If you are a little curious, you may have noticed that there is a process that usually appears several times repeated when we take a look at the Windows Task Manager. The process is called taskhostw.exe and in some cases it is usually responsible for excessive consumption of RAM or CPU. Could it be a virus or malware?
Don't worry, taskhostw.exe is a system file
The first thing to say is that the taskhostw.exe process is a file that is part of the Windows 10 system files. In previous versions of Microsoft's operating system, it also usually appears with the name of taskhost.exe and taskhostex.exe. Its main function is to start DLL-based Windows services whenever we turn on the computer or restart the operating system.
The original location of this file is in the path “C: \ Windows \ System32 \ taskhostw.exe”. Therefore, if we find it in any other folder from our hard drive, it is most likely that it is a virus (in which case, we should proceed to run a good antivirus as soon as possible).
The process consumes too much memory and CPU
If taskhosts.exe loads any faulty DLLs this can lead to abnormal consumption of RAM or CPU. In this case, it is not that we have a virus, but if any of these DLLs that are running through taskhost were corrupt, it is possible that our PC slows down and does not perform normally. It is a very delicate file!
To solve it, it is advisable to carry out the tests that we will detail below.
1- Run the Windows 10 system file checker
Open a terminal window ("cmd" command from the run menu or in Cortana) as Administrator and run the following command to open Windows System File Checker and do a scan.
sfc / scannow
Once completed, restart the computer and check its operation.
2- Use DISM to repair the system image
If the previous trick does not work, we will open a new CMD window as Administrator and launch these 3 commands, one by one:
Dism / Online / Cleanup-Image / CheckHealth
Dism / Online / Cleanup-Image / ScanHealth
Dism / Online / Cleanup-Image / RestoreHealth
DISM is a Microsoft tool used to review faulty Windows images and fix them updating files and fixing bugs. Once the execution of the 3 commands is completed, it is necessary to restart the computer.
3- Reinstall the latest programs
If we have just started noticing problems on the computer recently, the cause is most likely a new program. Try reinstalling the most recent programs from the "Add or remove programs" panel (you can also try by clicking the " Repair ”), and if any of them have a pending update, don't forget to do so, as they may bring security patches that solve the problem.
4- Start Windows in safe mode
The last alternative before pulling for more drastic measures is to start Windows in "safe" mode (you can see how to do it HERE). In this way, the system will start with the minimum drivers and the most basic functions so that we can investigate and see where the bug may be.
If the safe mode is not overloaded and it works OK, the fault is most likely in some third-party program. In which case, we will have to do several trial and error sessions, running applications, uninstalling them, etc. until you find the source of the problem.
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