Taskhostw.exe Virus CPU Miner Removal

This article can help you to remove Taskhostw.exe Virus. The step by step removal works for every version of Microsoft Windows.

Taskhostw.exe is a malicious process that spells trouble. It’s an infection, part of the Trojan family. And, you do NOT want it on your PC. The tool follows in the latest trend of mining for digital money. It utilizes your system resources to mine for cryptocurrency. Like, Ethereum, Bitcoin, Monero, et cetera. The Trojan compromises your system’s well-being. Following its invasion, corruption ensues. It overloads the GPU and CPU of your PC, and it shows. You start to suffer lagging and frequent system crashes. The Trojan eats up resources and space. You’re left to wonder why your computer has slowed down to a crawl. Well, you have the Taskhostw.exe plague to ‘thank’ for that. It wreaks utter havoc. Furthermore, it turns your browsing into a nightmare. Courtesy of the infection, you face endless interference. Every time you go online, you get interrupted. The Trojan floods you with an incessant array of ads. Pop-up, in-text, banner. It also redirects you to a plethora of suspicious pages. Surfing the web turns into a hellish experience. Add that, on top of the fact that the Trojan is killing your processor. And, it should be pretty clear. It has NO place on your computer! Do your best to get rid of it as soon as possible. The faster it’s gone, the better.

How did I get infected with?

The Taskhostw.exe menace doesn’t pop up out of the blue. It may seem that way to you, but it’s not the case. In fact, you gave the Trojan the green light of admission. Without your permission, a Trojan cannot proceed with invasion. Confused? It’s rather simple. Let’s explain. Such an infection has to seek your consent on its admission. And, if it’s to proceed, it has to get it. No approval, no access. So, infections have to get creative if they’re to invade. Trojans tend to slither in via the usual methods. Spam emails, freeware, fake updates, corrupted links. There’s a myriad of rather effective ways to invade. But all of them rely on your carelessness. Since the tool needs to dupe you into approving its install, it pulls out all the stops. It turns to the sneakiest ways of infiltration possible. Yes, it’s bound to seek your consent on its entry. But it doesn’t have to be overt about it. So, it’s not. It’s anything but. More often than not, the infection uses freeware. That’s because it provides the easiest way in. Users are pretty careless when installing freeware. For reasons unknown, they rush, and throw caution to the wind. Instead of being thorough, they rely on luck. For example, users don’t read the terms and conditions, but agree to them in blind faith. That’s a horrendous mistake with severe repercussions. Always make sure you know what you say YES to. It can save you an avalanche of grievances. Next time, you open your PC to anything, you get off the web, be extra thorough. Vigilance goes a long way. Remember to do your due diligence. And, always choose caution over carelessness. One helps to keep a system free of infections. The other does the opposite.

Why is this dangerous?

The Taskhostw.exe Trojan spies on you. As soon as it invades, it starts to monitor your browsing. It keeps track of everything you do. And, not only that, but it records it as well. That’s right. A dangerous cyber threat has a record of your every online move. Whichever way you look at it, it’s not good. After the Trojan determines it has collected enough data from you, it proceeds to the next step. It exposes the stolen information. To whom? Well, to the unknown cyber criminals, behind it. Strangers with questionable intentions. In other words, people, you can’t trust with your private details. Don’t let the dangerous threat get a hold of your personal and financial data. Only to, then, expose it. After, these people get a hold of it, they can use it as they see fit. And, that doesn’t end well. Keep your privacy private. And, don’t let it fall into the wrong hands. Do your best to get rid of the Taskhostw.exe infection. Act against the Trojan the first chance you get. Don’t delay. Delays lead to regrets.

Manual Taskhostw.exe Removal Instructions

The Taskhostw.exe infection is specifically designed to make money to its creators one way or another. The specialists from various antivirus companies like Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Norton, Avast, ESET, etc. advise that there is no harmless virus.

If you perform exactly the steps below you should be able to remove the Taskhostw.exe infection. Please, follow the procedures in the exact order. Please, consider to print this guide or have another computer at your disposal. You will NOT need any USB sticks or CDs.

STEP 1: Track down Taskhostw.exe related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Taskhostw.exe startup location

STEP 3: Delete Taskhostw.exe traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Taskhostw.exe related processes in the computer memory

• Open your Task Manager by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC keys simultaneously
• Carefully review all processes and stop the suspicious ones.

• Write down the file location for later reference.

Step 2: Locate Taskhostw.exe startup location

Reveal Hidden Files

• Open any folder
• Click on “Organize” button
  
• Choose “Folder and Search Options”
• Select the “View” tab
• Select “Show hidden files and folders” option
• Uncheck “Hide protected operating system files”
• Click “Apply” and “OK” button

Clean Taskhostw.exe virus from the windows registry

• Once the operating system loads press simultaneously the Windows Logo Button and the R key.

• A dialog box should open. Type “Regedit”

• WARNING! be very careful when editing the Microsoft Windows Registry as this may render the system broken.

Depending on your OS (x86 or x64) navigate to:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

• and delete the display Name: [RANDOM]

• Then open your explorer and navigate to: %appdata% folder and delete the malicious executable.

Clean your HOSTS file to avoid unwanted browser redirection

Navigate to %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/host

If you are hacked, there will be foreign IPs addresses connected to you at the bottom. Take a look below:

Step 4: Undo the possible damage done by Taskhostw.exe

This particular Virus may alter your DNS settings.

Attention! this can break your internet connection. Before you change your DNS settings to use Google Public DNS for Taskhostw.exe, be sure to write down the current server addresses on a piece of paper.

To fix the damage done by the virus you need to do the following.

• Click the Windows Start button to open the Start Menu, type control panel in the search box and select Control Panel in the results displayed above.
• go to Network and Internet
• then Network and Sharing Center
• then Change Adapter Settings
• Right-click on your active internet connection and click properties. Under the Networking tab, find Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4). Left click on it and then click on properties. Both options should be automatic! By default it should be set to “Obtain an IP address automatically” and the second one to “Obtain DNS server address automatically!” If they are not just change them, however if you are part of a domain network you should contact your Domain Administrator to set these settings, otherwise the internet connection will break!!!

 

• Check your scheduled tasks to make sure the virus will not download itself again.

How to Permanently Remove Taskhostw.exe Virus (automatic) Removal Guide

Please, have in mind that once you are infected with a single virus, it compromises your whole system or network and let all doors wide open for many other infections. To make sure manual removal is successful, we recommend to use a free scanner of any professional antimalware program to identify possible virus leftovers or temporary files.