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Smss.exe is a Trojan horse infection that can steal sensitive information from its victims, spy on their activity or turn the compromised computer into a bot. Smss.exe can sneak inside the system when the users click on spam messages, malicious attachments or malvertisements.
Even those web users who aren’t too tech savvy probably know that Trojan horses are some of the worst online threats that they can encounter not only because they could cause data loss, identity theft, and many other problems with the infected computer, but also because they can be very difficult to detect and remove on time. That’s why, in this article, our team has decided to give you some valuable insight into the methods of operation and the features of these nasty threats. In addition to that, below you will find a manual removal guide that can help you remove Smss.exe which is one of the latest representatives of the Trojan horse family. We will also share with you some prevention tips to ensure that you do not get infected with Trojan viruses in the near future and can do your daily work without any worries and with increased safety.
Trojan horse viruses, like Smss.exe and Altruistics, are a true nightmare for every Internet user nowadays. The name of these threats originates from the myth about the wooden horse, which appeared to be a gift to the invincible city of Troy, but which was packed with Greek soldiers who invaded the city. The way these computer threats operate is the same – the Trojan horse may first seem as a useful or harmless piece of software but once it sneaks in the system, it will launch various harmful activities in its background which can destroy the entire computer, steal valuable information and spy on the victims.
Steps to remove Trojans like Smss.exe
If you want to save your computer from unpredictable damage you must remove Smss.exe as soon as possible. Such Trojans, however, can be very stealthy and often have no visible symptoms that can help you detect them. That is why, in most situations, you may need to run a complete system scan with a professional malware removal tool on your computer to have a better chance to locate and remove the infection in time. The removal guide below contains both – reliable software and a manual set of instructions for optimal results.
SUMMARY:
| Name | Smss.exe |
| Type | Trojan |
| Danger Level | High (Trojans are often used as a backdoor for Ransomware) |
| Symptoms | Visible symptoms may lack, which is why Trojans are best detected with the help of professional malware removal software. |
| Distribution Method | Spam messages, torrents, free downloads, cracked software, email attachments, click-bait ads, infected websites. |
| Detection Tool | Some threats reinstall themselves if you don't delete their core files. We recommend downloading SpyHunter to remove harmful programs for you. This may save you hours and ensure you don't harm your system by deleting the wrong files. |
Please follow all the steps below in order to remove Smss.exe!
How to remove Smss.exe
- First, click the Start Menu on your Windows PC.
- Type Programs and Settings in the Start Menu, click the first item, and find Smss.exe in the programs list that would show up.
- Select Smss.exe from the list and click on Uninstall.
- Follow the steps in the removal wizard.
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What we suggest you do first is, check the list of programs that are presently installed on the infected device and uninstall any rogue software that you find there:
- From the Start Menu, navigate to Control Panel ->>> Programs and Features ->>> Uninstall a Program.
- Next, carefully search for unfamiliar programs or programs that have been installed recently and could be related to Smss.exe.
- If you find any of the programs suspicious then uninstall them if they turn out to be linked to Smss.exe.
- If a notification appears on your screen when you try to uninstall a specific questionable program prompting you to just alter it or repair it, make sure you choose NO and complete the steps from the removal wizard.
Remove Smss.exe from Chrome
- Click on the three dots in the right upper corner
- Go to more tools
- Now select extensions
- Remove the Smss.exe extension
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- Once you open Chrome, click on the three-dots icon to open the browser’s menu, go to More Tools/ More Options, and then to Extensions.
- Again, find the items on that page that could be linked to Smss.exe and/or that might be causing problems in the browser and delete them.
- Afterwards, go to this folder: Computer > C: > Users > *Your User Account* > App Data > Local > Google > Chrome > User Data. In there, you will find a folder named Default – you should change its name to Backup Default and restart the PC.
- Note that the App Data folder is normally hidden so you’d have to first make the hidden files and folders on your PC visible before you can access it.
How to get rid of Smss.exe on FF/Edge/etc.
- Open the browser and select the menu icon.
- From the menu, click on the Add-ons button.
- Look for the Smss.exe extension
- Get rid of Smss.exe by removing it from extensions
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If using Firefox:
- Open Firefox
- Select the three parallel lines menu and go to Add-ons.
- Find the unwanted add-on and delete it from the browser – if there is more than one unwanted extension, remove all of them.
- Go to the browser menu again, select Options, and then click on Home from the sidebar to the left.
- Check the current addresses for the browser’s homepage and new-tab page and change them if they are currently set to address(es) you don’t know or trust.
If using MS Edge/IE:
- Start Edge
- Select the browser menu and go to Extensions.
- Find and uninstall any Edge extensions that look undesirable and unwanted.
- Select Settings from the browser menu and click on Appearance.
- Check the new-tab page address of the browser and if it has been modified by “Smss.exe” or another unwanted app, change it to an address that you’d want to be the browser’s new-tab page.
How to Delete Smss.exe
- Open task manager
- Look for the Smss.exe process
- Select it and click on End task
- Open the file location to delete Smss.exe
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- Access the Task Manager by pressing together the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys and then selecting Task Manager.
- Open Processes and there try to find a process with the name of the unwanted software. If you find it, select it with the right button of the mouse and click on the Open File Location option.
- If you don’t see a “Smss.exe” process in the Task Manager, look for another suspicious process with an unusual name. It is likely that the unwanted process would be using lots of RAM and CPU so pay attention to the number of resources each process is using.
- Tip: If you think you have singled out the unwanted process but are not sure, it’s always a good idea to search for information about it on the Internet – this should give you a general idea if the process is a legitimate one from a regular program or from your OS or if it is indeed likely linked to the adware.
- If you find another suspicious process, open its File Location too.
- Once in the File Location folder for the suspicious process, start testing all of the files that are stored there by dragging them to our free online scanner available below.
- Each file will be scanned with up to 64 antivirus programs to ensure maximum accuracyThis scanner is free and will always remain free for our website's users.This file is not matched with any known malware in the database. You can either do a full real-time scan of the file or skip it to upload a new file. Doing a full scan with 64 antivirus programs can take up to 3-4 minutes per file.
Drag and Drop File Here To Scan
Analyzing 0 sEach file will be scanned with up to 64 antivirus programs to ensure maximum accuracyThis scanner is based on VirusTotal's API. By submitting data to it, you agree to their Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, and to the sharing of your sample submission with the security community. Please do not submit files with personal information if you do not want them to be shared. - If the scanner finds malware in any of the files, return to the Processes tab in the Task Manager, select the suspected process, and then select the End Process option to quit it.
- Go back to the folder where the files of that process are located and delete all of the files that you are allowed to delete. If all files get deleted normally, exit the folder and delete that folder too. If one or more of the files showed an error message when you tried to delete them, leave them for now and return to try to delete them again once you’ve completed the rest of the guide.
How to Uninstall Smss.exe
- Click on the home button
- Search for Startup Apps
- Look for Smss.exe in there
- Uninstall Smss.exe from Startup Apps by turning it off
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- Now you need to carefully search for and uninstall any Smss.exe-related entries from the Registry. The easiest way to do this is to open the Registry Editor app (type Regedit in the windows search field and press Enter) and then open a Find dialog (CTRL+F key combination) where you have to type the name of the threat.
- Perform a search by clicking on the Find Next button and delete any detected results. Do this as many times as needed until no more results are found.
- After that, to ensure that there are no remaining entries lined to Smss.exe in the Registry, go manually to the following directories and delete them:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Random Directory.
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run/Random
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/Main/Random
What is Smss.exe?
Smss.exe file is a software component of Microsoft Session Manager Subsystem by Microsoft. Some malicious programs disguise themselves as smss.exe. Therefore, you should check the smss.exe process on your computer to see if it poses a threat. Smss.exe is able to record keyboard and mouse inputs, monitor applications, and manipulate other programs. Therefore, the technical security rating is 71% threat.
Is Smss.exe virus dangerous?
Trojans are typically transmitted all over the web with the help of attractive-looking web ads, spam messages, email attachments, torrents, free download packages and more. Users typically get infected with them by clicking on the infected links, advertisements or emails or by opening a program they believe is of legitimate origin but, in fact, is an infection carrier.
The representatives of the Trojan horse category can have many possible purposes. This means that if you have been infected with Smss.exe, it is hard to tell you what type of harm exactly to expect. In the worst case scenario, the consequences of its attack can damage the computer to a state that it becomes totally useless and all the data on it is lost. Threats of this type can delete specific information on your hard drives selectively and forward files to remote servers without your knowledge. They can also detect existing system security holes and introduce other viruses like Ransomware or Spyware through them.
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