How to remove an vsmon error

The free file information forum can help you determine if vsmon.exe 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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Vsmon.exe file information

The process known as TrueVector Service

belongs to software ZoneAlarm or TrueVector Service or Integrity Agent or ZoneAlarm Firewall or TrueVector Internet Monitor or Integrity Flex or ZoneAlarm Security Suite or ZoneAlarm Pro

by Zone Labs (www.zonelabs.com) or Check Point Software Technologies LTD or Check Point Software Technologies (www.checkpoint.com) or Check Point (www.checkpoint.com).

Description: vsmon.exe is located in a subfolder of C:\Windows\System32 or sometimes in a subfolder of C:\Windows - usually C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ZoneLabs\. Known file sizes on Windows 7/XP are 75,768 bytes (26% of all occurrences), 1,693,448 bytes and 46 more variants.
The program has no visible window. File vsmon.exe is a Verisign signed file. The file has a digital signature. Vsmon.exe is not a Windows core file. You can uninstall this program in the control panel. vsmon.exe is able to monitor applications, hide itself and manipulate other programs. Therefore the technical security rating is 15% dangerous, however also read the users reviews.
You could uninstall the program using the Control Panel ⇒ Add/Remove programs ⇒ ZoneAlarm or Integrity Agent.

Recommended: Identify vsmon.exe related errors

If vsmon.exe is located in a subfolder of "C:\Program Files", the security rating is 9% dangerous. The file size is 2,420,616 bytes (33% of all occurrences), 2,413,936 bytes, 2,446,392 bytes, 2,421,640 bytes or 2,446,872 bytes. You can uninstall this program in the control panel. The program is not visible. It is a Verisign signed file. It is certified by a trustworthy company. File vsmon.exe is not a Windows core file. vsmon.exe is able to monitor applications and manipulate other programs.
You could uninstall the program using the Control Panel ⇒ Add/Remove programs ⇒ ZoneAlarm Firewall.

If vsmon.exe is located in the folder C:\Windows, the security rating is 32% dangerous. The file size is 2,318,336 bytes. The program has a visible window. There is no file information. Vsmon.exe is an unknown file in the Windows folder. It is not a Windows system file. vsmon.exe is able to record inputs, hide itself and monitor applications.

If vsmon.exe is located in the folder C:\Windows\System32, the security rating is 100% dangerous. The file size is 95,128 bytes.

External information from Paul Collins:
There are different files with the same name:

"TrueVector" must run at start up. Even if you don't have ZoneAlarm or ZoneAlarm Pro run at start-up you do need this
"Zone Alarm" definitely not required. Added by the RBOT.BO WORM! If this was the ZoneAlarm firewall the name column would be TrueVector

Important: Some malware camouflages itself as vsmon.exe, particularly when located in the c:\windows or c:\windows\system32 folder. Therefore, you should check the vsmon.exe 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

I would confirm with sevrin, same cpu usage on mine, especially when i play online
MAx

If you're using Zone Alarm, it's a core element. Start-up CPU use depends on the size and amount of ZA and system updates.
enrgy21com (further information)

VSMON, for me, tends to eat CPU when I use VUZE client, I'm not sure if that's to be expected or not. It also gets into a fail loop if I use the 'TOR Project' software. Otherwise it seems to play well with my machine
PeteH

vsmon.exe is causing serious problems with my computer. If I kill the process using control alt delete then sure vsmon comes back but it stops causing freeze-up's and other problems.
Sean O'Connor

Takes at least 33% of CPU. Need further investigation.
Sevrin

As of December 2011 this hogging of CPU is most certainly NOT fixed. I cannot watch streamed video, downloads which should take around 2 minutes are taking 45+. After 10 years using ZA I shall be looking for an alternative.
Geoff Burns

It's a buggy piece of crap that on the newest software update late Nov 2011 caused my system to crawl again like last time I decided zone alarm wasn't worth it. Time to find another firewall.
Jim H

Like thomas said there is a worm masquerading as this file, however, playing back huge video files such as 1080 dpi on a older machine can cause problems, since vsmon has to look at everything BEFORE its actually executed. Also another reason could be that you are already infected and vsmon is attempting to fight off this infection. I've had this problem for around 4 or 5 years... it usually goes away after about 10 minutes of allowing it to run. Post related to this problem on za site forum. http://forums.zonealarm.com/showthread.php?t=77067 Also the file should NEVER ask for outbound communication. The poster never said anything about inbound(non-server comm.) but if something asks to accept connections(which is TOTALLY different from just receiving info regular incoming data) coming from the internet. The safest thing to do is to block it and see if the Internet or application works normally without it. Also please don't rely on others to set your firewall setting for you. It may take a while to critique your firewall settings, but you can't be sure the millions of people who use this know anything about computer security. Obviously, from reading a lot of these postings... barely anyone knows anything. more info related to this worm below. However you should already be protected since the patch came out in 2004. ***one last note... blocking this from running will disable your Internet connection***
za_user_since_beta (further information)

More comments can be found here:
(further information)

Summary: Average user rating of vsmon.exe: based on 490 votes with 9 reviews.

244 users think vsmon.exe is essential for Windows or an installed application. 45 users think it's probably harmless. 86 users think it's neither essential nor dangerous. 51 users suspect danger. 64 users think vsmon.exe is dangerous and recommend removing it. 30 users doesn't grade vsmon.exe ("not sure about it").

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