Extra iexplore.exe running in Task Manager? Possible Virus?

Question

Recently I've been hearing ads, not seeing them, at first I thought it was either Firefox or Internet Explorer I had up and running. But then I realized they would play even when I didn't have anything running. So I went to my Task Manager and saw an extra iexplore.exe running even when I don't have anything up, I even tried closing it through task manager but it would just manually pop up a few seconds later. I'm pretty sure it's a virus, so does anyone have anyways of removing it or any fixes to this problem? If worst comes to worst I'll just backup most my data then wipe my Harddrive. But this seems like a minor problem to have to wipe a Harddrive to fix, so any solutions would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

Yes, that's most likely a virus. Do a scan with MalwareBytes.

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

Answer 2

Don't think that's the problem, but even if it is, closing the process will only stop it until you reboot your computer. Go ahead and try it though. I've closed the process iexplorer.exe many times and never have had a problem. Try running these free virus/spyware fixers. (in order from what I think is best. All of them are good).



Malwarebytes (great scanner. Found 50 some Trojans on my pc and fixed them for free. There is a paid version but that only adds live protection and you don't really need that)



AdAware SE personal from lavasoft. (great home version of the program. It's free and does pretty much what spybot does but I think a bit better. Run both so you find all of it)



spybot search and destroy (very simple freeware program. Finds and fixes spyware and adware for free)



and then get one of the following antivirus programs.

Avast antivirus (the home version is free. It says 60 day trial but you just register an email and it gives you a license for a year. Just renew once the year runs out (still free))



or



AVG free edition. (free, no license code thing needed.)



I'm not sure which antivirus is better, just scan an fix with the first three. Then choose either avast or avg for live protection.



Good luck!

Answer 3

Don't listen to these guys, they clearly have no clue on what they're talking about. I am a developer at Microsoft so I know a thing or two about computers. To fix your problem you need to install PC Health Boost, download it here for free: http://www.pchealthcleaner.net



It's very light and it's the only antivirus/cleaner with a 99.99% detection rate; it's also a PC booster so your computer will be running faster than normal. Install it, hit run and problem solved. It shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes.

Answer 4

If your iexplore.exe is not located at "%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer" then it's surely a virus.



To see where it's located use Windows Optimum

http://www.net-studio.org/eng/windows-optimum.html



Launch Windows Optimum

Click on the process tab

Find all iexplore.exe in the list and check all processes that is not located at "%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer"

Click on the button "Stop process and delete file"

Answer 5

There is something going on. Norton tells me there is a "duplicate object ".outside the firewall. Since you have Xp, Microsoft is some what obligated to help you. link is in the source box.