Windows 10: I found DismHost.exe in the "$WINDOWS.~BT" folder.

Hello, I am worried there might be malware on my computer and I would like some advice and guidance.This morning, January 7th, 2025, my laptop's screen suddenly turned off while the PC was still on, and the keyboard and mouse/touchpad were not responding. I immediately did a hard shutdown and then rebooted. I then conducted a full system scan using Windows security; however, no threats were found. I then decided to download and install the latest windows update, 24H2, through the windows settings app. I noticed that the downloading and installation process was going slower than I expected an

:)

 

Dismhost exe in Temp folder

I keep seeing that a random folder appearing in my Temp folder, folder name is very random with words and mixed numbers. Inside, there is a certain exe named "Dismhost" this pops up almost like every two days or so. Is this normal? I already scanned my computer
with Malwarebytes with hidden files enabled, found nothing. I always delete that random folder but it keep coming back.

Win10 64 professional 1803

Dismhost exe have "Microsoft Windows" sha1 and sha256 digital signature that signed in april 2018

Any way to stop this from happening?

 

I deleted $Windows~.BT folder that was propably Windows 10 files. How to recover?

The Windows $BT folder is there in case you want to recover the old OS. It's not needed for an upgrade.

But here's a link anyway....*Smile Windows 10 Build 10240



I think BT is an abbreviation for "Bloat". lol

 

Navigating $WINDOWS.~BT and $WinREAgent Folders: How Can I Safely Remove $WINDOWS.~BT and $WinREAgent Folders?

Hi Ramesh,

I have an inherent allergy to answering questions from tech support specialists that have already been answered. Have I performed the troubleshooting steps outlined in the previous post? Of course. Wasn't that obvious from my response? But here's the real problem. Did YOU read the linked thread? Because if you had, you would have seen that the solution offered didn't work for anyone in different help Forums. That "solution" failed for me in exactly the same way. Needless to say, Disk Cleanup doesn't work either. No error messages with Disk Cleanup, it just fails to do anything.

Here are the specific steps I have already taken, none of which have worked:

1. Unhide the $WINDOWS.~BT folder:
   
   
   - This command ran but didn't resolve the issue.
   
2. Take ownership of the folder:
   
   
   - I received the error: "ERROR: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect."
   
3. Grant permissions:
   
   
   - This command also failed with "Access is denied."
   
4. Attempt deletion using Command Prompt and PowerShell:
   
   
   And in PowerShell:
   
   
   BOTH METHODS FAILED TO DELETE THE FOLDER
   
5. Booting into Safe Mode: I tried all the above steps in Safe Mode, hoping that fewer system files would be in use, but the result was the same.
   
6. Checking for folder visibility and path issues: The folder is visible and accessible in both File Explorer and Command Prompt. However, the commands to modify or delete it keep returning errors about invalid paths or access denial.
   

Given that I've spent the past two days combing through countless forums and applying every suggested method, I'm beyond frustrated. The vague solutions pointed out, simply do not work for this issue.

Can you offer any new solutions that haven't already been suggested? If not, can this be escalated to someone who can provide a definitive solution?

Thank you,

Timothy