Microsoft.Photos.exe is a dangerous Trojan virus that pretends to be a Windows program, but in reality, it works in the background to undermine your operating system. In this article, we present a detailed guideline on how you can remove the Microsoft.Photos.exe Virus.
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Microsoft.Photos.exe is a Trojan horse that runs as an executable process in the Windows Task Manager. Trojan horses are a special kind of software that can get into the operating system without the computer user noticing that the virus has infected their system.
Like all Trojan horses, the system doesn’t trigger any symptoms of malware infection in your system. All of this makes Trojan horses even more lethal than any ordinary computer virus.
The virus takes the form of the legitimate Windows program known as Photos. This program is meant to be a photo viewer and is a native program of the Windows operating system. However, when a system gets affected by the Microsoft.Photos.exe virus, it can replace the original program with the false Trojan virus and decimate your system security from within.
Trojan viruses work secretly in the background and perform specific tasks, such as taking over your system resources, stealing sensitive information from your computer without even a hint of detection, etc.
These viruses take over your computer resources to perform computing tasks through your computer. Sometimes, this is done to mine cryptocurrency for them; this phenomenon is known as cryptojacking. Other times, they hijack your computer resources to launch even bigger cyber attacks through your computer.
These viruses can also steal confidential information to gain access to your social media accounts for identity theft. In some cases, they can extract your banking credentials through various phishing techniques, such as keylogging and stealing money from your bank account.
Trojan viruses, such as Microsoft.Photos.exe also employ phishing techniques to spy on their victims. They can take over your microphone and camera to monitor every activity of the affected user.
Moreover, these viruses make it easier for even more dangerous viruses to occupy your operating system. Viruses such as ransomware annihilate the security mechanism of a system to the point that the user cannot control it anymore. After that, the developers of the virus extort money from the victims to give control back to the victims.
These viruses are almost impossible to detect through manual virus detection techniques. The virus will show on your Task Bar as a Windows system program. Therefore, it’s really difficult to identify it among system programs.
However, a specialized firewall of an advanced antivirus system can detect such viruses. An antivirus has the mechanisms to detect malicious programs, which act as system programs. They have higher chances of identifying Microsoft.Photos.exe on your system and eliminating it before it is able to affect your system.
The malicious program associates itself with the Microsoft Photos program. The Microsoft.Photos.exe only infects computers that run the Windows operating systems. The virus chooses the C drive as its default location.
The virus installs itself in the C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Username\Microsoft.Photos.exe. directory to hide among other system components. The virus disguises itself as a legitimate process on the operating system to wreak havoc on the computer.
However, there isn’t a single virus that uses Microsoft.Photos.exe to damage your system. A number of computer viruses can use the Microsoft.Photos.exe name to invade your operating system. This means that the Microsoft.Photos.exe can harbor various other Trojan horses to debilitate your system security.
Luckily, a user who has knowledge of these viruses can spot this virus in the Task Bar. The best way to differentiate a virus from a seemingly harmless system program is by taking a look at the computer resources used by the program.
If a simple program, such as Microsoft Photos is using an unusually large portion of your computing power, then it probably means that program is malware. Even if it shows itself as a Windows program, it is merely a pretender. However, if the program sets itself and gets a grip on your computing resources, then it begins the next phase of its mission.
After the initial infection, the program will try to proliferate itself at the expense of your communication tools and social media accounts. The Microsoft.Photos.exe can send malicious messages through your email account, Twitter, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and other forums connected to the device.
The Microsoft.Photos.exe program uses various ways to proliferate itself. As mentioned before, the virus has the ability to hijack your social media accounts and other communication tools and use them to spread its reach.
However, that is not the only method it uses to extend its reach. The Microsoft.Photos.exe virus can get into your system through email attachments from random users. It also attaches itself to bogus software downloads that malicious websites present as ‘free software’; when in reality, it is only a carrier for several viruses.
That’s not all, the Microsoft.Photos.exe virus issues fake updates through your browser and installs itself as one of such updates. Other methods of delivery include malware-laden ads; exploit kits for paid software and illegal content distributed through peer-to-peer file sharing websites.
Most Trojan horses use spam emails as their primary distribution method. As a general rule, you should be wary of clicking email attachments from unknown sources. Even if the email attachment is sent from a person you know, it can also contain malicious contents if that person has been infected from viruses. In such cases, avoid emails that have unusual file extensions, such as the “.exe” file format.
Also, avoid downloading pirated software as such websites are often a hub of different malware. These websites will also issue fake updates of familiar services and suggest downloading additional to proceed with the download of the software you want.
However, all of these are just methods to gain access to your system and inject viruses into the system. Therefore, it’s ideal to avoid such shady websites and do your best to only use trusted sources for downloading any content. Keep in mind that the majority of ‘free’ or cracked versions of paid software will contain some form of malware, so avoid them too.
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| Name of Software | Microsoft.Photos.exe |
| Type of Virus | Trojan |
| Level of Danger | Highly dangerous. The virus exploits the vulnerabilities in a system and risks user privacy. It steals confidential information, such as banking credentials through various phishing techniques. The Microsoft.Photos.exe can also hijack computer resources to spy on the user, for crypto-mining, and to use the victim’s machine for further coordinated cyber attacks. |
| Symptoms of the Virus | In most cases, the victim will not see any clear symptoms. However, the first sign of a malware takeover is a degradation of performance of your operating system. Moreover, you will be able to spot important files being missing and unauthorized activity online, such as purchases you never made. |
| Distribution Method | Spamming infectious email attachments, embedding itself in cracked versions of software, through free online tools and third-party extensions and other methods of social engineering. |
| Detection Tool | There are various antimalware tools online that detect malware. However, not every malware tool has the ability to detect dangerous Trojan viruses, such as Microsoft.Photos.exe. We suggest our readers use TotalAV antivirus. In our experience, TotalAV is the best tool to remove the Microsoft.Photos.exe Trojan Virus. Total AV puts Microsoft.Photos.exe in quarantine and deletes the core files to stop it from making a resurgence in your system. |
TotalAV offers a 7-day free trial to the people using the application for the first time. If you have been infected by a dangerous Trojan, then you can take advantage of this trial to remove serious viruses from your system. However, buying the antivirus is a better option and will benefit you in the future. The free trial will give you a hands-on experience on how the software works and how effective it is in cleaning up dangerous viruses. Besides that, TotalAV offers a full 30-day money-back guarantee to its users. If you are not satisfied with the service, you can follow TotalAV’s own guideline for claiming a refund. 
However, after the installation is completed, you will be asked to restart the device. Continue on restarting your device by selecting the ‘Yes’ option. 
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