Some users have wondered if shellexperiencehost.exe is a legitimate system procedure after discovering in Task Manager that the procedure is constantly using system resources (especially CPU resources). Even though the procedure is probably the genuine Windows Shell Experience Host, it may also be dealing with a malicious executable from a family of Trojans that are using the victim's CPU to mine Monero or other digital currencies..
This post is intended as an explanatory guide to help users understand the purpose of shellexperiencehost.exe, as well as to help them distinguish between a genuine executable infection and a Trojan infection.
What is ShellExperienceHost.exe?
Windows Shell Experience Host is a genuine Windows procedure that provides the functionality of displaying universal applications in a window interface. Simply, what this procedure does is handle various graphic items of the application interface: transparency of taskbar and start menu, calendar, clock, background behavior, visual notifications, etc.
When Windows Shell Experience Host was first introduced with Windows 10, the first versions were buggy and consumed a lot of CPU and RAM. Despite this, with the latest updates, the functionality of this procedure has been drastically improved.
The normal behavior of shellexperiencehost.exe is to consume little or no CPU resources. Despite this, if you monitor it closely, you should be able to see occasional CPU spikes when new graphic items are changed, but afterwards consumption should go back to zero. Memory consumption should not exceed 300 MB, even if you have many applications that use Windows Shell Experience Host.
Potential security threat?
If you suspect that shellexperiencehost.exe is not genuine, you can do some research to confirm or confirm your suspicions. You can start by controlling the resource consumption of shellexperiencehost.exe. If you notice that the procedure regularly consumes more than 20% of your CPU and several hundred RAM, it is possible that it is a malicious executable.
After investigating this matter, we discovered two trojan miners (ShellExperienceHost.exe y MicrosoftShellHost.exe) that are using the victim's CPU to mine cryptos. It turns out that the family of Trojans known for impersonating the shellexperiencehost.exe procedure is used to mine the Monero digital currency..
If you suspect that you may be dealing with a Trojan, your location will be a good clue. Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) y busque shellexperiencehost.exe (Windows Shell Experience Host) in the Processes tab. Later, right-click Windows Shell Experience Host and choose Open File Location.
Note: Note that you may need to expand the drop-down menu to enter the location of ShellExperienceHost.exe.
If the revealed location is in C: Windows ~ SystemApps ~ ShellExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy, you can be sure that the executable is not malicious.
If the executable is in a different place and you noticed a constant high consumption of resources, there is a high probability that it is a Trojan that extracts cryptos. A quick way to confirm this suspicion is to upload the executable to VirusTotal for analysis.. If the analysis reveals that the executable is truly malicious, must take the necessary measures to eliminate it.
If you don't have a security scanner ready, We suggest you use Malwarebytes to erase the infection.
¿Debo borrar ShellExperienceHost.exe?
If you previously discovered that the ShellExperienceHost.exe procedure is legitimate, you have very little reason to disable or delete the executable. Disabling ShellExperienceHost.exe will severely prohibit your operating system's ability to serve images. Even if you delete the ShellExperienceHost executable, Windows will end up recreating it the next time you restart your computer.
Most Windows crashes 10 with the message Shell Experience Host has stopped have been resolved with the latest updates.
