Step-by-Step Guide: Recognizing and Stopping Malicious Programs via Task Manager

Malware is a malicious program that can perform various dubious tasks on the computer after the infiltration, like slowing down computers, stealing valuable data, encrypting files, and more. When your Windows device gets infected with malware, it will show various signs that will confirm the existence of malicious files or apps. Signs such as sluggish computer performance, unintended redirections while browsing , unknown app installations, file encryption, etc., are all indications of malware attacks.

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If you suspect a malware attack on your Windows system, the quickest way to catch the culprit application is through the Task Manager.

Let us learn how to identify a malware program or process in the Task Manager and ways to remove it.

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What is Windows Task Manager and Processes?

As its name suggests, the Windows Task Manager is an essential component of the operating system that allows users to view every process running on their system and the overall performance of their system. It lets you end the frozen processes and evaluate how much system resources are free.

Processes are the part of the operating system that performs actions like launching an application, connecting to the network, opening settings, etc. Basically, everything you see or performs on the computer is a process.

There are some times when some processes might cause errors and disturbances rather than aiding the users. Such processes are malicious and are caused by malware programs. The malicious process can sneakily remain in the background, use system resources, and performs malicious tasks such as spying, stealing data, using computing power for crypto mining, and more.

To catch the malicious process and malware behind it, we can use the Windows Task Manager.

How to identify Malware in Task Manager?

Manually detecting malware can be tedious; however, with Windows Task Manager, you can quickly perform a search and separate malicious processes from others.

Here are the steps to identify a malicious process in the Task Manager:

Right-click on the taskbar and select Task Manager from the list.
Under the Processes tab, look for the one that is suspiciously using a large amount of system resources.

Right-click on any such process and select Search online.
Read the first few search results and verify whether the process is legitimate or not.

5. If you find that the process is malicious, you can end and remove it from the device.

How to remove a Malicious Process manually?

If you detect a malicious process in the Task Manager, you can remove it manually using these steps:

Right-click on the suspected process and select Open file location.
Delete every file present at the location. Some files might not delete since the process is still running.
To stop the process, right-click on it and choose End task from the context menu.
Delete the remaining files from the target location.

If an application is responsible for this malicious process, you can uninstall it from Control Panel.

Scan and Remove Malware using MalwareFox Antimalware

Manually removing the malware can be tedious and time-consuming. You have to personally check for the malicious process one by one and delete/uninstall the application behind it. In this process, you might miss deleting some files, and they will remain in the system. So, it is best to use a dedicated anti-malware program to scan and remove malicious files and apps from the system, and what’s better than the MalwareFox Antimalware for that.

MalwareFox is reliable security software that promises to protect your system and helps to handle malware and viruses. MalwareFox will scan, detect, and remove Malware and offers real-time protection. It also protects your PC from the most dangerous malware such as Ransomware , Zero-Day Attack protection, Grayware, Keyloggers , etc.

Download Malwarefox and install it .
Perform a full system scan to get rid of every malware that is troubling your system.

How to stay protected from Malware?

From bombarding annoying ads to stealing valuable data to lock your files, malware programs can perform various dubious tasks to make our life miserable. It is better to keep devices protected from them instead of dealing with them after the infiltration.

Here are some preventive tips to stay protected from malware:

Never open and download the attachments sent from an unknown sender. Emails are one of the oldest and most common means to spread malware.
Don’t navigate to pirated sites for downloading the paid software and games. Cybercriminals infect legitimate programs with malicious codes so that users install them without any doubt.
Keep your applications and OS updated with the latest version. Most malware programs exploit the vulnerabilities of apps and operating systems. Regularly updating them will fix the bugs.
Follow healthy browsing practices while online. Avoid opening the unknown, suspicious links.
Keep your system equipped with a robust antimalware solution such as MalwareFox. Antimalware solutions are explicitly designed to tackle different malware, and MalwareFox is one of the top on the list. It is also essential to keep the security programs updated.

Can Task Manager detect malware?

Yes through Task Manager, you can detect the malicious applications that are secretly consuming the system resources. However, this will not always work as many applications might remain hidden from the Task Manager too.

**Does malware steal information?

Malware programs such as Spyware, Browser Hijackers, and others are meant to steal confidential information from the system or track the victim’s activities.

**How dangerous is malware?

Different malware programs work on different purposes that define their damage level. Malware programs can be highly dangerous as they can spy on you, lock your files, steal your information, and can even damage the system permanently.

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Step-by-Step Guide: Recognizing and Stopping Malicious Programs via Task Manager