aolload.exe

Discussion in 'malware problems & news' started by Makav3l1, Apr 16, 2008.

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  1. Makav3l1

    Makav3l1 Registered Member

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    I am having issues where aolload.exe keeps trying to access memory of comodo firewall pro. I looked the process up and it installed itself along with instant messeger. I couldn't find out exactly what it does? How can I get rid of it if not needed? Should I allow it memory access? Any help would be appreciated.
     
  2. thanatos_theos

    thanatos_theos Registered Member

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    Hi Makav3l1. aolload.exe is part of AIM/AOL. It seems that it only runs when you're using AIM. I don't know if disabling it will result to something bad but if you want to, see this.

    thanatos
     
    Last edited: Apr 17, 2008
  3. KDNeese

    KDNeese Registered Member

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    I've watched the behavior of this exe file, and I believe it's the automatic updater for AIM 6+. Most of the time I use the AIM 5.9 version, and the exe doesn't seem to run with that version, although in watching my network traffic I have seen aolload.exe pop up communicating even when I'm not running any AIM program. Also, I know that AOL has a habit of collecting information, so my suspicions are that it also transmits that info to them - sites you've visited, cookie information etc. Personally, I don't want any updates performed behind my back that I haven't authorized, so it is blocked by my firewall. Also, any program that attempts to piggyback on the back of another program is always suspect as far as I'm concerced. I haven't disabled the program but I block it from internet access with my firewall rules and also don't allow it to inject itself into any other process. I have suffered no drawbacks whatsoever from doing that, so I would say that your software will run just fine without it, and any software updates you need, you can do manually or, do what I do, just download the newest version. My experience is that the 6+ versions of AIM are buggy anyway, so I don't update... I just stick to my good ol' 5.9 version.
     
  4. Makav3l1

    Makav3l1 Registered Member

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    I just decided to say screw aol software and uninstalled everything. Went through all the hidden folders and deleted anything aol in all my partitions. I did a registry clean with Eusing and CCleaner to get rid of as much as I could. I am just going to use pidgin from now on. Any other things I should do to make sure I get all the aol crap off my computer?
     
  5. KDNeese

    KDNeese Registered Member

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    If you've deleted the AOL programs, file folders and have cleaned the AOL garbage from the registry, you should be in good shape. Even if there were some traces of that stuff here and there, there's not anything it could do anyway once you uninstall the programs and make sure all of the executibles are deleted. One more thing you might want to do is to look through all of your drivers and make sure there's no bits and pieces still in there. Even after uninstalling and reg cleaning there could be a few stragglers. It's not really necessary but why have drivers in there you don't need? But from what you're describing it appears that you're in good shape.
     
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