loader.exe

[Frank]

I understand that I have a spyware loader.exe in my windows folder. My
firewall shows me that the program tries to call to the internet but is
blocked. A explorer file search shows that there there is a
LOADER.EXE-24030FCF.pf in windows/fetch.
Can anyone tell me if this is a useless/dangerous spyware, or is it
necessary for windows to run?
Thanks
Frank

 

[dev]

Frank said:

I understand that I have a spyware loader.exe in my windows folder. My
firewall shows me that the program tries to call to the internet but is
blocked. A explorer file search shows that there there is a
LOADER.EXE-24030FCF.pf in windows/fetch.
Can anyone tell me if this is a useless/dangerous spyware, or is it
necessary for windows to run?

Install AdAware from http://www.lavasoftusa.com. It will detect most
intruders, such as this one, and give you the option to remove them.

 

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

I understand that I have a spyware loader.exe in my windows folder. My
firewall shows me that the program tries to call to the internet but is
blocked. A explorer file search shows that there there is a
LOADER.EXE-24030FCF.pf in windows/fetch.
Can anyone tell me if this is a useless/dangerous spyware, or is it
necessary for windows to run?

If you meant c:\windows\prefetch, rather than 'fetch', then this is just
a record to the effect that loader.exe is getting loaded every time your
machine starts up and therefore WinXP should optimise the disk layout to
make this a slick operation.

After you've cleaned out all the spyware, you might want to delete all
the =contents= (not the folder itself) of the prefetch folder, and let
WinXP optimize over again.