What is the "conhost.exe" process on Windows 8? Is the "conhost.exe" process a virus? Can I terminate the "conhost.exe" process? Why there are multiple "conhost.exe" processes?

"conhost.exe - Console Window Host" process provides the console management for a command line window created by cmd.exe.

If you run multiple command line windows, you will see multiple "conhost.exe" processes.

On the Processes tab of "Task Manager", multiple "conhost.exe" processes may be listed as:

Image Name  PID   Memory  Description

conhost.exe 2316  540 K   Console Window Host
conhost.exe 2632  976 K   Console Window Host
conhost.exe 3944  972 K   Console Window Host

Additional information about "conhost.exe" process:

Command line:
   C:\Windows\system32\conhost.exe 
   14510475761211313349-1245782649-16479137951057959315
   -630028141-1749481195-701831058
   
Started by: csrss.exe

Files used:
   C:\Windows\System32\en-US\conhost.exe.mui
   C:\Windows\Fonts\StaticCache.dat
  
Registry keys: 
   HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Session Manager
   HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Nls\Sorting\Versions
   HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Nls\Locale
   HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Nls\Locale\Alternate Sorts
   HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Nls\Language Groups

"conhost.exe" process is not a virus. You should not terminate "conhost.exe" process. It will go away after you close the command line window.

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