Most antivirus programs identify smphost.exe as malware—for example McAfee identifies it as Artemis!A0E233D06D58, and Avast identifies it as Win32:MalOb-EE.
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Description:Smphost.exe is not essential for the Windows OS and causes relatively few problems. Smphost.exe is located in the C:\Windows\System32 folder.
Known file sizes on Windows 10/8/7/XP are 167,936 bytes (25% of all occurrences), 172,032 bytes and 5 more variants.
Smphost.exe is located in the Windows folder, but it is not a Windows core file. The program is not visible. The program starts upon Windows startup (see Registry key: MACHINE\Run).
It is not a Windows core file.
Therefore the technical security rating is 61% dangerous, but you should also take into account the user reviews.
If smphost.exe is located in a subfolder of C:\Windows, the security rating is 76% dangerous. The file size is 215,552 bytes.
Smphost.exe is located in the Windows folder, but it is not a Windows core file. It can change the behavior of other programs or manipulate other programs. The program has no visible window. The smphost.exe file is not a Windows system file.
Important: You should check the smphost.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
Norton Security has given this file a "Trusted" rating and reports that there are no threats, the file has been used by millions of users and that it is a Microsoft file. Tony B
Summary: Average user rating of smphost.exe:
based on 1 vote with 1 user comment.
One user thinks it's probably harmless.
Best practices for resolving smphost issues
The following programs have also been shown useful for a deeper analysis: ASecurity Task Manager examines the active smphost process on your computer and clearly tells you what it is doing. Malwarebytes' well-known Banti-malware tool tells you if the smphost.exe on your computer displays annoying ads, slowing it down. This type of unwanted adware program is not considered by some antivirus software to be a virus and is therefore not marked for cleanup.
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, for Windows 8 and later versions, executing the 7DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth command. This allows you to repair the operating system without losing data.
Score
User Comments
Tony B
Summary: Average user rating of smphost.exe: based on 1 vote with 1 user comment. One user thinks it's probably harmless.