What is It?
The conhost.exe (Console Windows Host) is a file provided by Microsoft Windows. It is usually safe & legitimate.
You can observe this Windows file running on operating systems like Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10. It is required for the conhost.exe to run towards supporting the Command Prompt to create an interface with the Windows Explorer.
One of the major responsibilities of the conhost.exe file is to offer the ability to drag & drop files or folders directly into the Command Prompt.
Most of the third-party programs also make use of the conhost.exe file when need to access the command line.
In most situations, the conhost.exe file is considered safe & legitimate. As such, there is no need for scanning the file for the presence of viruses or deleting the file.
Usually Normal
It is quite normal for the conhost.exe program to be running simultaneously as you will often observe several instances of conhost.exe file running in the Task Manager.
However, there are certain exceptions to this file as well. For instance, there are specific situations wherein a virus could be impersonating as the Console Windows Host file in your computer system.
One of the symptoms that reflect that the conhost.exe files have been corrupted or turned malicious if it is consuming a lot of memory of your computer system.
Is conhost.exe File a Virus?
In most of the cases, there is no reason to assume the conhost.exe file to be malicious or a virus affecting the performance of your computer system.
However, there are some signs that you can check out for yourself to ensure whether or not the conhost.exe file is a virus.
Detecting A Fake conhost.exe
For beginners, if you observe the conhost.exe file running in Windows XP or Windows Vista, then there are higher chances that it is a virus. In such a case, you can also assume that the file is some kind of unwanted program. This is because the older versions of Windows do not make use of this file.
If you observe the conhost.exe file running in any of the mentioned Windows versions, then you must get rid of the program to ensure a seamless operation.
Another sign that the conhost.exe file is malicious or fake is that it is stored in the wrong folder in your computer system.
The original conhost.exe file runs from the specific folder and only from the given folder.
One of the easiest ways of learning whether or not the conhost.exe program is dangerous to use is to make use of the Task Manager towards performing two tasks:
- Verifying its description
- Checking the folder where it is running from
3 Fixes For conhost.exe Errors
If you have found that the conhost.exe file is running as an error in your computer system, then you can make use of the following steps to correct the same:
First Fix
You can remove the conhost.exe file manually by following the steps as:
- Open the window of Command Prompt. Click on the “Start” icon on the Taskbar. Advance to the option “Run” to start with the “Run” tool. Type the “cmd” command here and press the “OK” option.
- The next step is to locate all the respective DLL files. Once the window of Command Prompt opens up, you are required to locate the exact path. Type the command “cd” to change the current directory. Make use of the “dir” command if you wish to display the content on the available screen.
- Now, you are required to unregister all the unwanted DLL files. Once you have located the directory from wherein you would like to uninstall the file, type the command “regsvr32/u[DLL_NAME]”.
- Once all the respective target DLL files have been registered, a confirmation message would appear on the screen.
Second Fix
You can also make use of some automatic tool like Regcure Pro to get rid of the conhost.exe file error. Here are the steps to follow:
- Download the software Regcure Pro and execute its installer.
- You can modify the software’s scanning process as per your specific requirement.
- Once the scanning is complete, you can fix all the files that represent errors or virus infections.
Third Fix
The Ghacks Technology News YouTube channel provides a detailed walkthrough for dealing with issues related to this executable file.
This includes a step by step tutorial for figuring out whether it’s legit or not and what Windows is using it for.
Detecting And Removing Viruses For Free
In this video, the CroatCode video creator shows you guys how to remove viruses on your laptop or computer free of charge.
He demonstrates an Adware virus on his PC- he’s getting a bunch of pop-ups telling him to call a number or click on a link to download something.
So in his case, they can’t even download anything on the laptop, so they are another computer where he will use MalwareBytes to deal with the Adware.
He says it works really well and, in his opinion, outperforms the AVG, McAfee Norton programs.
Once you download it, open it up.
But if you’re like him and you can’t even download anything, go on a different computer download it put it on a flash drive. And once you guys put it on a flash drive you are going to go on and transfer it to your computer.
Then you are going to go ahead and plug in a flash drive and basically drag out the file and from there just open it.
Now, some of you guys might experience a problem where, if you attempt to open up Malwarebytes. A virus may well stop you from doing that. In that case, what you guys got to do is boot from Safe Mode and once you guys are in Safe Mode go ahead and open up the Malwarebytes setup with your internet off and it should work fine.
He advises not to click Scan Now right away but let it update first and he recommends doing a custom scan.
He says not to do a Recommended Scan since it’s just a quick scan.
But before you scan anything, be sure you have disconnected from your internet. It is important- that way no adware, no malware can redirect you to any internet sites or download anything.
So click on Custom Scan > Configure Scan > and select the C: Drive or any other drives you need to scan let Malwarebytes do its thing. It may take over half an hour or so. It’s going to evaluate your entire personal computer.
In his case, they have over a thousand threats detected. All you’ve got to do is remove them and your computer should be back to normal. He says, go ahead and do that- and you should be virus-free!