What is and How to Remove and Uninstall Bonjour mDNSResponder.exe Process

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Bonjour (mDNSResponder.exe) is a general method or Apple’s tool to discover services on a local area network; basically what it does is to search for software updates and reminds you on the latest patch. It can be somewhat annoying and it consumes your computer’s processor and memory usage.

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The Bonjour service starts automatically and executes a process named mDNSResponder.exe when Windows boots up, the annoying part is it can’t be ended by Windows Task Manager or removed from the add and remove manager in the control panel.

So, how do they go about deleting it from their computer? Before they begin the journey of removing this annoying software, they ought to make sure you’re not running these selected programs:

  • Any Apple Software, iChat, iTunes, iPhone Sync and many more
  • Adobe Creative Suite 3
  • Adium
  • Fire
  • Pidgin
  • Skype

So, how do you remove Bonjour?

Remove Bonjour mDNSResponder.exe

  • Step 1 – Go to “Start’ > “Run” and type the following command “%PROGRAMFILES%\Bonjour\mDNSResponder.exe” -remove and hit OK.
  • Step 2 – Go to Start > Run again and type the following command regsvr32 /u “%PROGRAMFILES%\Bonjour\mdnsNSP.dll” and hit OK.
  • Step 3 – Restart your computer
  • Step 4 – Delete the Program Files\Bonjour folder
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Note: Please take into account the path to Program Files may be different if you are running Windows in another language. You need to enclose the command in ” “, or double quotes. Just as it is shown above.

Remove and Uninstall Bonjour mDNSResponder.exe Process

If the following process appears to be somewhat too complicated, or too geeky, surf to Gizmo Project’s website, they have created a small tool called Turn off Bonjour, basically what it does is it turns off and removes the redundant Bonjour service from your computer. You are still required to delete the Bonjour files and folder from your C drive manually.

If somehow things went haywire and you’ve messed up your computer’s system, fear not, download and reinstall Bonjour for Windows from Apple. It is highly advisable to download these tools before you proceed with the task of removing Bonjour, just in case Bonjour really messed up your TCP/IP and cuts you off from the internet.

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Cannot Uninstall Bonjour to Install Bonjour

Why you should delete or remove Bonjour?

Bonjour can be a security threat by leaving a port open on your machine so that it can send data back and forth between the host company of the product you’ve installed.

This allows hackers to gain access to your computer if that particular software you are using came with a bug, furthermore, it consumes your bandwidth unnecessary, who needs a software to remind them of software updates? If I need a software patch due to frequent crashes, I’ll visit the official website!

19 Comments

  1. Gravatar

    great tip. thanks for the help. it sickens me that all these companies load up your computer with resource-hogging garbage.

  2. Gravatar

    Why does a company like Apple allow such a program to be installed without our knowledge? I mean, on a network of about 6000 users, how much bandwidth does it use? This could be considered an attack by some standards…

  3. Gravatar
    Shahab [ Reply ]

    i am having troble wt this thing and i really need it to jst get outa my computer so i can install da new version of apples on my pc. da bonjour shit is not letting it happpen can u help plz..and btw i dont have da file mDNSresponder.exe or something..deaz dis othr file

    mdnsNSP.old.exe

    and some othr dll file

    can sumone help plz….dat codei put in there does not work. neithr does da next one.

    • Gravatar

      How To Uninstall or Remove Bonjour mDNSResponder.exe?

  4. Gravatar
    Shahab [ Reply ]

    i mean the new version of itunes

  5. Gravatar

    I am working with Adobe Premiere Pro 3. Can I remove this service OR block this in my Desktop Firewall without having further problems?

    This Bonjour-Service is really annoying!

    • Gravatar

      This is stupid. go into safe mode and delete the “Bonjour” folder

  6. Gravatar
    Helpdesk [ Reply ]

    if these commands do not work
    open task manager
    take out “mDNSResponder.exe”
    start>run>%PROGRAMFILES%
    open bonjour folder and remove mDNSResponder
    rename mdnsNSP.dll to mdnsNSP.dll.old
    restart computer
    start>run>%PROGRAMFILES%
    delete bonjour folder
    all done bonjour free computer!!

  7. Gravatar
    Helpdesk [ Reply ]

    oh yea, I forgot in case you have your bonjour service started and want to turn it off or make sure that it dont turn on.

    start>run>services.msc
    look for the service (bonjour)
    double click
    set start up type to disabled
    if started there is a stop button

    enjoy

  8. Gravatar

    you have to type it in exactly as it is said to–caps and spaces must be exact, took me 3 times

    • Gravatar
      Tutorial [ Reply ]

      Bonjour is Apple’s implementation of set of techniques which allow for a zero-configuration IP

  9. Gravatar

    Or you could just do this:

    1) Go to Start>Run and enter “msconfig”
    2) Click “Services” tab and check “Hide all Microsoft Services”.
    3) Uncheck Bonjour Service and any other resource hogging services you dont want to run.
    4) Hit OK
    5) Reboot

  10. Gravatar

    “search for software updates and reminds you on the latest patch” This is rubbish. Bonjour does not do this. Apple Software Update does.
    If you delete Bonjour as this suggests, your computer will no longer automatically find all sorts of networked devices, especially printers, and you will have to configure them manually. This was much more cumbersome and error-prone before Apple released Bonjour.

  11. Gravatar

    @David

    You are completely full of ****. Microsoft has its own system (and has for many, many, years) for discovering networked devices. Perhaps it was ‘cumbersome and error prone’ on the worst two OS’s in existence, which happen to be developed by apple.

    Before you come in here with your idiot apple user logic, please know that some of us are not mentally under-developed and actually have an understanding beyond the level of a child.
    “Bonjour”(mDNSresponder.exe) is only for rubbish apple devices and completely useless for those that posses advanced technology.
    It isn’t installed with windows, nor is it even technically necessary
    for anything. The only reason is exists is because apple has incredibly flawed programming logic. I’ve had this **** deleted on every system I own for years and everything functions BETTER without it clogging the stack with completely unnecessary ‘transactions’. It’s also an excellent example of apple’s incredibly poor security. You children are just too stupid to even know when you’ve been compromised. It’s quite hilarious.

    ‘Bonjour’ is, in essence, one of many very good examples of why apple is redundant, outdated and only for those that suffer from technologically illiteracy. Other examples for the list: Itunes, FCPX (iMovie), quicktime and essentially everything apple touches.

    Luckily they haven’t tried making fcpx(iMovie) for windows, it would be an utter failure anyways. Everything they attempt to code for a proper OS is. All they can handle is their broken unix bastardization and even that is too complex for any of them to actually understand.

    Now shut the **** up, stupid apple kid.

  12. Gravatar

    David’s right – Bonjour isn’t used for software update at all, and it does not leave a port open between your computer and Apple’s servers. The name of the EXE you’re disabling should be a clue – it adds another layer of network discovery to your computer.

    You can see full details of what Bonjour’s for at https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/NetServices/Introduction.html

    Disabling it will simply hinder some Apple software you want to install on your computer, or any software/hardware that takes advantage of the Bonjour APIs.

    If you find it interferes with your TCP/IP traffic, then obviously get rid of it, but in my experience its footprint on my machines have been relatively lightweight.

  13. Gravatar
    Eric Geier [ Reply ]

    Uninstalling Bonjour service from Photoshop CS

  14. Gravatar

    Do I need Apple Bonjour on XP and windows 8?

  15. Gravatar

    Hold yer flames – I have iTunes and Skype on my Vista machine. I don’t run either program all the time, but at least once a week. They are not auto-startup apps for me.

    Two questions – If I uninstall / disable / kill / etc. mdnsresponderexe:
    1. Will this prevent iTunes from recognizing my iPod, or to download podcasts into iTunes?

    2. Will it affect Skype?

    Am wondering if these apps need the exe to run, will it kick it off when the app is started, or does it need to be running beforehand.

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