iexplorer.exe is it a virus?

shandypants5

Hello, help required please.

My laptop has suddenly started freezing up when using the internet.

I checked the task manager and I have a process called iexplorer.exe that is taking up 99% cpu.

I also have one called iexplore.exe (no "R" on the end) that I assume is the real internet explorer process.

I used task manager to end task and everything got faster again untill next time I re-opened internet explorer, then it reappeared.

Did a quick google search on it and it looks complicated to remove.

I have done nothing to try and remove it yet, except run CCleaner which made no difference.

Could someone walk me through removal in simple steps please?

Any advice appreciated thanks.


ETA I am running windows 7 and IE 8... I think.

*Kat*

iexploreR . exe is a trojan which masks itsself as iexplore. Try this... it shouldn't take too long, also do you have AVG? Other malware/virus protection?

Step 1: Use Windows File Search Tool to Find iexplorer.exe Path

1. Go to Start > Search > All Files or Folders.
2. In the "All or part of the the file name" section, type in "iexplorer.exe" file name(s).
3. To get better results, select "Look in: Local Hard Drives" or "Look in: My Computer" and then click "Search" button.
4. When Windows finishes your search, hover over the "In Folder" of "iexplorer.exe", highlight the file and copy/paste the path into the address bar. Save the file's path on your clipboard because you'll need the file path to delete iexplorer.exe in the following manual removal steps.

• Read more about How to Delete iexplorer.exe with File Search Tool

Step 2: Use Windows Task Manager to Remove iexplorer.exe Processes

1. To open the Windows Task Manager, use the combination of CTRL+ALT+DEL or CTRL+SHIFT+ESC.
2. Click on the "Image Name" button to search for "iexplorer.exe" process by name.
3. Select the "iexplorer.exe" process and click on the "End Process" button to kill it.

• Read more about How to kill iexplorer.exe Processes

Step 3: Detect and Delete Other iexplorer.exe Files

1. To open the Windows Command Prompt, go to Start > Run > cmd and then press the "OK" button.
2. Type in "dir /A name_of_the_folder" (for example, C:\Spyware-folder), which will display the folder's content even the hidden files.
3. To change directory, type in "cd name_of_the_folder".
4. Once you have the file you're looking for type in del "name_of_the_file".
5. To delete a file in folder, type in "del name_of_the_file".
6. To delete the entire folder, type in "rmdir /S name_of_the_folder".
7. Select the "iexplorer.exe" process and click on the "End Process" button to kill it.

shandypants5

Thanks Kat, will take a look

*Kat*

It just needs to be gone, unless you'd rather just do a system restore...but not sure if you have been doing those regularly

shandypants5

Do you think sys restore will shift it?

From what I have read so far it looks like a stubborn thing that re installs itself and I dont want to upset it..:o

I am just backing up some files and photos at the mo, before I do anything.

*Kat*

I found this as well, which looks promising

http://comprolive.com/remove/harmful/exe/avp-exe-cp32-exe-iexplorer-exe

Chimpofdoom

explorer.exe is a virus too.. should be replaced with firefox.exe (only kidding!)

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/ download, install and update that (free antivirus from MS), reboot into safe mode (hold F8 while windows is loading and the menu should appear).

Run security essentials, see if it picks it up, remove/quarantine/delete, reboot back into windows then run a full scan to make sure the nasty virus has gone.

fiddiwebb

Download the latest version of Malwarebytes from filehippo.com.

Run a full scan with Malwarebytes but before scanning update it first (open Malwarebytes & click on the update tab).

When scanning has finished please tick any boxes showing malware that Malwarebytes has found and let Malwarebytes remove them.

Post the Malwarebytes log file (just copy & paste) in your next message.

shandypants5

Am running Malwarebyts scan now.

How long will it take aprox?

I gave up and quit the microsoft one after 2 hours..

fiddiwebb

shandypants5 wrote: »

Am running Malwarebyts scan now.

How long will it take aprox?

I gave up and quit the microsoft one after 2 hours..

Depends how big your hard drive is and how much is on it?

Normally a full scan can take anything between 45 mins - 1 hr 45, Saw someone the other day who posted a log file and it took 3 hrs 17 mins on a quick scan :eek:

Always best to run CCleaner first to clean up any junk before scanning, that can cut down scanning time depending how much dross it removes.

shandypants5

been running fo 2 hrs 37 min so far, still going