What is SetupHost.Exe?

SetupHost.Exe is part of Microsoft® Windows® Operating System and developed by Microsoft Corporation according to the SetupHost.Exe version information.

SetupHost.Exe's description is "Modern Setup Host"

SetupHost.Exe is digitally signed by Microsoft Windows.

SetupHost.Exe is usually located in the 'C:\$Windows.~BT\Sources\' folder.

None of the anti-virus scanners at VirusTotal reports anything malicious about SetupHost.Exe.

If you have additional information about the file, please share it with the FreeFixer users by posting a comment at the bottom of this page.

Vendor and version information [?]

The following is the available information on SetupHost.Exe:

PropertyValue
Product nameMicrosoft® Windows® Operating System
Company nameMicrosoft Corporation
File descriptionModern Setup Host
Internal nameSetupHost.exe
Original filenameSetupHost.exe
Legal copyright© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Product version6.3.9600.16415
File version6.3.9600.16415 (winblue_gdr.130928-1658)

Here's a screenshot of the file properties when displayed by Windows Explorer:

Product nameMicrosoft® Windows® Operating System
Company nameMicrosoft Corporation
File descriptionModern Setup Host
Internal nameSetupHost.exe
Original filenameSetupHost.exe
Legal copyright© Microsoft Corporation. All rights..
Product version6.3.9600.16415
File version6.3.9600.16415 (winblue_gdr.130928-1..

Digital signatures [?]

SetupHost.Exe has a valid digital signature.

PropertyValue
Signer nameMicrosoft Windows
Certificate issuer nameMicrosoft Windows Production PCA 2011
Certificate serial number330000002418fc0b689e7399d0000000000024

VirusTotal report

None of the 47 anti-virus programs at VirusTotal detected the SetupHost.Exe file.

None of the 47 anti-virus programs detected the SetupHost.Exe file.

Hashes [?]

PropertyValue
MD506fb6ff293bb08692d109769ad70f64b
SHA25669a78e6bbee79b62f0dee9b406ae1ea1bfa05acd32777cc7a6a2bf97d197b366

Error Messages

These are some of the error messages that can appear related to setuphost.exe:

setuphost.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

setuphost.exe - Application Error. The instruction at "0xXXXXXXXX" referenced memory at "0xXXXXXXXX". The memory could not be "read/written". Click on OK to terminate the program.

Modern Setup Host has stopped working.

End Program - setuphost.exe. This program is not responding.

setuphost.exe is not a valid Win32 application.

setuphost.exe - Application Error. The application failed to initialize properly (0xXXXXXXXX). Click OK to terminate the application.

What will you do with SetupHost.Exe?

To help other users, please let us know what you will do with SetupHost.Exe:



What did other users do?

The poll result listed below shows what users chose to do with SetupHost.Exe. 56% have voted for removal. Based on votes from 477 users.

User vote results: There were 268 votes to remove and 209 votes to keep

NOTE: Please do not use this poll as the only source of input to determine what you will do with SetupHost.Exe.

Malware or legitimate?

If you feel that you need more information to determine if your should keep this file or remove it, please read this guide.

Please select the option that best describe your thoughts on the information provided on this web page


Free online surveys

And now some shameless self promotion ;)

A screenshot of FreeFixer's scan result.Hi, my name is Roger Karlsson. I've been running this website since 2006. I want to let you know about the FreeFixer program. FreeFixer is a freeware tool that analyzes your system and let you manually identify unwanted programs. Once you've identified some malware files, FreeFixer is pretty good at removing them. You can download FreeFixer here. It runs on Windows 2000/XP/2003/2008/2016/2019/Vista/7/8/8.1/10. Supports both 32- and 64-bit Windows.

If you have questions, feedback on FreeFixer or the freefixer.com website, need help analyzing FreeFixer's scan result or just want to say hello, please contact me. You can find my email address at the contact page.

Comments

Please share with the other users what you think about this file. What does this file do? Is it legitimate or something that your computer is better without? Do you know how it was installed on your system? Did you install it yourself or did it come bundled with some other software? Is it running smoothly or do you get some error message? Any information that will help to document this file is welcome. Thank you for your contributions.

I'm reading all new comments so don't hesitate to post a question about the file. If I don't have the answer perhaps another user can help you.

Bill Carr writes

2 thumbs

I have deleted the windows esential pack 2012 because it crippled my computer!! Modern setup host kept hogging the CPU time.

# 24 Jun 2015, 17:48

Nightfury writes

240 thumbs

This is part of the windows update process that happens in the background on windows 10 preview, it first downloads all the files, then checks against MS security scanner. Then this process takes over to organise the files by the looks of it, i'm watching it move the updates around and into what would appear to be the correct folders ready for an install (update/big content patch in the technical preview.)

Always double check things like this but rather than like Bill Carr and leave your system crippled when you next try to update, it's probably best to really understand why a file is there or why its hogging resources before pulling it, in this case it hogging resources is to get ready to patch the system.


(This should apply to all windows from 7 onwards, maybe vista depending how windows update worked then. But it was observed in Windows 10 Technical Preview.)

# 29 Jun 2015, 17:25

Roger Karlsson writes

0 thumbs

Thank you for commenting!

# 5 Jul 2015, 7:20

Vince Johnson writes

3 thumbs

So youre saying this .exe is the installation for Windows 10?

# 29 Jul 2015, 2:51

keith bryant writes

2 thumbs

windows 10 keeps failing to install with error message "modern setup host has stopped working".

# 10 Aug 2015, 4:08

Paul writes

0 thumbs

I found setuphost.exe had a great usage of drive time...I had installed windows 10 , but removed it , removed the icon , and put in register new Dword:gwxdisable 1 (localmachine,software,microsoft,windows,gwx)
But the setup host keeps running , I forced it to stop , since it used very much my harddisk , when I stopped it , I did get windows update with , windows 10 upgrade is ready restart your pc......restarted , and now all is ok...it is just a upgrade tool from microsoft !

# 28 Aug 2015, 17:18

Roger Karlsson writes

0 thumbs

Thank you Paul!

# 1 Oct 2015, 22:01

Leave a reply