How to remove an AcroIEHelper error

The free file information forum can help you determine if AcroIEHelper.ocx is a virus, trojan, spyware, or adware that you can remove, or a file belonging to a Windows system or an application you can trust.

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AcroIEHelper.ocx file information

The process known as AcroIEHelper Module

belongs to software Adobe Acrobat (version 4.0,) or AcroIEHelper Module or Acrobat Reader (version 5) or Adobe Creative Suite (version 2) or Acoustica Effects Pack or Able2Extract Professional or Sonic.net Accelerator or Adobe Photoshop

by Adobe Systems (www.adobe.com) or Adobe (www.adobe.com).

Description: AcroIEHelper.ocx is located in a subfolder of "C:\Program Files" or sometimes in the folder C:\Windows\System32 - mainly C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 5.0\Reader\ActiveX\. The file size on Windows 7/XP is 37,808 bytes.
This .dll file is a Browser Helper Object (BHO) that runs automatically every time you start your Internet browser. BHOs are not stopped by personal firewalls, because they are identified by the firewall as your browser itself. BHOs are often used by adware and spyware. The unique ID of this BHO is 06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3. The program has no visible window. It is able to monitor Internet browser. The service has no detailed description. It is not a Windows system file. File AcroIEHelper.ocx is a Verisign signed file. It is certified by a trustworthy company. The program can be uninstalled in the Control Panel. AcroIEHelper.ocx seems to be a compressed file. Therefore the technical security rating is 39% dangerous, however also read the users reviews.
In case of problems with AcroIEHelper.ocx, you can also uninstall the software Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat 4.0, using the "Add or Remove Programs" function of Windows Control Panel (Windows: Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs), use the software provider’s support or search for an update on the vendor’s website.

External information from Tony Klein:

This legitimate BHO (AcroIEhelper.ocx, AcroIEhelper.dll) is related to Adobe Acrobat reader

Important: Some malware camouflages itself as AcroIEHelper.ocx, particularly when located in the c:\windows or c:\windows\system32 folder. Therefore, you should check the AcroIEHelper.ocx process on your PC to see if it is a threat. We recommend Security Task Manager for verifying your computer's security. This was one of the Top Download Picks of The Washington Post and PC World.

Score

User Comments

Adobe Acrobat Reader plugin. Don't like it that much. Use FoxIt Reader myself. So meh.
Kisara

Running XP. Disabled this BHO and pdf's will no longer read on IE.

File is initiated at Start-Up and facilitates opening of web based PDF documents; however seems a waste of resources to keep this continually running.
Detourdave

Compromises IE after viewing PDf document having to shut down IE consistanly
Carlo Pena II

Adobe should have an auto-load ON/OFF option. At the min. it wastes resources when not used.
vvirmani

Quite Dangerous - part of Acrobat Reader (and only reader, with browser plugin enabled) 5 & 6. Spys on URLs entered (browser habbits) and one time i found log files in random places (with same content) called acroiehelper.log Opened and found copys of web history, usernames and passwords, credit card numbers, acrobat run count info and more that is private. A version of this is in the version 7 of Reader, but is harmless as long as you disable the "Show file in IE window" and "Browser Plug-in" settings. Files clicked open in acrobat instead of IE.

Highly suspetious, yet to research: As OCX files are COM objects which contain plenty of liberary of codes. I am not convinced with amount of time it takes to load Acrobat Reader. Because if it was jusk to read to pdf files into explorer, it could have been done in just few functions - in other words it should be pritty fast to load. As per me, 90% (9 out of 10) companies are using embeded functions inside the COM objects (DLL, OCX, etc) to feed back user info - that is for spyware purpose. Let me research with it & will post my full story.... thanks.
webfly

just an explorer plugin, can be avoided when installing Acrobat Reader
ByteMe

More comments can be found here:
(further information)

Summary: Average user rating of AcroIEHelper.ocx: based on 28 votes with 9 reviews.

11 users think AcroIEHelper.ocx is essential for Windows or an installed application. 6 users think it's probably harmless. 7 users think it's neither essential nor dangerous. 4 users suspect danger. 5 users doesn't grade AcroIEHelper.ocx ("not sure about it").

AcroIEHelper scanner

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