5 instances of "acwebbrowser.exe" process when running Max 2018. What is this?

[office]

When I run 3ds Max 2018, I get 5 instances of this process in Task Manager: acwebbrowser.exe

It eats up about 100 mb of RAM on my PC. Not a lot but why? What is this thing and why does it run when I start Max? Why 5 instances of it?

I found that this exe file resides in C:\Program Files (x86)\Autodesk\Autodesk Desktop App\AcWebBrowser

Please check the screenshot below.

[dgorsman · Accepted solution]

That's how Autodesk products run several "out of process" tasks alongside the main program, taking advantage of multiple cores/threads and not having the main program get stalled/held up if they take a little longer than normal.  While they are all listed as the same EXE name, they are in fact performing different tasks; typical examples are license management and help system.  Others tasks are dependent on the program being run, but they should be there and are doing required things, so I don't recommend forcing them to stop or otherwise interfering with them.

[irishman_team_kilber]

here is another thread i replied too a couple of hours ago

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/3ds-max-shading-lighting-and/what-is-acwebbrowser-exe-and-how-do-i-di...

[office]

Thanks for the info, guys!

[Alfred.DeFlaminis]

I just wanted to pop in and mention I marked @dgorsman's post because it is spot on.  

Best Regards,

[teepee11]

What is AcWebBrowser.exe and why does it run all the time?

1. Attachment is the recommended resolution to your case:
  The AcWebBrowser.exe" is an application that gets launched with running an Autodesk program,
  that allows these programs to browse out to the web for common data.
  Some common functions that utilize this application are the "Geolocation" tools, "Help" dialogs etc.
  If it do cause software performance, you could disable it manually.
  Thanks for contacting with Autodesk Technical Support.

I wasnt satisfied with this answer , second reply from Autodesk;

Answer;

2. Thank you for choosing Autodesk Support. Here is the recommended resolution to your case:

From technical document, ACWebBrowser.exe is the core app about Autodesk Desktop App.
So any functions using Autodesk Desktop will use ACWebBrowser.exe. 
Autodesk Desktop App is the platform for Autodesk Customer contact Autodesk via network.
You could download software, update, submit case to Autodesk and so on.
These function you could access website (e.g. manage.autodesk.com  or knowledge.autodesk.com) directly.
Please see
Autodesk Desktop App: Exploring the Features and Benefits of AutoCAD about more information.

In this situation, you could uninstall Autodesk Desktop App from your computer,
there ACWebBrowser.exe will not affect performance of software.  This will not affect Autodesk Product using. 
Go to Windows Control Panel to uninstall Autodesk Desktop App.
Thanks for contacting with Autodesk Technical Support.