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Thread ID: 53531 2005-01-20 05:30:00 Is explorer.exe supposed to have access to the internet? Term_X (560) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
316068 2005-01-20 05:30:00 Just wondering why does explorer . exe have to access the internet? . My firewall said it was trying to access it .

the other strange thing was one time when i booted pc and then went to connect to the internet, a box came up and said something about installing "surecom" and then a box came up saying to enter user and password and something along the lines of "connecting to your router at 192 . 0 . 01 etc" but i dont have a router?, im on wired country and the aerial connects straight to my built in network card . . havent seen this again . .

opinions please on the 2 above incidents . . anything to worry about?

cheers

Term X
Term_X (560)
316069 2005-01-20 05:50:00 Well (Windows) Explorer is a browser so is quite capable of browsing files in other places than your PC and visa versa, unfortunately, and the difference between plain old E and IE is kinda blury.

I think there are legitimate reasons for Explorer to want to connect but can't think of any except perhaps ftp. UPnP (Unirversal Plug & Play) may want to connect using Explorer, disabale it in Control Panel > Computer Management > Services and see what happens (this ain't Plug & Play your nixing).

Surecom make network products don't, they?
Murray P (44)
316070 2005-01-20 06:47:00 The explorer.exe file is located in the c:\windows\System32 folder. In other cases, explorer.exe is a virus, spyware, trojan or worm Safari (3993)
316071 2005-01-20 07:29:00 Yes, except for browsing ftp sites (and that isn't very often, unless you instigate it, IE or whatever browser you're using can usually handle that fine) explorer has no real need to access the net as explorer.exe in most systems.

Sounds like good old dialer troubles to me. Time to break out the spybot, adaware etc. methinks. Surecom appears to be a legit networking product manufacturer, but that doesn't mean that what is happening on your comp has anything to do with said business. Better safe than sorry.
Catweazle (2535)
316072 2005-01-20 08:23:00 thanks guys for the help, my firewall says that the explorer exe that is trying to access the net is in the main windows folder (virus maybe) , not in the system 32 folder . . . hmmm so looks like that will be deleted, i also did instal Upnp as well so just wondering if thats a coincidence, so i think ill un install that as well .

as for the surecom thing, perhaps thats associated with the installation of the Upnp thing .

will see what happens when i delete the explorer . exe in windows .
Term_X (560)
316073 2005-01-20 08:29:00 um theres no explorer.exe in system 32, so should i still delete the explorer.exe in windows folder? Term_X (560)
316074 2005-01-20 08:38:00 DON'T delete explorer.exe in the Windows folder - it's meant to be there. Hover your mouse over it and see if it says that the description is 'Windows Explorer'. If so, don't remove it or else you're gonna be reinstalling :( wintertide (1306)
316075 2005-01-20 09:47:00 safari said "The explorer.exe file is located in the c:\windows\System32 folder. In other cases, explorer.exe is a virus, spyware, trojan or worm"

so i was just going by what he said, if explorer.exe isnt in system 32 then any other instances have to be a virus?
Term_X (560)
316076 2005-01-20 21:46:00 location MAY depend on OS (not sure of the location in NT/2k/XP)

if in doubt block it, run the usual antivirus and spyware progs.

the only problem of blocking it is if IE is installed in low memory mode in which it uses explorer instead of internet explorer.

block it and see what dosn't work.
tweak'e (69)
316077 2005-01-21 00:15:00 safari said "The explorer . exe file is located in the c:\windows\System32 folder . In other cases, explorer . exe is a virus, spyware, trojan or worm"

so i was just going by what he said, if explorer . exe isnt in system 32 then any other instances have to be a virus?
No, not necessarily . My explorer . exe is in the Windows folder, not in System32, I have Windows XP Home and my system is clean .

As for the firewall letting explorer . exe out, mine tries to go off to goodness knows where as well and my policy is to block it .

As for your other query, I would suggest giving your computer the works . Have a look at the forum's Spyware FAQ for advice on tools to use .
FoxyMX (5)
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