The Taskhostw.exe is a malware (trojan) from the group of ‘ad-supported’ software (also known as adware). If you get it on your PC system, this adware can change the web-browser’s settings like start page, newtab page and search engine, generate digital currency by leveraging the CPU of your computer, install malicious extension that will open a large amount of intrusive popup advertisements within the Firefox, Edge, Internet Explorer and Google Chrome screen. It’s important, don’t click on these advertisements, as they can lead you to more harmful or misleading pages. The best option is to use the steps posted below to clean your system of any malware and thereby delete the Taskhostw.exe adware.
What is more, the Taskhostw.exe adware may open ads depend on a web-site that you are visiting. That is, it’s clear that this adware, without your permission, steals your privacy information such as: your ip address, what is a page you are viewing now, what you are looking for on the World Wide Web, which links you are clicking, and much, much more. The worst is, the Taskhostw.exe adware may monetize its functionality by gathering user info from your surfing sessions. This privacy information, afterwards, can be easily sold to third parties. This puts your user info at a security risk.
In addition to that, as was mentioned earlier, some adware like the Taskhostw.exe to also alter all web browsers shortcuts which located on your Desktop or Start menu. So, every infected shortcut will try to redirect your browser to unwanted web-sites, some of which might be harmful. It can make the whole machine more vulnerable to hacker attacks.
We strongly advise that you perform the step-by-step tutorial below which will allow you to delete Taskhostw.exe using the standard features of Windows and some proven free software.
How to remove Taskhostw.exe trojan (removal guide)
We recommend opting for automatic Taskhostw.exe ad-supported software removal in order to get rid of all ‘ad supported’ software related entries easily. This solution requires scanning the personal computer with reputable anti malware, e.g. Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM), MalwareBytes AntiMalware or HitmanPro. However, if you prefer manual removal steps, you can use the guidance below in this post. Some of the steps will require you to restart your PC or shut down this page. So, read this guidance carefully, then bookmark or print it for later reference.
To remove Taskhostw.exe, execute the steps below:
- How to manually remove Taskhostw.exe
- Taskhostw.exe automatic removal
- How to stay safe online
- How can you prevent your PC from the attack of Taskhostw.exe adware
- To sum up
How to manually remove Taskhostw.exe
If you perform exactly the step-by-step instructions below you should be able to delete the Taskhostw.exe adware from the Windows 10 and other versions of Microsoft Windows OS.
Uninstall Taskhostw.exe associated software by using Microsoft Windows Control Panel
The process of ad supported software removal is generally the same across all versions of MS Windows OS from 10 to XP. To start with, it is necessary to check the list of installed applications on your machine and remove all unused, unknown and dubious software.
Windows 8, 8.1, 10
First, click the Windows button
, then click Search 
. Type “Control panel”and press Enter.Windows XP, Vista, 7
First, press “Start” and select “Control Panel”.
It will open the Windows Control Panel as shown below.
Next, click “Uninstall a program” 
It will open a list of all apps installed on your PC system. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall any suspicious and unknown programs. To quickly find the latest installed programs, we recommend sort programs by date in the Control panel.
Remove unwanted Scheduled Tasks
Once installed, the Taskhostw.exe trojan can add a task in to the Windows Task Scheduler Library. Due to this, every time when you start your system, it will show an unwanted page. So, you need to check the Task Scheduler Library and get rid of all harmful tasks which have been created by ‘ad-supported’ application.
Press Windows and R keys on the keyboard together. This displays a dialog box that called Run. In the text field, type “taskschd.msc” (without the quotes) and press OK. Task Scheduler window opens. In the left-hand side, press “Task Scheduler Library”, as displayed in the following example.
Task scheduler
In the middle part you will see a list of installed tasks. Please select the first task, its properties will be show just below automatically. Next, click the Actions tab. Pay attention to that it launches on your personal computer. Found something suspicious, then delete this malicious task. If you are not sure that executes the task, check it through a search engine. If it is a component of the unwanted programs, then this task also should be removed.
Having defined the task that you want to remove, then click on it with the right mouse button and choose Delete as displayed on the image below.
Delete a task
Repeat this step, if you have found a few tasks which have been created by the Taskhostw.exe malware. Once is finished, close the Task Scheduler window.
Disinfect the web-browser’s shortcuts
After the Taskhostw.exe adware is started, it can also change the web-browser’s shortcut files, adding an argument such as “http://site.address” into the Target field. Due to this, every time you open the web-browser, it’ll open an annoying site.
Right click on the web-browser’s shortcut file, click Properties option. On the Shortcut tab, locate the Target field. Click inside, you will see a vertical line – arrow pointer, move it (using -> arrow key on your keyboard) to the right as possible. You will see a text “http://site.address” which has been added here. Remove everything after .exe. An example, for Google Chrome you should remove everything after chrome.exe.
To save changes, click OK . You need to clean all internet browser’s shortcut files. So, repeat this step for the Firefox, Google Chrome, IE and Edge.
Taskhostw.exe automatic removal
AntiMalware software differ from each other by many features such as performance, scheduled scans, automatic updates, virus signature database, technical support, compatibility with other antivirus software and so on. We suggest you use the following free programs: Zemana AntiMalware, MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) and Hitman Pro. Each of these applications has all of needed features, but most importantly, they can look for the ‘ad supported’ software and remove Taskhostw.exe adware from the Microsoft Windows OS.
How to remove Taskhostw.exe adware with Zemana Anti-malware
Zemana Anti-malware highly recommended, because it can scan for security threats such adware and adwares which most ‘classic’ antivirus software fail to pick up on. Moreover, if you have any Taskhostw.exe removal problems which cannot be fixed by this utility automatically, then Zemana Anti-malware provides 24X7 online assistance from the highly experienced support staff.
Visit the page linked below to download the latest version of Zemana AntiMalware for Windows. Save it on your MS Windows desktop.
137005 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
When downloading is done, start it and follow the prompts. Once installed, the Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) will try to update itself and when this process is complete, click the “Scan” button . Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) tool will begin scanning the whole computer to find out Taskhostw.exe adware that causes a large amount of unwanted ads.
Depending on your PC system, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. During the scan Zemana Anti-Malware will search for threats present on your computer. You may delete threats (move to Quarantine) by simply click “Next” button.
The Zemana will begin to remove Taskhostw.exe trojan and other malware.
Use Hitman Pro to remove Taskhostw.exe adware
Hitman Pro is a portable utility which identifies and uninstalls unwanted programs like browser hijackers, ad-supported software, toolbars, other browser plugins and other malicious software. It scans your system for Taskhostw.exe ad-supported software that causes browsers to display undesired pop up ads and produces a list of threats marked for removal. Hitman Pro will only erase those undesired software that you wish to be removed.
Download Hitman Pro on your system from the link below.
After the downloading process is done, open the directory in which you saved it. You will see an icon like below.
Double click the Hitman Pro desktop icon. After the utility is launched, you will see a screen as shown below.
Further, press “Next” button . HitmanPro program will scan through the whole system for the Taskhostw.exe adware. A system scan may take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your PC system. After HitmanPro has completed scanning your machine, HitmanPro will open a screen which contains a list of malware that has been detected as displayed in the following example.
In order to delete all threats, simply click “Next” button. It will open a prompt, press the “Activate free license” button.
How to automatically remove Taskhostw.exe with Malwarebytes
Manual Taskhostw.exe adware removal requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the ad-supported software may be not completely removed. We advise that use the Malwarebytes Free that are completely free your machine of ‘ad supported’ software. Moreover, the free application will help you to delete malicious software, potentially unwanted software, browser hijackers and toolbars that your machine can be infected too.
- Download MalwareBytes Free on your Microsoft Windows Desktop from the following link.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
303908 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
- When downloading is complete, close all apps and windows on your system. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
- Further, click Next button and follow the prompts.
- Once installation is finished, press the “Scan Now” button . MalwareBytes Free program will scan through the whole computer for the Taskhostw.exe which cause unwanted pop ups to appear. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your PC and the speed of your personal computer. During the scan MalwareBytes Free will find out threats exist on your system.
- After the system scan is done, MalwareBytes will display a scan report. Make sure all threats have ‘checkmark’ and click “Quarantine Selected”. After that process is complete, you can be prompted to reboot your machine.
The following video offers a tutorial on how to get rid of browser hijackers, ‘ad supported’ software and other malware with MalwareBytes.
How to stay safe online
Enabling an ad blocking program such as AdGuard is an effective way to alleviate the risks. Additionally, ad-blocking applications will also protect you from harmful ads and sites, and, of course, block redirection chain to malicious, misleading and similar sites.
- Visit the following page to download the latest version of AdGuard for Windows. Save it on your Microsoft Windows desktop or in any other place.
Adguard download
23602 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- After downloading it, launch the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
- When the install is finished, click “Skip” to close the installation application and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that will help you get to know AdGuard better.
- In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you launch your computer, AdGuard will run automatically and block pop-up advertisements, as well as other harmful or misleading web-sites. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon named AdGuard, which may be found on your desktop.
How can you prevent your PC from the attack of Taskhostw.exe adware
Many applications made to display tons of unwanted advertisements within your machine’s internet browser or mine digital money without your permission. So, when you installing free software, carefully read the disclaimers, choose the Custom or Advanced install mode to watch for optional apps that are being installed, because certain of the programs are potentially unwanted applications like this Taskhostw.exe adware that causes multiple intrusive advertisements and pop ups.
To sum up
After completing the step-by-step instructions above, your personal computer should be free from Taskhostw.exe adware that causes multiple unwanted ads and pop-ups and other malware. The Internet Explorer, MS Edge, Google Chrome and Firefox will no longer reroute you to various undesired sites. Unfortunately, if the few simple steps does not help you, then you have caught a new adware, and then the best way – ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.
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