ieuser.exe missing in C:Program Files\Internet Explorer - is my IE compromised?

petergreat

I'm using Windows Vista SP2 and IE 9. An anti-spyware program alerted me that ieuser.exe, a crucial IE component, is missing. I checked C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer, and indeed there were several .exe files but no ieuser.exe.
First question, is this file present in version 9 of IE?
Second question, does this suggest malware has tampered with my IE installation?

Greg Bernhardt

http://www.processlibrary.com/direct.../ieuser/75309/

Can you load IE9?

KrisOhn

If you download and reinstall IE you should be fine, but I suggest you don't. I suggest you move to Mozilla Firefox.

petergreat

I can open and run IE 9 just fine, but again in Windows Task Manager I don't see the process ieuser.exe. Unless this file is no longer present in the latest version of IE 9, I smell something suspicious.

Greg Bernhardt

Get a second opinion and load a different spyware program.

petergreat

Can anyone who have IE9 installed check whether the file ieuser.exe is one of the installed files? This would be really helpful!

rcgldr

If you do a web search for ieuser.exe, it's a process run before running IE (IE9?) that "sets security settings for medium level". I'm thinking it's more generic than that, since why would only medium security require a pre-process when the other security level in IE don't?

ieuser.exe is only going to be running for a very short period of time, so you're not going to see it in your list of processes with task manager unless you get real lucky while launching IE9.

I don't see any instance of ieuser.exe on my system, but I'm using IE8, not IE9. I have a triple boot system, XP 32 bit, XP 64 bit, and Win7 64 bit, so it must be related to IE9, not the OS.