Introduce Winservices.exe
What is winservices.exe? The executable file – winservices.exe is related to the SCM_Service process. It is a Windows system program created by NETGEAR, responsible for various tasks related to NETGEAR devices. When the SCM_Service application is not running properly, you may run into the winservices.exe error.
It is a background service, that can perform a series of tasks, such as firmware updates, configuration adjustments, and performance tracking. So, you can tell how important it is for running on Windows.
Winservices.exe: Virus or Not
More than that, some users reported that they found a Trojan virus named winservices.exe but it is just disguised by some other malicious actors. The winservices.exe itself is not a virus but a legitimate service.
However, once you find the winservices.exe process consumes excessive CPU and memory usage, you’d better doubt its authenticity. You can identify that by checking the basic information of this process:
- File location;
- File properties;
- Digital signature;
- Publisher information.
Furthermore, there are some signs when your computer gets infected with viruses and malware. You can read these posts for details:
- How to Know If Your Computer Has a Virus: Signs of Infection
- What’s a Possible Sign of Malware on Computer? 6+ Symptoms!
Backup: Better Way to Protect Data
No matter whether the winservices.exe is a virus or not, we highly recommend you back up data first to protect your data. First, any virus infection can pose a threat to your data security. Second, the following troubleshooting methods we will introduce may need you to clear some data. In case of any mistaken deletion, you can back up important ones first.
MiniTool ShadowMaker free is what we recommend for computer backup. You can use it to back up files & folders, partitions & disks, and your system. It allows you to perform automatic backups by configuring backup schedules and schemes. Let’s try this software for a better user experience.
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Fix the Winservices.exe Error
What if winservices.exe works abnormally while its authenticity has been testified? Don’t worry, now, to fix the winservices.exe error, you can try the next methods.
Fix 1: Scan for Viruses
In case of any left virus traces, you can run Windows Defender to scan your system.
Step 1: Open Settings by pressing Win + I and click Update & Security.
Step 2: Click Windows Security > Virus & threat protection and in the next window, click Scan options > Microsoft Defender Offline scan > Scan now.
Fix 2: Delete the Wincludes Folder
You can fix the winservices.exe error by deleting the Wincludes folder. You need to open File Explorer and navigate to C:\Program Files. Then locate your Wincludes folder and right-click on it to delete it. After that, you can check if the error has been removed.
Fix 3: Clean the Windows Registry
To clean the Windows registry, you can use Disk Cleanup. It can clean up and remove files that may still have data in the registry so that the registry data entries are often removed.
Step 1: Type Disk Cleanup in Search and open it.
Step 2: Choose your system drive and hit OK.
Step 3: Click Clean up system files and choose the files you want to delete.
Alternatively, you can try other ways to clean up the registry presented in this article: How to Clean Windows Registry Safely? 4 Ways Available Here.
Fix 4: Run SFC Scan
In addition, corrupted system files can cause the winservices.exe error. To fix it, you can run an SFC scan.
Step 1: Type Command Prompt in Search and choose Run as administrator.
Step 2: Type sfc /scannow and press Enter to execute the command.
If all the above methods can’t resolve your issue, you can perform a system restore to recover your system but the precondition is that you have created one.
Bottom Line:
Now, this post has clarified the information of winservices.exe. You can fix the winservices.exe error via the above methods. Hope this article can resolve your issue.