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

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The discussion revolves around the absence of the ieuser.exe file in Internet Explorer 9 on a Windows Vista SP2 system. Users are questioning whether this file is a standard component of IE 9 and if its absence indicates potential malware interference with the installation. One participant confirms that they can run IE 9 without issues but does not see ieuser.exe in the Task Manager, raising suspicions about its absence. Suggestions include checking with another anti-spyware program for a second opinion and considering a switch to Mozilla Firefox. It is noted that ieuser.exe is a transient process that may not always appear in Task Manager, as it runs briefly to set security settings. Another user mentions that they do not see ieuser.exe on their system while using IE 8, suggesting that the file's presence may be specific to IE 9.
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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?
 
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petergreat said:
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 version9 of IE?
Second question, does this suggest malware has tampered with my IE installation?

http://www.processlibrary.com/directory/files/ieuser/75309/

Can you load IE9?
 
If you download and reinstall IE you should be fine, but I suggest you don't. I suggest you move to Mozilla Firefox.
 
Greg Bernhardt said:

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.
 
petergreat said:
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.

Get a second opinion and load a different spyware program.
 
Can anyone who have IE9 installed check whether the file ieuser.exe is one of the installed files? This would be really helpful!
 
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.
 
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