Pop Quiz: What is “spoolsv.exe”?

February 21, 2008 in Computer Resources, Free Computer Support
Tags: .dll, .exe, .scr, computer, computer help, malware, process, spyware, task manager, trojan, virus, worm

“spoolsv.exe” is:

a) a preservative found in Pop Tarts.

b) a medical term for a newly discovered STD.

c) “exe.vsloops” spelled backward.

d) a computer process that spools print jobs to the printer spooler.

e) c and d

Something tells me that many of you actually knew the answer before you even saw the multiple choices. That impresses and scares me at the same time.

The answer – obviously – is “e”.

If you’ve ever stared at the long list of processes on the Windows Task Manager and wondered what they all were, then…you probably have too much free time. Or perhaps you were hoping to figure out why your computer was so sluggish. In either case, it would have been nice to know where to find clear and concise explanations for all those .exe processes.

Here are a few sites that can help:

exeLibrary   WhatIsThatFile.com   ProcessLibrary.com

VirusTotal.com offers an additional free service; upload your suspicious file to have it analyzed and identified.

And, of course, there’s always Google, Yahoo, etc. Just do a search for the name of the file in question.