slow pc with mystery iexplorer running??

Discussion in 'General Hardware' started by jam440, May 17, 2006.

  1. jam440

    jam440 Geek Trainee

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    hi i have a bit of a problem with my pc it runs painfully slow most of the time so i check out the task manager to see if there are any processes not needed that i can stop to make it run a bit faster. thats when i noticed the iexplorer.exe process running which only appears when you are actually browsing the internet. at that time i was not running the internet so just ended it and didnt think anything of it. then it suddenly starts running again and the cpu column reads 99 for a while untill the memory usage column reaches around 50,000k. no matter how many times i end the process it still comes back on and does the same thing. i think this may be the problem why the pc suns so slowly as i have run anti virus software and spyware removal countless times and also deleted lime wire (which i heard carries a lot of spyware) and other unwanted programs to free up memory.
    if anyone could tell me why the iexplorer.exe process is always running and how i can stop it if it is a problem i would be most happy!!
    jam440
     
  2. megamaced

    megamaced Geek Geek Geek!

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    iexplorer = Internet Explorer.
     
  3. megamaced

    megamaced Geek Geek Geek!

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    Oh... maybe not!

    I thought something was fishy. Internet Explorer's process is actually IEXPLORE, not IEXPLORER. How crafty.... :rolleyes:

    Process File: iexplorer or iexplorer.exe
    Process Name: AdClicker parasite

    explorer.exe is a process belonging to the AdClicker advertising program. This process monitors your browsing habits and distributes the data back to the author's servers for analysis. This also prompts advertising popups. This program is a registered security risk and should be removed immediately.


    Next course of action? Adaware SE Personal
     
  4. jam440

    jam440 Geek Trainee

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    sorry my fault! it appears that the process running is iexplore.exe not iexplorer.exe so that means it is internet explorer running a process? are u sure explorer.exe is a spy ware process? i thought it was somehting that runs on all computers all the time. i have ended the explorer.exe process before and it just crashes windows?
     
  5. donkey42

    donkey42 plank

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    reread mega's last post

    explorer.exe is NOT spyware is NEEDS to be running because it is an itegral part of windows, stopping it in task manager is not a good idea

    iexplore.exe is Internet EXPLOREr
     
  6. izzy007

    izzy007 Big Geek

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  7. jam440

    jam440 Geek Trainee

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    yeah ok but in my last post i said it isn't iexplorer.exe thats running its iexplore.exe which is the internet explorer, am i right? so that i'm still stuck with this process running (even tho i am not using internet explorer) and cannot stop it. what should i do i have run spyware programs and norton anti virus loads of times?
     
  8. Karanislove

    Karanislove It's D Grav80 Of Luv

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    You are missing a "i" in front of explorer.exe mega.


    What is it?
    Windows Explorer - explorer.exe


    What does it do?
    explorer.exe - Below is a direct quote from Microsoft found on [link=http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;263201&sd=tech]THIS[/link] page:


    This is the user shell, which we see as the familiar taskbar, desktop, and so on. This process isn't as vital to the running of Windows as you might expect, and can be stopped (and restarted) from Task Manager, usually with no negative side effects on the system.


    I have found that stopping this process is needed sometimes to stop some other processes
    Virus Precaution:
    The original file from Microsoft gets placed at C:WINDOWSSystem32explorer.exe . if you find it anywhere else then you should be suspicious for sure.

    You'll want to keep an eye on this [link=http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=explorer.exe+virus&btnG=Search]google search[/link] for any known viruses. There's only one unique virus found through this search. All of the results are the various names of this single virus.

    Deloder-A @ [link=http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/w32delodera.html]Sophos[/link]
    MyDoom.B @ [link=http://securityresponse1.symantec.com/sarc/sarc.nsf/html/[email protected]]Symantec [/link]


    explorer.exe is a Windows System File and should be in a system directory. If it is then this application is safe.
    Search for this item in the startup DB [link=http://startup.networktechs.com/srch-explorer.exe.html]here[/link] (Check this link as well because it tells about so many explorer,iexplorer files, viruses, trojans etc..).

    [link=http://process.networktechs.com/explorer.exe.php]Article Source[/link]
     
  9. DaRuSsIaMaN

    DaRuSsIaMaN Geek Comrade

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    wow, what a jumble of confusion this is, rofl. Ok so let's straighten this out. Jam440 is now asking what to do with iexplore.exe. We figured out that iexplorer.exe is spyware but that's not what he's dealing with. Also, explorer.exe (without the i) is *windows* explorer and should not ever be closed, and so has nothing to do with this discussion.


    Now, why iexplore.exe is in the task manager on your comp, i dunno.
     
  10. jam440

    jam440 Geek Trainee

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    maybe its a spyware program that is using the internet explorer in the background??? i don't know but like i said i've run spyware detectors like there's no tomorrow and its obviously slowing my computer down so really need to find another way of finding out why it's doing this and how to stop it. if anyone has any ideas let me know...bit stuck to be honest
     
  11. megamaced

    megamaced Geek Geek Geek!

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    Oh, my mistake :O

    IEXPLORE = Internet Explorer
    explorer = Windows Explorer

    I got the information from some silly website who were obviously more keen on selling their anti-spyware tools, rather then portraying the truth about the process.

    Anyways, sorry for the confusion :eek:hah:
     
  12. DaRuSsIaMaN

    DaRuSsIaMaN Geek Comrade

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    Is iexplore written in lower case letters like I just wrote it? When I launch internet explorer, IEXPLORE.EXE pops up (that is, it's all in capital letters).

    EDIT: Oh crap, I just thought of this. Which Windows are you on and what version of I.E. do you have??

    EDIT 2: which antispyware programs did u try?
     
  13. jam440

    jam440 Geek Trainee

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    xp pro
    IE 6
    advanced spware remover
    and norton anti virus

    and yes iexplore.exe is in capitals but i have another computer that shows it in lower case but that one works fine
     
  14. Apathy

    Apathy Geek Trainee

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    Download process explorer from Sysinternals

    Sysinternals Freeware - Process Explorer

    it will tell you where the iexplore.exe process is being run from so you can check if it's the legitimate one or not. It can also tell you the parent process (the one that called it) so you can see if it's spyware or not. You'll then have an idea of where to go to stop it.
     
  15. DaRuSsIaMaN

    DaRuSsIaMaN Geek Comrade

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    Okay, xp pro and IE6 is exactly what i got. Well, here's one thing I can point out. Often with spyware not any one program gets all your problems if there are any. But a combnation of a couple will usually root them out. So try some other ones. I notice yours is not the standard spyware solution that all of us use here: Ad-aware personal and Spybot Search & Destroy (or just search those names). Try those 2.

    Also, depending on spyware programs, some install themselves really secretly (that is, they hide as one measly .exe file in one of your systems folders or something), whereas others install themselves right into the program files (with a whole folder to itself) and even show up on the add/remove programs list. From my experience it seems that ad-aware & spybot are not very good at detecting the latter kind. They get all the secretive ones but not the obvious ones, i guess. At least I think I've noticed that in the past, although I'm not too certain if my memory is correct on that. But anyway, just try looking in your add/remove programs list and see if there are any programs that you are sure don't belong there. If you are unsure, you should just google any program on that list that you don't know what it's there for. Also look in your program files folder with the same purpose.

    Finally, if those methods don't work, I have also used XoftSpy in the past if I suspect I still have some trash that those 2 can't find. XoftSpy is a non-free software so u have to buy it for it to actually rectify the threats it detects, BUT u can dodge that by manually deleting stuff that shows up in the scan results (make sure to let it update first after u launch it for the first time). Don't bother with any low threat things its scan detects but if it's a medium or high threat or high annoyance or something like that, see if u can figure out how to manually delete it (it can be quite difficult cuz often it's something in the registry).

    Okay, actually another "finally" ... if none of that works, lol ... u can try using Hijack this. Err, not sure how exactly it's spelled, whether with space or not. I never figured out how to use it personally cuz u do everything manually in it, but that's supposed to be like the ultimate solution if u can work it right, from what I hear. Someone else here can help u out with that one better, if needed. Ok, that's it for now, get back to us.
     

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