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How to remove the Init virus

Most antivirus programs identify Init.exe as malware—for example McAfee identifies it as Generic PUP, and Sophos identifies it as CpuMiner (PUA).

The free file information forum can help you find out how to remove it. If you have additional information about this file, please leave a comment or a suggestion for other users.

Click to Run a Free Virus Scan for the Init.exe malware

Init.exe file information

Windows Task Manager with Init
Init.exe process in Windows Task Manager

The process known as KILL or BraveSoftware Update Setup appears to belong to software Antares Autotune Evo VST RTAS by .

Description: Init.exe is not essential for Windows and will often cause problems. The Init.exe file is located in a subfolder of the user's profile folder or sometimes in the user's profile folder (e.g. C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\ or C:\Users\USERNAME\UserName\). Known file sizes on Windows 10/11/7 are 1,544,097 bytes (50% of all occurrences), 27,648 bytes, 1,622,376 bytes or 4,673,208 bytes. file.net/process/init.exe.html 
There is no description of the program. The program is not visible. The Init.exe file is not a Windows system file. The software starts when Windows starts (see Registry key: Run, User Shell Folders, Userinit, DEFAULT\User Shell Folders). Init.exe is able to monitor applications, manipulate other programs and record keyboard and mouse inputs. Therefore the technical security rating is 77% dangerous, however you should also read the user reviews.

Uninstalling this variant: In case you experience problems using Init.exe, you could do the following:

Recommended: Identify Init.exe related errors

External information from Paul Collins:

Important: You should check the Init.exe process on your PC to see if it is a threat. We recommend Security Task Manager for verifying your computer's security. This was one of the Top Download Picks of The Washington Post and PC World.

Score

User Comments

This is the init process (Unix) for the korn shell implementation on windows. The shell is very useful in managing files and scripting on a PC especially for those trained or experienced on unix. It gives a lot of power to the user and therefore can be dangerous for someone who is not familiar with Unix or Windows command line.
  Chuck Shoecraft  
Bei mir sind aufeinmal viele Verknüpfungen zum RECYCLER und auch immer eine Autorun datei dabei, die die init.exe öffnet.
  Niclas  
Best bet is to erase the file. I've never seen it being installed with a fresh installation of Windows. Needless to mention that the location of the file is suspicious (exe file in documents and settings, hidden and no visible window during execution). If Windows complains that you cannot erase it, use Unlocker 1.9.2 (or something equivalent) to kill the process associated with it and erase it fully from the computer. I wouldn't trust anything that doesn't have a description and does not seem to have an impact on the functionality of my computer.
  Alex Codito   (further information)
I ran Reimage to correct 1849 problems on my Dell Dimension 3000 desktop with Windows XP. When I tried to reboot, all I got was my home screen background photo, no icons, no bottom blue toolbar, NO START BUTTON! I got the message Failed to initialize properly init.exe (Oxc0000022). Until I found this website, I thought init.exe was a windows program that had been obliterated by Reimage.
  vanhorntwsn  

Summary: Average user rating of Init.exe: based on 4 votes with 4 user comments. One user thinks it's neither essential nor dangerous. 2 users suspect danger. One user thinks Init.exe is dangerous and recommends removing it. One user is not sure about it.


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Best practices for resolving Init issues

The following programs have also been shown useful for a deeper analysis: ASecurity Task Manager examines the active Init process on your computer and clearly tells you what it is doing. A good Bantivirus tool detects whether the Init.exe file on your PC might be malware slowing down your system. Such unwanted programs are often not classified as viruses by other antivirus software and therefore go undetected.

A clean and tidy computer is the key requirement for avoiding PC trouble. This means running a scan for malware, cleaning your hard drive using 1cleanmgr and 2sfc /scannow, 3uninstalling programs that you no longer need, checking for Autostart programs (using 4msconfig) and enabling Windows' 5Automatic Update. Always remember to perform periodic backups, or at least to set restore points.

Should you experience an actual problem, try to recall the last thing you did, or the last thing you installed before the problem appeared for the first time. Use the 6resmon command to identify the processes that are causing your problem. Even for serious problems, rather than reinstalling Windows, you are better off repairing of your installation or executing the 7DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth command. This allows you to repair the operating system without losing data.

To restore the original performance and remove unnecessary programs, you can 8reset your PC. Your personal files will remain intact, but any programs you installed will need to be reinstalled.



Other processes

Init.exe [all]