processes are important in the purpose of technical support to one’s computer. Related errors to this process should be identified using registry scans, and performance scans are recommended for the optimization of Internet settings, CPU and memory.