smss.exe is a Windows operating system executable file which stands for Session Manager Subsystem and this process is for managing, opening or deleting the users sessions under Terminal Server and other activities such as launching the Winlogon and Win32 (Csrss.exe) processes, and also setting the system variables.

The smss.exe is a vital process for the Windows operating system to function properly and shouldn’t be killed, and if you tried to terminate it through the task manager (you can get the task manager by stroking Alt+Ctrl+Del) you will get a message stating that you can’t terminate the smss.exe executable file as it is a critical system process.

Normally the smss.exe executable file is located in the System32 subfolder with in the Windows directory and if it happens to be found any other location with in your system then this smss.exe executable file is most probably a threat to your computer that can be a spyware, malware, virus, worm or a stealing Trojan horse.

Unfortunately, there are some spywares, malwares, viruses, worms and Trojans that are recently using the Windows operating system executable files names for their malicious programs’ names as a sort of camouflage. There are examples for such disguising viruses can be mentioned about the smss.exe executable file here, such as the smvss.exe worm, be careful to note the slight difference between both executable files’ names.

The most commonly Windows operating system executable files used for the viruses disguising purpose is the smss.exe executable file along with the csrss.exe executable file too. To differentiate between the legitimated Windows operating system files and the viruses disguising under their names, besides checking their locations, check the CPU consumption, if the CPU is totally consumed by these processes then they should be suspected as viruses and a scan should be performed on your system to detect the problem and delete it. This virus would cause the hanging of your system repeatedly and especially when you are online. To delete this threat from your system, it’s better to go to the safe mode and then delete it.

The common compliant about the smss.exe executable file that it may be located in the right location in the System32 subfolder but uses an abnormal amount of system resources which is really annoying to some users, in such a case you can replace it with a new one from the file on a Windows boot disk.

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