IE6 Process Strange Behaviour

[nicola.attico]

Hello -

I'm suspecting some strange behaviour of my IE6 on WXP

What I find strange is that in my Task Manager I always have one
process IEXPLORE.EXE, even if no IE window is open. If I try to
terminate it from the task manager, the process is immediately
respawned.

To get rid of it, I have to kill the process mdm.exe first (Machine
Debug Manager) and then terminate IEXPLORE.EXE.

Also in that case, when I open a new window of IE two processes
IEXPLORE.EXE (19M and 64M) and one mdm.exe are generated and when I
close the window only one IEXPLORE is terminated, while the other one
and mdm.exe keep running.

Do you find this behaviour regular? I ask because I'm suspecting some
virus infection...

Thanks in advance,

Nicola Attico

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM]

Hello -

I'm suspecting some strange behaviour of my IE6 on WXP

What I find strange is that in my Task Manager I always have one
process IEXPLORE.EXE, even if no IE window is open. If I try to
terminate it from the task manager, the process is immediately
respawned.

To get rid of it, I have to kill the process mdm.exe first (Machine
Debug Manager) and then terminate IEXPLORE.EXE.

Also in that case, when I open a new window of IE two processes
IEXPLORE.EXE (19M and 64M) and one mdm.exe are generated and when I
close the window only one IEXPLORE is terminated, while the other one
and mdm.exe keep running.

Do you find this behaviour regular? I ask because I'm suspecting some
virus infection...

Thanks in advance,

Nicola Attico

You probably have a malware infection. Help with malware:
All MS-MVP Sites.
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/darnit.html
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm

Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by deceptive software.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827315

So How Did I Get Infected Anyway?
For quite a few people it's by installing Messenger Plus, whose ads for
malware don't identify the malware as such and try to convince you that you
owe it to the author. See also:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=27971
Don't ever do a "default" install of anything. Always choose Custom and see
what else is being carried along. Don't install any extras you're not sure
of.

 

[nicola.attico]

Just for logging, a system restore solved it.

Nicola Attico