Conhost.exe

I have 2 process running named conhost.exe. Is it a virus ? I searched online and found that some say it's some kind of malware and some say it's a part of windows as long as it's running from system32. My 2 conhost.exe is running from system32. I just wonder because I didn't see it before. Recently, I have noticed this.

 

The conhost.exe process fixes a fundamental problem in the way previous versions of Microsoft Windows handled console windows. In Windows Vista, this caused drag and drop to work incorrectly.

While scanning your system regularly for viruses and malware is certainly recommended, the good new is as long as conhost.exe is running from the system32 folder, and is signed by Microsoft it’s not a virus or file you should be worried about.



Fundamentally there’s a problem with the way the console process works on previous versions of Windows, such as Windows Vista. Previously they were hosted under the csrss.exe (Client Server Runtime Process) service. This process runs as a system-privileged account.

You may have noticed that the console window in Windows XP doesn’t even use the active theme. It’s completely ignored. This is because the CSRSS process doesn’t have the ability to be themed.

In Windows Vista, it appears to use the same theme as everything else, but you’ll notice that the scrollbars are still using the old style. This is because the DWM (Desktop Window Manager) process handles drawing the title bars, but underneath it still works the same way, and the scrollbars are part of the window itself.

It’s not spyware, a virus, or malware!

 

Thank you for your reply and kind information. However, I use Windows 7. Despite being almost same, Windows 7 and Vista have difference. How conhost.exe is handled in Windows 7 ? Also, I regularly check my taskmanager process list. conhost.exe was not there; it's just appearing for a few days. That's why I am wondered. Can you guess how it may appear ?

 

More info - what is conhost.exe