How do I disable the FlashUtil10i_ActiveX.exe install/uninstall utility from automatically loading?

[Moltabocca]

I've noticed while I'm surfing the web the utility named FlashUtil10i_ActiveX.exe (Adobe® Flash® Player Installer/Uninstaller 10.1 r82) automatically loads in the background. It is the install/uninstall program, why is it loading?

If I want to update my Flash player I want to do so manually. After being the victim of many computer hacks I'm worried this may pose a security risk. I know, call my crazy but I would really like for this utility to only load when I need it to. I really don't want the "convenience" of the utility working in the background.

Any help will be appreciated.

Artemisia Moltabocca

[Joël_Sebastien]

I do not know the answer to your problem, but for the victim of many computer hacks, that I can help you with.

I would suggest that you should get Kaspersky (http://www.kaspersky.com/)

[Moltabocca]

Thank you for your concern Joel. I believe I now have good anti-virus, firewall, spyware and malware softwares running on my computer thanks to an IT internet security geek friend of mine.

But after that experience I'm very diligent to what is running in Task Manager, especially those programs that I did not expect nor need to run in the background. The Adobe flashutil10i_activex.exe install/uninstall utility is one of those programs.

I really need an option to disable it. I've tried going through my services.exe program but I can't seem to find the program associated with it to disable it. I'm getting ready to disable the registry entry to remove that program from running but I don't want to resort to that until all options have been exhausted.

[pwillener]

Can you give a little bit more background info - what Windows version and web browser are you running?

When does that utility start - when you start the browser, or when you go to a website with Flash content?  Does it stop when you exit the browser?

[Moltabocca]

IE8, Windows 7

The utility starts when I open a browser window. It does not close when I close the browser. I would appreciate it if you looked into your Task Manager (Cntrl-Alt-Del) and tell me if this utility is running on your computer. If it is then it could be the actual Flash program. If it is not, then there is no reason for it to run in the background on my computer and thus I'd like to disable it.

[Guest]

Hi, I've read your posts and a couple of other threads on the same topic. I also keep an eye on my task manager and have never seen this there. In fact, just prior to posting this, I brought a youtube video up and let it play and checked my task manager and this FlashUtil10i_ActiveX.exe was not running there.

I am not sure why it would be there but if I were you, regardless of what Anti-Virus you have I would Install Malwarebytes at www.malwarebytes.org. I would download and Install to the Desktop the Malwarebytes Free version. Update it, disable other AV you may have and run a full scan. The User Interface is very clean and easy to navigate.

There are other online Scanners you could run as well. What you are experiencing does just not sound right to me.

Just a suggestion, since if anything is on my computer that is not supposed to be there I would be concerned.

Thanks,

eidnolb

[Moltabocca]

I have Malwarebytes and it doesn't find anything wrong.

Thank you for pointing out that something doesn't seem right about the file.

I've taken the extreme step of renaming the file (just added a few letters after the file name) and now it doesn't run in the background.

I can still view Youtube videos without a problem.

[Guest]

Hi, thanks. Glad you are already using MBAM, great program and fast:-) Renaming it would be one way and doing that didn't interfere with viewing a youtube video tells me it wasn't needed anyway. So then in your Flash folder there is no longer a FlashUtil10i_ActiveX.exe?

The only thing I would add is that somehow, either when the Uninstaller for FP(Flash Player) was use or when the Installer was used a glitch occurred. I have on occasion, seen a file Installed where it did not belong and with no logical explanation.

As long as Flash Player is working properly for you I would let it go for now. You could always Uninstall and Install again if you wanted.

Speaking of glitches, I Installed FF(Firefox) the other evening and using the FF browser used the manual FP Installer to Install FP. I have XP/SP3 and have IE also. Lo and behold when I checked my Flash folder(sys32) my IE had also been updated!!! How that happened, I have no clue, LOL

Thanks,

eidnolb

[Moltabocca]

My Flash folder still has the file. I just renamed it by adding a few weird letters to the end of it. That way I can remove the extra letters later if I ever need the file back again.

I was attacked with a Poison Ivy virus. A firefox exe file kept trying to access my computer even though the browser was off. Anti-virus and other spyware tools didn't consider it a virus because the file was actually named the way it should be. The file turned out to be a keylogger. They would change my passwords and lock me out and goodness knows what else. I love Firefox but had to unstinall it because I didn't know which program was the actual program and which was the keylogger since they were named exactly the same. My only cue was that two firefox.exe programs were running at the same time. One was the real firefox, the other was the keylogger.

So now I'm very alert to what runs in the background. Just because it look likes a valid file doesn't mean it is.

[worldiscoveries]

with the firefox it's easy you could uninstall it but with chrome? ufff he runs every time you open a browser so I have 7-8 exe running in the same time ... and one of them I think it;s a virus... how you have discovered it? my av doesn;t tell me anything

[Guest]

Thanks for the add'l info.When I said that file was not needed, I should have said it was not needed to be in the task manager and running like it was. Since this new version of FP and that file is there it may be needed when a FP update is used. I'm not sure on that, just an opinion.

I don't know if you do this or not, but since you have MBAM, I right click on a file and scan it with MBAM. I wonder if that would have found that Firefox.exe keylogger. I would think that the AV during a scan would look at more than just the file name. I would think it would check the Registry and compare any false key. Of course any Virus or Spyware would be able to change that. I don't have FF on my laptop, just on my Desktop.

Firefox add ons are not all from Mozilla Firefox either. Since it is open source, many are third party, so users should be aware of that.

Monitoring the Task Manager would be the best way and I do a search if I see anything I don't understand.

Also, I would never Install Flash Player from any site other than Adobe, but that is just me:-)

Thanks,

eidnolb

[Jaynick77]

I'm having this issue as well. I get an error message that this process is taking up too much memory and I can't run certain flash programs and my computer is slow. I've run my McAfee scan, Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware, SUPERAnti-Spyware, and CCleaner and have found no viruses. But I keep seeing that FlashUtil10i_ActiveX.exe in my task manager. I'm not overly techy, so I have not seen anything that has helped so far or made sense to me.

I have Windows Vista and IE8. Please help

Jay

[Guest]

Hi Jay, As I have said above, I have never seen this in my task manager. There is no reason for it to be there. Did you read what I said that I ran a youtube video and while it was running I checked my Task Manager and that file was not running? Well it doesn't need to run.

You could click on Start, then Search. Enter part of that file and see if there is any other location for that file on your computer. The FlashUtil10i_ActiveX.exe should only be listed in your Flash folder and only once. When you right click on it, it should say "Uninstall or Install" if I'm remembering correctly.

If you find it anywhere else, right click and delete it. If you don't find it anywhere else, post back and I'll have another suggestion for you.

Let us know.

Thanks,

eidnolb

[Jaynick77]

I tried the Windows Search function and it did not return a match. I can go into the control panel and do a Program Removal on Adobe Flash 10 but then I'm without Flash Support and still cannot run anything that I typically use. If I try and download Flash 9 or something it doesn't seem to work. Not sure what to do.

[Guest]

Hi, thanks. Why don't you start a thread (when you come to the Flash forum) on the right is "Start a Discussion" That way I can get more system info from you and if we find the solution, you can post it back here. I would Uninstall Flash Player and Install it again. But I would use the standalone Uninstaller and Installer. Make sure any anti-virus was taken into consideration, etc so to make sure there is a clean Uninstall and a clean Install.

I just think this was some kind of a glitch, it is not normal for that file to be in Task Manager. If it was, we would be hearing it from everyone that has a thread here.

Thanks,

eidnolb

[Jaynick77]

Thanks, the new thread is started.

[Joël_Sebastien]

And also try this out:

http://www.elitehackers.info/forums/showthread.php?t=23268