wininit

[Dan Hinsley]

I've got wininit.exe running on my system, which from looking at some
websites appears to be a virus (Wolf.16 trojan). But if I kill the
process, Vista dies. So my question is, is wininit.exe a legitimate
part of Vista, and if not, what's the safest way to get rid of it?

Thanks,

Dan Hinsley

 

[Michael Solomon]

I've got wininit.exe running on my system, which from looking at some
websites appears to be a virus (Wolf.16 trojan). But if I kill the
process, Vista dies. So my question is, is wininit.exe a legitimate
part of Vista, and if not, what's the safest way to get rid of it?

Thanks,

Dan Hinsley

Yes, from what I gather it is a Trojan. Best way to deal with it is to run
a virus scan and let your Antivirus application deal with it as this has
been around quite awhile and your AV should be able to pick it up and deal
with it.

 

[Guest]

I have two Vista machines, one that is a new install (never connected to
internet or any programs added to it) and both have wininit.exe process
running. I don't think this is a Virus. My AV programs scanned both okay.

 

[Cal Bear '66]

http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist_w.htm


Windows Vista Start-Up Application. Core session-start process present in each
Windows Vista session and whose job is to start some of the core Windows Vista
background services (for the benefit of advanced users WININIT starts the
Service Control Manager, SCM, the Local Security Authority SubSystem, LSASS, and
the Local Session Manager, LSM.EXE, which manages terminal services
connections).

Recommendation :
An essential Windows Vista background program - Leave alone.

 

[Michael Solomon]

I have two Vista machines, one that is a new install (never connected to
internet or any programs added to it) and both have wininit.exe process
running. I don't think this is a Virus. My AV programs scanned both okay.

I should have been more clear in my response. I should have told him to
scan it to see if it was a virus. There was a wininit.exe virus floating
around at one time. Also, I don't show that process running on my setup.
Still, I should have told him to to scan to make sure it is not a virus as
I'm sure the definition for that virus is included in my AV apps.

 

[Ian Betts]

I have two Vista machines, one that is a new install (never connected to
internet or any programs added to it) and both have wininit.exe process
running. I don't think this is a Virus. My AV programs scanned both okay.

AVG may not be able to deal so go to www.pandasoftware.com and run their
free virus scan.

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Try the fix as outlined on this website..

http://www.pchell.com/virus/wininit.shtml

I've got wininit.exe running on my system, which from looking at some
websites appears to be a virus (Wolf.16 trojan). But if I kill the
process, Vista dies. So my question is, is wininit.exe a legitimate
part of Vista, and if not, what's the safest way to get rid of it?

Thanks,

Dan Hinsley

--


Mike Hall
MS MVP Windows Shell/User
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/

 

[Diamontina Cocktail]

You can go to Mcafee's web site and get it to do a free scan on your
machine. It doesn't actually get rid of anything at this stage, just reports
it. My bet is that you are seeing a normal Windows process.