Category Archives: Application Files

What is Acrord32.exe?


Adobe.com designed and developed the PDF reader known as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. It is a free program in its basic form, and is used to access and review .pdf files. The Acrord32.exe file is an executable file which is a process which runs in the background of your system whenever you use Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Try not to forcibly shut acrord32.exe down as it is important for the correct functioning of Adobe Acrobat Reader, and can not be ended without making the program crash.

After you close acrobat reader down, the file should shut down within several minutes of the program closing. However, if you are running a slower system, you may need to shut down the acrord32.exe file as soon as the program has ended. Give your computer a moment to process the request before continuing on with your next project.

Although it is not a virus, some viruses may attempt to attack your computer by making it appear as if they are the acrord32.exe file. One method of making sure which case it is, is by checking your task manager and being aware of recent actions you have taken. Adobe Acrobat Reader will not activate unless you open a .pdf file, so if you haven’t opened one recently it is quite possible it is a virus. Placing your computer in safe mode and scanning with your anti-virus may assist you in finding the virus and getting rid of it.

Always remember to run your anti-virus regularly to avoid any possible problems in the future from these viruses. Although they are not perfect, many times if you can catch it soon enough you can prevent the virus from doing irreversible harm to your system.

acals.exe – Originally An Application File


The acals.exe process is an application file that is called as AhnLab Program created by the AhnLab Inc. The acals.exe process belongs to the ACA 1.0 that is meant for the Windows.

It is important to remember that the acals.exe process is not one of the critical components. In order to optimize the CPU, memory and the Internet settings, you must run a scan of your computer system. The scan process also helps you in determining if the acals.exe process is a legitimate process of the Windows or is any type of virus, which is achieved by tracing the location of the acals.exe file from where it runs. The scan also helps you in identifying the errors that might be related to acals.exe process.

The acals.exe process is capable of running in the background. The most common path of the acals.exe process is “C: \Program files\ Common\ AhnLab\ ACA”. With this information, you could easily determine if your acals.exe file is a virus or not from the fact that the spyware version of this file will have a different path and has the potential to be spread over the system as well.

Some of the spyware or malware programs have the capability of disguising themselves as acals.exe process and could be spelt in a way slightly different from the original process.

In general, the acals.exe is an application process and is not a spyware, adware, malware or related to any other kind of pop ups. You must have a look at the details of the acals.exe process before you decide to delete or remove it from the system.

a4proxy.exe – Disguising Your IP Address


The a4proxy.exe process is better called as A4 Proxy. This a4proxy.exe process is created by iNet Privacy Software.

The a4proxy.exe process is capable of running a proxy server locally on your computer which makes you anonymous when you surf. The a4proxy.exe process disguises your IP address of your computer so as to make you an anonymous browser or user of the Internet while you browse the web sites.

The a4proxy.exe process is often an application process. The a4proxy.exe process does not appear as any kind of security risk, so is safer to use.
What the process server database does is that it registers the a4proxy.exe process to the software iNet Privacy for the present time. If at all you are much concerned about the a4proxy.exe process, you could visit any of the web sites available so as to verify if your file is revealing too much of information which could be done in the anonymous browsing section. The data in the process server database is updated frequently. But it is important to note that some of the viruses, if they exist might cause some inaccuracies. Such viruses could be named after a valid file such as A4 Proxy. You are recommended to verify the results always so as to ensure that you are safe from any kind of potential virus.

When you want to determine if the a4proxy.exe process is a virus or just another legitimate process in your system, you could perform a full scan of your computer to find the location or the path where it runs from.

Acais.exe


“acais.exe” is an application process that runs in the background on the machine. It is more or less an independent executable file, which does not need an external process to initiate it. This application process comes as a part of ACA 1.2 for Windows, which is a product of the company AhnLab, Inc.

There have been numerous discoveries of the acais.exe process and with different version numbers. Some of the version numbers that have been found recently are 1203, 1201 and 1205. Out of these, the most common occurrence is that of 1203, which is of a size of 23 kb approximately. Other versions of this service process exist in different sizes.

“acais.exe” bound to create and register a dll (Dynamic Link Library) file associated with the system processes. Since this runs as an independent background process, it is created, executed and terminated by itself. While being on execution, the files gets code entries from other programs and saves them to its own virtual memory space.

The process normally resides in one of the following two folders, “program files\ common files\ ahnlab\ aca” or “program files\ ahnlab\ aca”. Though this file resides in the parent installation directory of the ACA application, it serves to be a malware program since it does not come along with a legitimate certificate signed by a trusted windows source. These do not pose serious threats to the system or the information within the system. The process can be removed permanently from the system by using a proper anti spyware software.

acaas.exe – Make Sure It Is Not Malware


The acaas.exe is generally an application file and is created by the company AhnLab Inc. The version numbers of the process accaas.exe include 0, 1 and 2. The acaas.exe is usually located in the destination C:\Program files\Fichiers communs\ Ahnlab\ Aca\. The product for the Windows version is called ACA 1.2 and follows the AhnLab common architecture.

You are recommended to perform a scan of your system so as to ensure that the acaas.exe is legitimate and is signed digitally by the company AhnLab Inc.

The acaas.exe has the ability to affect the executable files in the respect that those executable files that are running would be closed by the Windows because of the errors generated by acaas.exe.

It is important to note that the acaas.exe file is not digitally signed. The publisher of the acaas.exe, AhnLab has not signed the file from a trusted source of Windows with a certificate. Since there are several files left unsigned by different publishers, you should not take it for granted that the file is malicious if it is not digitally signed.

Also it is recommended that you should calculate the MD5 hash of the acaas.exe always so as to make yourself sure that the process that is running on the system is safer to use and could be trusted.  Further, the MD5 hash of the acaas.exe file along with its digital signature, if available, will ensure that the acaas.exe file is not a virus, spyware, adware or any other kind of malware and the publisher of the file are in deed AhnLab Inc.

aupdate.exe – Does It Pose Threat To Your Computer?


The file aupdate.exe is better known as Auto-updater aupdate. This process belongs to the software called Live Update or the aupdate.exe and is created by the Symantec Corporation.

The aupdate.exe is an application file and is usually considered as a risk to the computer’s security owing to the fact that most of the programs that remove spyware flag this aupdate.exe as a spyware. There has also been a constant complaint on the performance by the users who have aupdate.exe in their computers.

If in your computer system you have the process aupdate.exe in an active state, then it is likely that you must also have a Tinybar adware program’s variation that is installed in your system. In the Internet explorer, a toolbar is installed by the process aupdate.exe.

As far as the effects of having the process aupdate.exe in your system is considered, your system is likely to be prone to various attacks if this file is present and hence it is recommended that you remove the aupdate.exe from the system without further delay. If in contrary, the removal of the process aupdate.exe is delayed your system will be subject to various problems that include leakage of private information, data loss and considerable reduction in the system performance.

The aupdate.exe is not a system file of the Windows and does not have any visible window. In some cases, the aupdate.exe is located in the destination aupdate.exe folder, and in other cases aupdate.exe is located in C:\Windows or in the sub folders of the same.

000stthk.exe – Application Process File


000stthk.exe is essentially an application process that is installed with Toshiba Notebooks and is intended to provide these devices an additional configuration option. Though 000stthk.exe is not an essential process, you should not terminate the process unless and otherwise it poses any problems.

The 000stthk.exe is a visible program and usually starts when the Windows gets loaded. Since it is not a system file of the Windows, the technical security has been reported to be 35% dangerous.

It is important to remember that this file is not a spyware. It should not be wrongly interpreted as either adware or popup related and also it should not be considered as a Trojan or a virus. You must usually avoid the idea of removing the 000stthk.exe file as it is not a recommended action.

You are to decide whether or not this 000stthk.exe program be run right from the time of start up. If you think it is better to have it available when needed by letting the program getting started automatically, you should not disable it.

The main purpose of the 000stthk.exe is that it is used on Toshiba computers’ function keys. In order to find the location of this file, you must to do a Windows search using the “Search for files and folders” option. Since the name of the file is unique, the search will be more effective. The location of the file is usually C:\Windows\System32.

The 000stthk.exe usually might be misspelled slightly so that you don’t find it and there are possibilities that adware and spyware are named quite similar to the system file. So you must make a point in checking the location of the processes.

aawservice.exe – File Information And Its Removal From The Start Up


The aawservice.exe is an application file and not a system file of the Windows. This aawservice.exe program is invisible and could be uninstalled using the “Add or Remove Programs” from the control panel. Since aawservice.exe can monitor other applications, the technical security rating has been reported to be 23% dangerous.

The most frequent issue related with the aawservice.exe is that the Ad-Aware 2007 starts this aawservice.exe which keeps running for all the while. Since it has no monitoring capability in the real time, it is more often unnecessary to have it running.

Since the aawservice.exe is necessary only when you perform a manual scan of your computer, it is better if you turn off the aawservice.exe auto load during the start up. The Ad-Aware 2007 workaround has effectively resolved the problem. In this, you must first enter the Service Management console by typing in “services.msc” in the Run command in the start menu. Then select the “Ad-Aware 2007 Service” from the list of displayed items and open it by double-clicking. Choose the “Manual” option in the Startup Type, click “Ok” and close the window.

Thereby, the aawservice.exe program will never be loaded at the start up of the Windows. This aawservice.exe will however will be auto loaded when the Ad-Aware 2007 is run. It will remain running even when the Ad-Aware 2007 is run but could be safely killed using the “End process” option in the Task Manager. And the method described above to prevent the auto load has proved to work in more than 90 percent of the cases. 

adservice.exe - Zipping The Files!


We all use computers today and we see so many applications running simultaneously to give the necessary user friendly environment. Each application is carefully programmed to best run at all given circumstances. Still it is good to know what are the main application files involved and how they are useful. Moreover, knowledge of these files will help us to understand or identify any spyware or virus, which attacks our system with the same file extension.

Generally, spammers use the popular application file names to send viruses or adware. Many users don’t suspect this file as they think it is associated with applications installed in the system. But then, when one knows about the exact root directory where this file is in the system they can easily find the virus files with the same name.

We all use zip folders and special software is used to convert folders into zipped folders. One such software is the Iomega, which helps in the zipping function. The zip application drivers are installed to help in effective function. Adservic.exe is one such component of this Iomega Zip drive. It helps to automatically run the application when the need arises.

It is not a critical file or a spam but a necessity for this software. If you have any doubts then a free scan and a registry check can be conducted to identify the authenticity of this application. The scan result will show the exact file location and from that, we can identify the good application file from the bad. This is an application of the Iomega Corporation and it is not a spyware, virus or Trojan.

ab.exe - Backing Up your Data


The usage of computers and related applications are increasing day by day. Almost all-important operations from office work to paying personal bills, everything is done online. Internet users today buy anything and everything online and spend most of their free time socializing online, rather than going out to have fun. Main operating systems chosen by computer users, like the Microsoft; Linux etc are improving their OS and creating safety precautions for all its application to make their OS user friendly.

Apart from the OS, users use many softwares to suit their personal and official needs. One such application is the Argentum backup. This backup program helps to easily backup all the files and protect it from accidental deletion. It can also protect the system from viruses and overwrites. Argentum backup is small and user friendly and occupies just a little system resource and this program has lots of awards to its credit like the PC magazines editor’s choice award and PC best buy award.

Argentum backup when installed in the computer will protect the files effectively and a process called ab.exe helps in this operation. Although it is a non-essential process, it must not be deleted or terminated. Accidental deletion will cause problems in this application and if in case it is considered as a problematic file, it should be removed with care. Running a free online performance scan can resolve this issue and sustain this file if it is considered safe.

Hence, ab.exe is not a malicious application and it aids only in the operation of Argentum backup program. Virtual scan of the system hardware can help resolve virus issues and can protect the computer from virus and Trojan threats. Knowing about the root directory of this file will help us identify the true file from the fake. Thus, proper knowledge of the processes and application in the system is needed for better understanding of the problems that might arise then and there.

chkdsk.exe


Every operating system comes with the application files, which help in the smooth running of the computer. Every time the computer starts or shuts down these application files load all the system configurations, checks, and scans for any hardware changes. It is very imperative to have these files as they can inform us of possible changes in the configuration or virus attacks if any.

Chkdsk.exe is one such application, which runs when the computer restarts or shuts down. This file is otherwise known as autochk.exe as it starts automatically and scans for any hard disk changes. The user need not manually run this application as it is free from user intervention. This application applies to all editions of the Windows XP. As it is a system application, only advanced user can make possible changes if this file is corrupted.

If you want to stop chkdsk.exe from operating manually then delete this item either from the scheduled task or from the windows registry. However, back up all the files before deleting this application. It is advisable to handle such tasks only when one is knowledgeable about the system configuration. In the registry, this file should be carefully deleted as modification in the registry might affect the whole system at large.

If in case your hard disk has problems or is damaged you can run this application by going to the windows recovery console. Here again only advanced user should handle the windows recovery console. If the chkdsk.exe gives an error message that hard disk cannot be found during the scan then be sure that it is a hardware failure.

apache.exe Review - Web Server Pproduct


Apache.exe is a web server program from Apache Foundation. It operates in UNIX system as well as noticeable performance is observed in Windows NT. The objective for the development of apache.exe was the extended and remote control of web server.

It means apache.exe enables users to use any personal computer or server itself operating an apache program, can be operated from distance. It is a job of the administrators of websites that are hosted from the server. Incredible impact and bad use of apache.exe is noticed when people start to shutdown the remote computer or server and caused damage to the hosted web pages or sites from the remote computer or server.  Though to conduct such thing, it requires some mastery skills.

No rating is available yet for this product as it is open sourced and user developed phenomenon but it is believed to serve as no threat. As we said earlier, the objective was remote or extended hosting capacity of web servers! Some forums or blog sites are available on the web where user shares their experience on it and seek solution. There is no readily software program available to trouble shoot of apache.exe. If any problem observed with the program or service, it is wiser for the user’s part to consult some administrator, as he solely believed to solve the problem. Some NVIDA firewall from mostly mozilla firefox browsers can enable to apache.exe to get inside the computer thus remote hosting.

This product is actually of no harm but does not receive any trustworthy certificate or rating. Apache.exe is completely okay to be used as long the administrator keeps his works protected and safe from second or third party interferences.

Ipconfig.exe – a legitimate Microsoft file


Ipconfig.exe is a registered file belonging to Microsoft Windows Operating System. The name of the file actually stands for IP Configuration. The program is used to assign and view the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the machine, which is being used.

The file ipconfig.exe is located in the folder C:\Windows\System32. It is recognized as a Windows core file and is in general legitimate. The file size for the version in Windows XP is 55808 bytes. The program runs in the background with no visible window. It is a Microsoft signed file and is therefore a safe file to run. It is not a critical file, and can be shut down if required.

There are however certain malware, which pretend to be ipconfig.exe. Such viruses, Trojans, spyware or worms generally make a file by the same name in the folder c:\windows or c:\windows\system32. Care should be taken while removing the files, and it is best that if an infection is suspected to run a scan using a recognized antivirus and antispyware program. General signs of an infection are slowing down of the computer, and loss in performance.

Overall, however, the chances of an infection arising from a file named ipconfig.exe are rare. If an infection is suspected, it would most probably be due to another file which is running. The file is therefore not considered as a security risk, as there have been low or no cases of malware associated with it.

dlhost.exe - What is dlhost and Should I Remove it?


The dlhost.exe file is related to the IamBigBrother software. This software is used to secretly monitor the actions, keystrokes and screenshots of your computer. If you did not install this software yourself, it is advised that you remove this program immediately.
If you find the dlhost.exe file on your computer, this means someone, with access to your computer, is possibly monitoring your actions (e.g. employer, parents, spouse, other). Most likely, they have installed the IamBigBrother Spyware program to record your keystrokes and monitor your online behaviors.

This file is considered to be a security risk because it camouflages itself and spies on your computer actions and because many people have complained about the functionality of it.
This file is often located in the C: drive of Windows-based computers. This file is able to hide itself because it is intended to be a spyware. This application starts when Windows starts and there is no easy way to stop it.

This application file could also be affecting the performance of your computer, by slowing down processes and decreasing the efficiency of your machine.

It is recommended that you immediately run a scan of your PC to ensure that you are safe from adware, spyware and other malware programs.

Some virus or malware programs will name themselves dlhost.exe and install on c:\windows or c:\windows\system32 folder as a means of gaining your trust.