If you open Task Manager, you may notice a process named “Host Process for Windows Tasks” running in the background. What is Host Process for Windows Tasks? Can I disable it? This post from MiniTool will show you the answers.

When you open Task Manager on your PC, you may find many Host Process for Windows Tasks processes running in the background. What is Host Process for Windows Tasks? Is it a virus? Can I disable it? To learn more information, please keep reading.

What Is Host Process for Windows Tasks

Host Process for Windows Tasks is a core process of Microsoft Windows. In a Windows OS, there are a lot of core processes in Windows that are used to host one to multiple Windows services. And Host Process for Windows Tasks is one of them.

To understand what Host Process for Windows Tasks is, first you should understand that in Task Manager, there are two types of processes: processes that are loaded from Executable files and processes that are loaded from DLL files.

In Windows, a service loaded from an executable (exe) can institute itself as a complete, independent process on the system and it will be listed by its own name in Task Manager. While for a service loaded from a Dynamic Linked Library (DLL) file, it cannot set itself as a full process. And in this case, Host Process for Windows Tasks will act as a host for this kind of services.

In Task Manager, you will see a separate Host Process for Windows Tasks entry running for each DLL-based service or a group of DLL-based services loaded into Windows. If you see many of the same entries, this means that more programs relying on the Host Process for Windows Tasks are currently running on your computer.

Host Process for Windows Tasks

You are not able to view what services are attached to each Host Process for Windows Tasks entry in Task Manager. But other tools like Process Explorer, a utility developed by Sysinternals and acquired by Microsoft, allows you to view the full list of Processes.

If you encounter Host Process for Windows Tasks high disk or high CPU issue, you can download one to check the processes involved.

Can I Disable Host Process for Windows Tasks

You shouldn’t remove, disable or stop Host Process for Windows Tasks on your computer. Host Process for Windows Tasks plays an important role in loading DLL-based services onto your system. Disabling Host Process for Windows Tasks may cause a system crash.

So don’t end Host Process for Windows Tasks process in Task Manager, if you find Host Process for Windows Tasks consuming a lot of resources, you can use the Process Explorer to check the full list of processes, find out the responsible program and remove it directly.

Is Host Process for Windows Tasks a Virus

As mentioned before, Host Process for Windows Tasks is a core Windows process. Normally it can’t be a virus. But, it is also possible that a virus may disguise itself as the Host Process for Windows Tasks on your PC.

How to check if the Host Process for Windows Tasks on your PC is the real one?

Well, you can check its file location: open Task Manager, right-click Host Process for Windows Tasks from the list and choose the Open File Location option. If the file is located in the System32 folder and it is named as taskhostw.exe, or taskhost.exe in Windows 7, it is the genuine one.

check the location of Host Process for Windows Tasks

What Is Taskhostw.exe & How to Fix Taskhostw.exe High CPU
What Is Taskhostw.exe & How to Fix Taskhostw.exe High CPU

You may notice the taskhostw.exe process in Task Manager but don’t know what it is. This post will show you more information about the taskhostw.exe process.

Read More

If the file is located in any other location, it could a virus. At this time, you can perform a virus check as soon as possible.

Free Ways to Schedule a Scan in Windows Defender Antivirus
Free Ways to Schedule a Scan in Windows Defender Antivirus

To schedule a scan in Windows Defender Antivirus, you need to use Task Scheduler. And you can find the step-by-step guide in this post.

Read More

Conclusion

After reading this post, now you should know what Host Process for Windows Tasks is. Do you have different opinions about Host Process for Windows Tasks? We are glad to have you share it with us.

  • linkedin
  • reddit