84,488,480 programs installed

Should I remove Realtek AC'97 Audio?

What percent of users and experts removed it?
5% remove it95% keep it
Overall Sentiment
Good
What do people think about it?
(click star to rate)
How common is it?
Global Rank #1,852
United States Rank #3,106
Reach 0.3616%
Lifespan of installation (until removal)
< 10.32 days
304.41 days >
Average installed length: 159.95 days

Versions

VersionDistribution
5.37 18.45%
5.36 39.86%
5.35 4.50%
5.34 3.20%
5.33 4.31%
5.30 1.46%
5.29 0.13%
5.28 5.58%
5.27 0.21%
5.24 1.01%
5.23 2.39%
5.22 0.59%
5.19 1.82%
5.18 3.14%
5.17 3.11%
5.16 2.30%
5.13 1.95%
5.12 2.93%
5.11 0.13%
5.10 0.69%
5.09 2.20%

Other programs by Realtek Semiconductor

Realtek AC'97 Audio

What is Realtek AC'97 Audio?  (from Realtek Semiconductor)

Audio drivers available for download from the Realtek website are general drivers for our audio ICs, and may not offer the customizations made by your system/motherboard manufacturer. (To be sure you obtain the full features/customizations provided in your original audio product, please download the latest drivers from...  Read more

Overview

Realtek AC'97 Audio is a program developed by Realtek Semiconductor. The most used version is 5.36, with over 98% of all installations currently using this version. Upon installation and setup, it defines an auto-start registry entry which makes this program run on each Windows boot for all user logins. A scheduled task is added to Windows Task Scheduler in order to launch the program at various scheduled times (the schedule varies depending on the version). The software is designed to connect to the Internet and adds a Windows Firewall exception in order to do so without being interfered with. The main program executable is alcrmv.exe. The software installer includes 30 files and is usually about 41.55 MB (43,563,540 bytes). In comparison to the total number of users, most PCs are running the OS Windows XP as well as Windows 7 (SP1). While about 27% of users of Realtek AC'97 Audio come from the United States, it is also popular in Germany and France.

Program detailsProgram details

URL: www.realtek.com.tw
Installation folder: C:\Program Files\Realtek AC97\
Uninstaller: RunDll32 C:\Program Files1\COMMON~1\INSTAL~1\PROFES~1\RunTime\11\50\Intel32\Ctor.dll,LaunchSetup "C:\Program Files\InstallShield Installation Information\{F
Estimated size: 41.55 MB
Language: English

Program filesFiles installed by Realtek AC'97 Audio

Program executable:alcrmv.exe
Name:Realtek AC'97 Removing driver Tool
Driver Removing for Windows x64 or x86_32
Path:C:\windows\alcrmv.exe
MD5:b8d51a5f2961ae381723f964978aa848
Additional files:
  • alcwdm64.sys - Windows (R) WDM driver for Realtek AC'97 Audio(HRTF data Copyright 1994 by MIT Media Lab) (Realtek AC'97 Audio Driver (WDM))
  • alcxwdm.sys
  • RTKVAC.sys
  • alcrmv64.exe - Realtek AC'97 Removing driver Tool (Driver Removing for Windows x64 or x86_32)
  • RTLCPL.exe - Realtek Audio Sound Effect Manager (Realtek Audio Control Panel)
  • RTDCPL.exe - Realtek AC97 Audio Control Panel
  • RtkAPO.dll - Realtek(r) LFX/GFX DSP component
  • RtkAPO64.dll
  • RtkPgExt.dll - Realtek LFX/GFX DSP UI component (Realtek LFX/GFX DSP UI component for Windows Vista)
  • RtPgEx64.dll
  • Alcxmntr.exe - Realtek Audio - Event Monitor
  • SoundMan.exe - Realtek Sound Manager
  • WDM_A406.exe - Realtek AC97 Audio
  • RtkCfg.dll
  • RtkCfg64.dll
  • RtlCPAPI.dll - RtlCPAPI Module
  • ChCfg.exe
  • CPLUtl64.exe

Program behaviorsBehaviors exhibited

2 Scheduled Tasks
  • RTLCPL.EXE is scheduled as a task with the class '{DE474820-D373-4F79-A0F7-92B322D63C0A}' (runs on registration).
  • SoundMan.exe is scheduled as a task named 'SoundMan' (runs daily at 9:00).
Startup File (User Run)
  • SoundMan.exe is loaded in the current user (HKCU) registry as an auto-starting executable named 'Soundman' and executes as C:\Program Files\Realtek AC97\SoundMan.exe.
2 Startup Files (All Users Run)
  • SoundMan.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'SoundMan' which loads as SOUNDMAN.EXE.
  • Alcxmntr.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'AlcxMonitor' which loads as ALCXMNTR.EXE.
2 Windows Firewall Allowed Programs
  • SoundMan.exe is added as a firewall exception for 'C:\Program Files\Realtek AC97\SoundMan.exe'.
  • RTLCPL.EXE is added as a firewall exception for 'C:\Program Files\Realtek AC97\RTLCPL.EXE'.

Program resource utilizationResource utilization averages

SoundMan.exe
Memory:2.59 MB
21.09 MB average
Total CPU:0.0001537788%
0.031193% average
Kernel CPU:0.00012698%
0.016088% average
User CPU:0.00002679%
0.015104% average
I/O reads/min:5 Bytes
435.61 KB average
I/O writes/min:0 Bytes
105.02 KB average

How do I remove Realtek AC'97 Audio?

You can uninstall Realtek AC'97 Audio from your computer by using the Add/Remove Program feature in the Window's Control Panel.
  1. On the Start menu (for Windows 8, right-click the screen's bottom-left corner), click Control Panel, and then, under Programs, do one of the following:
    • Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall a Program.
    • Windows XP: Click Add or Remove Programs.
  2. When you find the program Realtek AC'97 Audio, click it, and then do one of the following:
    • Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall.
    • Windows XP: Click the Remove or Change/Remove tab (to the right of the program).
  3. Follow the prompts. A progress bar shows you how long it will take to remove Realtek AC'97 Audio.

OS VERSIONS
Win XP 62%
Win 7 0%
 
HOW IT STARTS
Automatically starts? Yes
(Found in the run registry)
 
USER ACTIONS
Uninstall it 5%
Keep it 95%

Windows OS versionsWindows

Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
Windows XP 66.71%
Windows 7 29.63%
Windows 10 1.87%
Windows Vista 1.67%
Windows Server 2003 0.13%
Which OS releases does it run on?
Microsoft Windows XP 66.88%
Windows 7 Ultimate 14.59%
Windows 7 Home Premium 6.81%
Windows 7 Professional 5.90%
Windows Vista Home Premiu... 0.99%
Windows 7 Home Basic 0.67%

Distribution by countryGeography

27.30% of installs come from the United States
Which countries install it?
  United States 27.30%
  Germany 10.96%
  France 5.39%
  Italy 4.69%
  United Kingdom 4.36%
  Brazil 3.98%
  India 2.48%
  Spain 2.43%
  Romania 2.43%
  Canada 2.32%
  Poland 1.85%
  MA 1.80%
  Iran 1.66%
  Australia 1.54%

OEM distributionPC manufacturers

What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
American Megatrends 24.10%
GIGABYTE 17.75%
Intel 13.52%
Dell 10.24%
Hewlett-Packard 10.18%
Acer 10.03%
Sahara 8.32%
ASUS 3.39%
Toshiba 2.47%
Common models
GBT AWRDACPI 13.06%
NVIDIA AWRDACPI 10.91%
INTELR AWRDACPI 8.26%
AWARD_ AWRDACPI 5.33%
P4M80P AWRDACPI 5.29%
VIAK8M AWRDACPI 2.77%

About Realtek Semiconductor

Realtek manufactures a wide variety of products that can be broadly categorized into two subdivisions: Communications Network ICs, and Computer Peripheral and Multimedia ICs.
Publisher URL: www.realtek.com

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