I hope someone can help me out! Just today, after our power went out, I restarted the system and this error message came up on a black screen - wininit.exe:missing/unable to load. And then something about pressing any key to continue, I pressed one twice until Windows would continue to load and my desktop came up for me! I am at a loss and have been sitting here browsing on Miscrosoft trying to figure out how to fix this. Can anyone help!?? Thanks in advance!! Please email me with the answer!!
Danielle
Danielle,
If this particular error message has come up prior to this then I'd advise you to scan your system for any viral activity with your antivirus program. If not, manually remove wininit.exe and then replace it - manually remove and restore Wininit.exe. To do so, follow these steps: Start your computer to a command prompt.
Insert the Windows Millennium Edition Startup disk in drive A, restart your computer, when the Microsoft Windows Millennium Editon Startup menu appears, select Start Computer With CD-ROM Support, at the command prompt, type: C:, and then press ENTER. At the command prompt, type the following commands (press ENTER after each command): cd windows del wininit.exe
Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to restart your computer.
Now replace it -
Click Start, and then click Run. Type msconfig, and then press ENTER. On the General tab, click Extract File. In the Specify the system file you would like to restore box, type drive:\windows\path\file (where drive is the drive on which the Windows folder is installed, generally drive C, path is the location in the Windows folder is the destination of the file that you are extracting, and file is the file that you want to extract). Click Start, click Browse, and then locate the Windows installation files. If you are using an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) version of Windows Millennium Edition, the installation files are on the hard disk at C:\Windows\Options\Install by default. If you are using a retail full version or upgrade version, you can also insert the Windows Millennium Edition installation CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive, and then locate the installation files. The folder is named "Win9x". For example, if your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive is D:, the folder is named "D:\Win9x". For Windows 98, the folder is named D:\Win98. Click OK, and then follow the instructions on the screen.
Wininit.exe can be located in the WIN_17.CAB and should be placed into the WINDOWS folder.
MowGreen [MVP] *-343-* Never Forgotten
I hope someone can help me out! Just today, after our power went out, I restarted the system and this error message came up on a black screen - wininit.exe:missing/unable to load. And then something about pressing any key to continue, I pressed one twice until Windows would continue to load and my desktop came up for me! I am at a loss and have been sitting here browsing on Miscrosoft trying to figure out how to fix this. Can anyone help!?? Thanks in advance!! Please email me with the answer!! Danielle
Microsoft's genuine "wininit.exe" should reside in "C:\Windows\System32". It is a critical system process, an essential Windows file, not to be removed. If it terminates a bugcheck of the system is forced. If any resource it is using becomes updated the system must restart. It runs the Windows Initialization process. The initial Windows boot process, Session Manager (smss.exe), relaunches itself to create Session Zero and start "wininit.exe" and "csrss.exe"; that second "smss.exe" instance then ends. "Wininit.exe" launches three child processes, Services.exe, Lsass.exe, and Lsm.exe, and continues running. Microsoft documents that it listens for TCP on an ephemeral (dynamic) port, usually 49152, but not why; the Intel® Manageability Engine may be involved. Residing in "C:\Windows\System32" does not guarantee "wininit.exe" is genuine. The old but still existing Backdoor.Wollf.16 Trojan copies itself as "wininit.exe" to that location, where it acts as a server to allow remote command execution and other dangerous actions.
WinInit stands for Windows Initialization Process
The .exe extension on a filename indicates an executable file. Executable files may, in some cases, harm your computer. Therefore, please read below to decide for yourself whether the wininit.exe on your computer is a Trojan that you should remove, or whether it is a file belonging to the Windows operating system or to a trusted application.
Click to Run a Free Scan for wininit.exe related errors
Wininit.exe file information
The process known as Windows Start-Up Application or eletsingatherergrazed.exe or Shell or EdgeUpdater or Windows paleisties taikomoji programa or Userinit or The non-sucking service manager belongs to software Microsoft Windows Operating System or NSSM 64-bit or Operacine sistema Microsoft Windows by Microsoft (www.microsoft.com) or Iain Patterson.
Description: The original wininit.exe from Microsoft is an important part of Windows, but often causes problems. Wininit.exe is located in the C:\Windows\System32 folder. Known file sizes on Windows 10/11/7 are 96,256 bytes (84% of all occurrences), 96,768 bytes and .
Uninstalling this variant: If problems with Microsoft Windows come up, you might want to uninstall it software via Windows Control Panel/Add or Remove Programs (Windows XP) or Programs and Features (Windows 10/8/7) or turn to the software developer, Microsoft, for advice.
Recommended: Identify wininit.exe related errors
Viruses with the same file name
Is wininit.exe a virus? No, it is not. The true wininit.exe file is a safe Microsoft Windows system process, called "Windows Start-Up Application". However, writers of malware programs, such as viruses, worms, and Trojans deliberately give their processes the same file name to escape detection. Viruses with the same file name are e.g. Win32:Malware-gen (detected by Avast), and Trojan.Gen.2 or WS.Reputation.1 (detected by Symantec). To ensure that no rogue wininit.exe is running on your PC, click here to run a Free Malware Scan.
How to recognize suspicious variants?
- If wininit.exe is located in the C:\Windows folder, the security rating is 66% dangerous. The file size is 3,301,910 bytes (48% of all occurrences), 3,299,862 bytes and . Wininit.exe is not a Windows core file. It is a file with no information about its developer. The file is located in the Windows folder, but it is not a Windows core file. The program has no visible window. Wininit.exe is able to record keyboard and mouse inputs and monitor applications.
- If wininit.exe is located in a subfolder of C:\Windows, the security rating is 86% dangerous. The file size is 3,559,424 bytes (25% of all occurrences), 3,453,952 bytes and . The program is not visible. The wininit.exe file is located in the Windows folder, but it is not a Windows core file. It is not a Windows core file. The wininit.exe file is a file with no information about its developer. The program uses ports to connect to or from a LAN or the Internet.
- If wininit.exe is located in a subfolder of the user's profile folder, the security rating is 86% dangerous. The file size is 264,192 bytes (14% of all occurrences), 4,072,960 bytes and .
- If wininit.exe is located in a subfolder of "C:\Program Files", the security rating is 83% dangerous. The file size is 152,064 bytes (25% of all occurrences), 84,992 bytes, 270,848 bytes or 222,720 bytes.
External information from Paul Collins: There are different files with the same name:
- "Bymer.Scanner" definitely not required. Added by the BYMER WORM!
- "wininit" definitely not required. Added by the WOLLF.16 TROJAN!
Important: Some malware disguises itself as wininit.exe, particularly when not located in the C:\Windows\System32 folder. Therefore, you should check the wininit.exe process on your PC to see if it is a threat. We recommend Security Task Manager for verifying your computer's security. This was one of the Top Download Picks of The Washington Post and PC World.
Best practices for resolving wininit issues
A clean and tidy computer is the key requirement for avoiding problems with wininit. This means running a scan for malware, cleaning your hard drive using 1cleanmgr and 2sfc /scannow, 3uninstalling programs that you no longer need, checking for Autostart programs (using 4msconfig) and enabling Windows' 5Automatic Update. Always remember to perform periodic backups, or at least to set restore points.
Should you experience an actual problem, try to recall the last thing you did, or the last thing you installed before the problem appeared for the first time. Use the 6resmon command to identify the processes that are causing your problem. Even for serious problems, rather than reinstalling Windows, you are better off repairing of your installation or, for Windows 8 and later versions, executing the 7DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth command. This allows you to repair the operating system without losing data.
To help you analyze the wininit.exe process on your computer, the following programs have proven to be helpful: ASecurity Task Manager displays all running Windows tasks, including embedded hidden processes, such as keyboard and browser monitoring or Autostart entries. A unique security risk rating indicates the likelihood of the process being potential spyware, malware or a Trojan. BMalwarebytes Anti-Malware detects and removes sleeping spyware, adware, Trojans, keyloggers, malware and trackers from your hard drive.
Other processes
logioptionsmgr.exe hwdeviceservice64.exe teamviewer_service.exe wininit.exe conhost.exe iesearchplugin.dll ascservice.exe nvidia web helper.exe fuel.service.exe turbovhelp.exe software_reporter_tool.exe [all]