How To Remove Gwx.exe Trojan

Complete Guideline To Delete Gwx.exe

Gwx.exe is a legitimate executable file that is related to Microsoft operating system. It is used to upgrade Windows operating systems to Windows 10 from earlier versions and is located in “C:\Windows\System32\GWX” folder. However, cyber criminals use the name of these legitimate processes to disguise a spiteful file/process. This notorious virus silently infiltrates the targeted computers without users’ approval and then conducts a series of malicious activities in the background. Due to the process of this hazardous threat, you may have to deal with several nasty issues such as frequent system crash, data loss, boot errors, application malfunctioning, hard drive failure and so on.

Depth Analysis of Gwx.exe:

GWX – Get Windows X (10) has a linked Gwx.exe file which tends to display notifications to promote this Windows version. Earlier, it was used to advertise the latest version of Windows by convincing users to upgrade their older versions to the new one for free. Though, this advertising campaign has ended by now however, as per the research, some users are still getting offers to upgrade installed OSs. As stated before, Gwx.exe is a genuine file but cyber actors often use names of legitimate files to camouflage their malevolent programs Trojans and other virus.

If Gwx.exe file is not in the right location (here, the genuine path is “C:\Windows\System32\GWX”), it is very much possible that it’s a vicious file. These trojan viruses are capable of monitoring users’ online activities and gathering their personal and confidential information relating to credit card and banking details. These details can be misused by the scammers for deceptive purchases, transactions and other malicious purposes that might result in huge financial loss for you.

Data collected by Gwx.exe virus is also used for producing and displaying eye-catching advertisements to get as many clicks on them as possible and earn maximum profits. And thus, your system screen is constantly flooded with intrusive adverts all over the day that makes your online browsing very complex. It many also redirect you to phishing, scamming or even malware-laden sites that host spyware, rootkits and even deadly ransomware. This notorious trojan eats up enormous amount of memory resources and drags down the overall PC performance severely. Due to this, device begins responding in a very slow manner and takes more than usual time to complete any task. And hence, you must perform a quick Gwx.exe removal from the work-station.

Quick Glance

Name– Gwx.exe

Category– Trojan, password-stealing virus, spyware

Malicious Process Name(s): GWX

Description– Steals users’ personal information to generate illicit profits for the creators by misusing those details and for other deceptive purposes, Deactivates all the running security services of the infected device and drop more parasites in the machine as well as help the criminals to get access to system.

Symptoms– Slowness of system’s performance, fake error messages, security alerts, intrusive ads and pop-ups, unwanted redirects to questioning sites and so on.

Distribution– Spam email campaigns, malicious file downloads, P2P file sharing, and many more.

Removal– Manual and automatic guidelines as provided under this article

How Does This Trojan Intrude Your PC?

The most popular trojan distribution method is spam campaigns. In this campaign, people receive emails from cyber crooks that include vicious attachments or website links that lead to those files. These attachments are in multiple formats such as executables (.exe and other files), Microsoft Office of PDF documents, JavaScript files, archives such as ZIP, RAR and so on. They are often disguised as legitimate files to deceive users into opening them. However, the moment users open or run the malicious file, it initiates the virus infection process.

And therefore, you should avoid clicking on links or opening attachments that are included in mails that you receive from unknown sources. They are designed in such a way that users can easily trapped into opening them. In case your PC is already infected with this trojan virus, you must remove Gwx.exe from the computer as early as possible.

Antimalware Details And User Guide

Click Here For Windows Click Here For Mac

Important Note: This malware asks you to enable the web browser notifications. So, before you go the manual removal process, execute these steps.

Google Chrome (PC)

• Go to right upper corner of the screen and click on three dots to open the Menu button
• Select “Settings”. Scroll the mouse downward to choose “Advanced” option
• Go to “Privacy and Security” section by scrolling downward and then select “Content settings” and then “Notification” option
• Find each suspicious URLs and click on three dots on the right side and choose “Block” or “Remove” option

Google Chrome (Android)

• Go to right upper corner of the screen and click on three dots to open the menu button and then click on “Settings”
• Scroll down further to click on “site settings” and then press on “notifications” option
• In the newly opened window, choose each suspicious URLs one by one
• In the permission section, select “notification” and “Off” the toggle button

Mozilla Firefox

• On the right corner of the screen, you will notice three dots which is the “Menu” button
• Select “Options” and choose “Privacy and Security” in the toolbar present in the left side of the screen
• Slowly scroll down and go to “Permission” section then choose “Settings” option next to “Notifications”
• In the newly opened window, select all the suspicious URLs. Click on the drop-down menu and select “Block”

Internet Explorer

• In the Internet Explorer window, select the Gear button present on the right corner
• Choose “Internet Options”
• Select “Privacy” tab and then “Settings” under the “Pop-up Blocker” section
• Select all the suspicious URLs one by one and click on the “Remove” option

Microsoft Edge

• Open the Microsoft Edge and click on the three dots on the right corner of the screen to open the menu
• Scroll down and select “Settings”
• Scroll down further to choose “view advanced settings”
• In the “Website Permission” option, click on “Manage” option
• Click on switch under every suspicious URL

Safari (Mac):

• On the upper right side corner, click on “Safari” and then select “Preferences”
• Go to “website” tab and then choose “Notification” section on the left pane
• Search for the suspicious URLs and choose “Deny” option for each one of them

Manual Steps to Remove Gwx.exe:

Remove the related items of Gwx.exe using Control-Panel

Windows 7 Users

Click “Start” (the windows logo at the bottom left corner of the desktop screen), select “Control Panel”. Locate the “Programs” and then followed by clicking on “Uninstall Program”

Windows XP Users

Click “Start” and then choose “Settings” and then click “Control Panel”. Search and click on “Add or Remove Program’ option

Windows 10 and 8 Users:

Go to the lower left corner of the screen and right-click. In the “Quick Access” menu, choose “Control Panel”. In the newly opened window, choose “Program and Features”

Mac OSX Users

Click on “Finder” option. Choose “Application” in the newly opened screen. In the “Application” folder, drag the app to “Trash”. Right click on the Trash icon and then click on “Empty Trash”.

In the uninstall programs window, search for the PUAs. Choose all the unwanted and suspicious entries and click on “Uninstall” or “Remove”.

After you uninstall all the potentially unwanted program causing Gwx.exe issues, scan your computer with an anti-malware tool for any remaining PUPs and PUAs or possible malware infection. To scan the PC, use the recommended the anti-malware tool.

How to Remove Adware (Gwx.exe) from Internet Browsers

Delete malicious add-ons and extensions from IE

Click on the gear icon at the top right corner of Internet Explorer. Select “Manage Add-ons”. Search for any recently installed plug-ins or add-ons and click on “Remove”.

Additional Option

If you still face issues related to Gwx.exe removal, you can reset the Internet Explorer to its default setting.

Windows XP users: Press on “Start” and click “Run”. In the newly opened window, type “inetcpl.cpl” and click on the “Advanced” tab and then press on “Reset”.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 Users: Press the Windows logo, type inetcpl.cpl in the start search box and press enter.  In the newly opened window, click on the “Advanced Tab” followed by “Reset” button.

For Windows 8 Users: Open IE and click on the “gear” icon. Choose “Internet Options”

Select the “Advanced” tab in the newly opened window

Press on “Reset” option

You have to press on the “Reset” button again to confirm that you really want to reset the IE

Remove Doubtful and Harmful Extension from Google Chrome

Go to menu of Google Chrome by pressing on three vertical dots and select on “More tools” and then “Extensions”. You can search for all the recently installed add-ons and remove all of them.

Optional Method

If the problems related to Gwx.exe still persists or you face any issue in removing, then it is advised that your reset the Google Chrome browse settings. Go to three dotted points at the top right corner and choose “Settings”. Scroll down bottom and click on “Advanced”.

At the bottom, notice the “Reset” option and click on it.

In the next opened window, confirm that you want to reset the Google Chrome settings by click on the “Reset” button.

Remove Gwx.exe plugins (including all other doubtful plug-ins) from Firefox Mozilla

Open the Firefox menu and select “Add-ons”. Click “Extensions”.  Select all the recently installed browser plug-ins.

Optional Method

If you face problems in Gwx.exe removal then you have the option to rese the settings of Mozilla Firefox.

Open the browser (Mozilla Firefox) and click on the “menu” and then click on “Help”.

Choose “Troubleshooting Information”

In the newly opened pop-up window, click “Refresh Firefox” button

The next step is to confirm that really want to reset the Mozilla Firefox settings to its default by clicking on “Refresh Firefox” button.

Remove Malicious Extension from Safari

Open the Safari and go to its “Menu” and select “Preferences”.

Click on the “Extension” and select all the recently installed “Extensions” and then click on “Uninstall”.

Optional Method

Open the “Safari” and go menu. In the drop-down menu, choose “Clear History and Website Data”.

In the newly opened window, select “All History” and then press on “Clear History” option.

Delete Gwx.exe (malicious add-ons) from Microsoft Edge

Open Microsoft Edge and go to three horizontal dot icons at the top right corner of the browser. Select all the recently installed extensions and right click on the mouse to “uninstall”

Optional Method

Open the browser (Microsoft Edge) and select “Settings”

Next steps is to click on “Choose what to clear” button

Click on “show more” and then select everything and then press on “Clear” button.

Conclusion

In most cases, the PUPs and adware gets inside the marked PC through unsafe freeware downloads. It is advised that you should only choose developers website only while downloading any kind of free applications.  Choose custom or advanced installation process so that you can trace the additional PUPs listed for installation along with the main program.