what is monitor.exe

  • Thread starter Thread starter Gareth
  • Start date Start date
G

Gareth

Hi there
When ever I start up my computer, once XP has opened the
first thing I see is a warning about 'cannot find
monitor.exe' Once I've clicked OK it disappears and
doesn't seem to cause any problems, but what is it and
why can't it be found? Can I stop it happening?

Thanks for any hep.

Gareth
 
Hi there
When ever I start up my computer, once XP has opened the
first thing I see is a warning about 'cannot find
monitor.exe' Once I've clicked OK it disappears and
doesn't seem to cause any problems, but what is it and
why can't it be found? Can I stop it happening?

Thanks for any hep.

Gareth
Click to expand...

Gareth,

You can stop the message easily. Start - Run - "msconfig". Under the Startup
tab you should find the monitor.exe entry, un checking it will disable the
attempt to start it up.

But what is it? Google / Yahoo searches will give you multiple possibilities,
from a Creative driver
<http://members.driverguide.com/driver/detail.php?driverid=84937>, to possible
spyware <http://www.computing.net/windowsxp/wwwboard/forum/109071.html>. Search
on the Symantec website
<http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/vinfodb.html>, and they list a
number of trojans / viruses that drop infections using that file name.

How current is your virus protection? Try one or more of these free online
virus scans, which should complement your current protection:
<http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/license.php>
<http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan>
<http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/>
<http://security.symantec.com/ssc/home.asp>
<http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp>

Now check for, and learn to defend against, additional problems.

Start by downloading each of the following free tools:
AdAware <http://www.lavasoftusa.com/>
CWShredder <http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4086.html>
CoolWWWSearch.SmartSearch (v1/v2) MiniRemoval
<http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4113.html>
HijackThis <http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=3155>
LSP-Fix and WinsockLSPFix <http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm>
Spybot S&D <http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download>
Stinger <http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=stinger>

Install and run Stinger.

Create a separate folder for HijackThis, such as C:\HijackThis - copy the
downloaded file there. AdAware and Spybot S&D have install routines - run them.
The other downloaded programs can be copied into, and run from, any convenient
folder.

Start by closing all Internet Explorer and Outlook windows, and running
CoolWWWSearch.SmartSearchMiniRemoval, then CWShredder. Have the latter fix all.

Next, run AdAware. First update it ("Check for updates now"), configure for
full scan (<http://www.lavahelp.com/howto/fullscan/>), then scan ("Start" - "Use
custom scanning options" - "Next"). When scanning finishes, select everything,
and hit Next again.

Next, run Spybot S&D. First update it ("Search for updates"), then run a scan
("Check for problems"). Trust Spybot, and delete everything ("Fix Problems")
that is displayed in Red.

Then, run HijackThis ("Scan"). Do NOT make any changes immediately. Save the
HJT Log.
<http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?showtopic=227>

Finally, have your HJT log interpreted by experts at one or more of the
following security forums (and post it, or a link to your forum posts, here):
Aumha: <http://forum.aumha.org/index.php>
Net-Integration: <http://forums.net-integration.net/>
Spyware Info: <http://forums.spywareinfo.com/>
Spyware Warrior: <http://spywarewarrior.com/index.php>
Tom Coyote: <http://forums.tomcoyote.org/>

If removal of any spyware affects your ability to access the internet (some
spyware builds itself into the network software, and its removal may damage your
network), run LSP-Fix and / or WinsockXPFIx.

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.
 
Back
Top