Vista - iexplore running as process

I noticed in my task manger that Internet Explorer is running as a process.
though I try to end it., it reappears again in the process list.. this gives
me problems while installing some software. I thought it might be a spyware
or virus but I scanned the system and found none and the iexplore running is
in the default program files directory. can anyone tell me why this happens
or suggest a solution to close the process permanently so that it doesn't
reappear. I don't want to uninstall internet explorer.

thanks in advance

Regards
Rajkiran

"Rick Rogers" <rick@xxxxxx> wrote:Another approach for the OP would be to see what's behind the "iexplore"
process (with the caveat you noted about the ability of some infections to
hide themselves).

From a command prompt (privilege elevation not required), issue the
following command (uppercase used for clarity; the command is
case-insensitive):

WMIC PROCESS WHERE (CAPTION="IEXPLORE.EXE") GET COMMANDLINE /VALUE

Where I've shown "IEXPLORE.EXE" above, use the exact text shown in the Task
Manager, enclosed in quotes. The response *should* be:

CommandLine="C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"

(with the quotes as shown). Further, at least on my system there are two
binary-identical files named IEXPLORE.EXE, one in C:\Program Files\Internet
Explorer" and the other in "C:\Windows\System32". A copy of Internet
Explorer from any other directory should be treated with great suspicion,
although the converse is not true: it's possible that the legitimate copies
of IEXPLORE.EXE in the "correct" folders have been replaced with infected
files.

Joe Morris