Windows Conhost.exe Removal Guide

Conhost.exe is one of the greatest threats that your PC will ever come across. If left undetected, this Trojan can cause your entire system to collapse over time.

Here is a detailed guide that you can use to remove this phishing malware completely from your PC.

 

What Is Conhost.Exe?

Before proceeding to remove Conhost.exe, it is fairly important to know what it actually is and how it affects your Windows computer. To begin with, Conhost.exe is actually a licensed software component of Windows OS that resides in “C:\Windows\System32.”

However, there is a counterpart, too, that is normally introduced to your PC through spam, legitimate software, advertisements, browser add-ons, etc. This counterpart has no relation to the “C:\Windows\System32” and its sole purpose is to use the PC’s CPU and GPU.

This can cause your system to behave sluggishly and even freeze at times. If left undetected for a longer period of time, this Trojan malware can cause your PC to overheat and even cause your system to break.

The malware is extremely silent and undetectable, always working in the shadows. It creates multiple spam files across the system and takes many countermeasures to prevent its removal, which is why it is important to know about it before you remove it.

For many reasons, you should not delete any process unless you are 100% sure. The process you are deleting can be a legitimate Windows process, and even if you delete the right virus, there are many countermeasures through which it can escape to other parts of your PC.

The Trojan can enter your PC through spam emails, repacked legitimate software setups, fake key generators, fake game patches, and cracks, etc.

 

How Do You Remove Conhost.Exe?

Removal of the Trojan Conhost.exe can be done in two ways. One is automatic and the other is manual. Given the risk involved in the process, it is always considered best to automatically remove the Trojan using anti-malware tools.

 

Automatically remove Conhost.exe

There are plenty of tools that you can use to automatically remove malware from your PC. It is much more effective and quicker than proceeding the manual way. Read on, here are the two most famous anti-malware tools that you can use to remove Conhost.exe without any risk.

 

SpyHunter Anti-Malware

SpyHunter is an awesome anti-malware tool that quickly scans your PC and removes anything that is infected or poses a risk to the system. You can download the tool from the link below and then follow the steps to automatically remove Conhost.exe.

 

SpyHunter Download

You will have to buy the tool to be able to utilize its full functionality.

• After the file is downloaded, click on the .exe file to install it
• Follow the instructions and wait for it to install
• After the installation is completed, launch the application
• Click on Scan Computer Now to initiate a scanning
• Once the scan is completed, the application will list all the potential malware threats on your PC
• Click on Fix Threats and wait for the application to remove all the potential threats from your PC
• Once done, your Windows computer will be free of any threats, including the Conhost.exe Trojan

 

Malwarebytes

Download it here. Similar to the SpyHunter tool, this anti-malware software also quickly scans your computer and removes all the potential malware threats from your PC, including the Console Windows Host threat. You can download the application from the link below.

For this application, you can use the free trial version for 30 days or buy the full version if you wish to.

• Download the application from the link below and click on the .exe file to launch the installation
• Proceed with the instructions and wait for it to install on your computer
• Once the installation is completed, the application will automatically launch and check for updates online
• Click on the Scan Now button to begin scanning
• Wait for the scan to complete; once done, it will list all the threats on your PC
• Click on Fix Threats to allow the application to remove all the threats
• Once the threat removal is done, your computer will be free of any malware threats, including the Conhost.exe threat

 

Manually remove Conhost.exe

Removing the Console Window Host threat manually is a complicated process and requires detailed attention.

To remove the counterpart of Conhost.exe, the smart move is to first isolate the virus by removing the additional files that it created and then finally deleting the entire process.

 

Here is a safe step-by-step guide that will help you remove the threat manually.

• Begin with removing the malware from Internet Explorer
  • Open Internet Explorer, then go to Settings > Manage Add-ons
  • Look for the malware, then click on Disable to remove it
• Remove Conhost.exe from Chrome
  • Launch Chrome, then look for the three dots on the top-right corner
  • From there, go to More Tools > Extensions
  • There, find the potential malware and click on the dustbin icon to delete them
• Remove threats from Firefox
  • Launch Firefox, click on the three lines in the top-right corner
  • From there, go to Add-ons > Extensions
  • Find the potential malware and click on Remove to delete it
• Once you have cleaned the inside of each of the browsers, follow the steps below:
  • Right-click on the browser icon and then click on Properties
  • Once the properties window opens, go to the Shortcut tab and look for the Target field
  • In the Target field, remove everything written after “.exe”
• Once the above steps are done, follow the steps below
  • Press Windows Logo key + R to launch Run
  • Then type in cpl and press Enter
  • The control panel will start; look for the potential malware applications and uninstall them
  • Uninstall any malware applications that you don’t recognize
• Once all the potential threat applications are uninstalled, follow the steps below:
  • Launch the Task Manager by right-clicking on the Taskbar and choosing the option from the list
  • Now under the Processes tab, look for any malware processes running, especially Conhost.exe
  • If you are not sure which of them are viruses, then you can search the name online to determine what they are, or right-click on them and click on Open File Location to see if they are residing under “C:\Windows\System32”
  • If they are threats, right-click on them and click on End Process
    

 

Note: This is the riskiest step in the process, so make sure you proceed with extreme caution. If you are not comfortable, you can still use one of the automated tools.

This should potentially remove the Conhost.exe threat from your computer, along with all the possible countermeasures the Trojan has created. Once done, restart the computer and install an updated anti-virus system to prevent the threat from rising again.

 

Conclusion — Conhost.Exe

Console Window Host removal is one of the trickiest threats that your computer can come across. Manually removing this threat is a risky process, but if done with caution, it can clean the potential malware from your PC, along with other malware threats.

The simpler way is to use an automatic tool that will scan and remove the malware from your computer easily in minutes. Two of the most effective automatic tools are listed above, which can help you deal with Conhost.exe on your Windows effectively.

Also, ignoring the Conhost.exe on your computer can cause extreme damage to your system and potentially sensitive data leaks. Therefore, it is advised to quarantine the threat as soon as possible and remove it completely.