PSIService
What is this file?
Why is it installed?
Who made it?
What does it do?
Does it "call home" or otherwise transmit from my computer to the internet?
How did it get here?
Is it required or optional?
Does it collect any personally identifiable data?
Is this service monitoring my computer on an ongoing basis?
How does this service protect against piracy?
What is the Protexis privacy policy?
Will every application using Protexis licensing have its own service running?
Does it alter my Windows registry?
How much of my system resources does it use? Can it slow down my system or make it unstable?
Why is it still on my system? I've uninstalled the original application that added it to my system.
What will happen if I stop or remove it?
How do I uninstall PSIService?
I've removed it from my system, but now my software application won't work. What should I do?
What is this file?
PSIService.exe is a Windows System Service executable that is part of Protexis Licensing software. Protexis provides license registration and verification software and services for application publishers.
Why is it installed?
The service is installed by software applications that use Protexis licensing. These applications use this service to verify your license and may use it to pass registration data to a Protexis server.
Who made it?
PSIService is part of the Protexis suite of licensing tools for software companies who use our system to license and protect their products.
What does it do?
This system service provides license registration and verification to one or more installed applications using Protexis licensing.
Does it "call home" or otherwise transmit from my computer to the internet?
This service does not "call home" or provide any periodic report to an external web site or server. It does provide license activation and registration when an application is first used, so it will attempt to connect to the internet in order to register and validate your application license at that time.
How did it get here?
This service and its support files were installed when an application using Protexis licensing was installed.
Is it required or optional?
PSIService is required by applications that use Protexis licensing. These applications require the system service to be running in order to validate a license. Consequently, applications that use Protexis licensing may fail to run if this system service is unavailable.
Does it collect any personally identifiable data?
An application that uses Protexis licensing may ask you to provide personally identifiable information as part of a registration process. That application will use PSIService to pass this data to a Protexis license and registration server. Registration data is subsequently delivered only to the publisher of that application. Protexis requires publishers using our licensing software to conform to our privacy policy.
Is this service monitoring my computer on an ongoing basis?
No. This system service does not monitor you or your system usage. However, software applications may use the service to check your system identity and to determine that you are in compliance with the license terms. This check is performed locally on your system and no data associated with this process is transmitted to an external web site or server.
How does this service protect against piracy?
Protexis licensing uses product activation to uniquely associate the software license with your system identity – the license can only be unlocked on the system with the associated identity. This check is performed locally on your system and no data associated with this process is transmitted to an external web site or server. Software applications use PSIService as part of product activation to check your system identity and to determine that you are in compliance with the license terms.
What is the Protexis privacy policy?
Our privacy policy is posted on this web site.
Will every application using Protexis licensing have its own service running?
No. The Protexis licensing system service is a shared component. This means that multiple applications use PSIService in order to conserve system resources.
Does it alter my Windows registry?
This service adds three keys to the Windows registry. Two are used to verify license compliance and the third is required by Windows to install the service.
How much of my system resources does it use? Can it slow down my system or make it unstable?
PSIService has been designed to use as little of your system resources as possible. While idle it requires 2.1 MB of system memory. Due to this small memory usage it should not slow your system or cause any instability.
Why is it still on my system? I've uninstalled the original application that added it to my system.
This service is installed as a shared system component. If it is still running after you uninstall an application that uses PSIService, then there are other applications installed that also use this system service.
What will happen if I stop or remove it?
If this service is stopped or removed you may not be able to run applications that use it. This service will be automatically removed when all of the applications that use this service are uninstalled.
How do I uninstall PSIService?
If you are certain that no applications using PSIService are still installed on your system, and this service is still running, you can remove it manually by following these instructions:
- Remove the following registry entry:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
Services\ProtexisLicensing]
- Reboot your computer
- Delete the following files:
%windir%\System32\PSIService.exe
%windir%\System32\PSIKey.exe
I've removed it from my system, but now my software application won't work. What should I do?
You need to reinstall the application. This will reinstall the PSIService, along with the application, which will allow you to use the application again.
Back to top
