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[JeloRoc]

I'm trying to clean up my running processes in the WIndows Task Manager. Looking up 'adaware.exe' on Google brings up several websites that claim it's "most likely to be a virus or trojan" and that it's "a variant of the RapidBlaster parasite". These sites recommend disabling and removing adaware.exe immediately. Is this true, or is this some kind of trick to get me to download their software?

Some notes:

• On my task manager it's actually 'AdAware.exe' (capitalized - I don't know if that makes a difference.)
• I've noticed on Lavasoft pages and some other sites it's 'ad-aware.exe' (hyphenated). Is this a different process?

Secondary question: Any suggestions for good websites that list processes with explanations?

Thanks.

[CeciliaB]

Hi JeloRoc,

A malicious program can use any file name, it is impossible to say if a file is good or bad by only googling the file name. You can, for example, also check the folder of the file or even upload the file to http://www.virustotal.com/ 5 years ago it was very common that malicious files got the same names as common good files. Nowadays random file names are more popular instead.

For Windows capitalization doesn't matter, abcd.exe is the same as AbCd.exe.

If I remember correct, 'AdAware.exe' is used by Ad-Aware version 10, while 'ad-aware.exe' is used by version 9 and older versions.