jucheck.exe constantly popping up on my new computer -- what to do?

[prberk]

I just started up my brand new Windows 7 Dell computer yesterday, and already it has a box coming up constantly asking for permission for "jucheck.exe" to do something, and it says that its location is in the Windows Sys32 file. According to the limited internet research that I did (Google), this type of file should be located in another location and is normally associated with Java, but could also be malware.

I also know that the PC also had one message about a missing file (but that has not repeated after re-starts -- which the jucheck.exe item did).

So I downloaded a "Registry Booster" (http://www.liutilities.com/products/campaigns/affiliate/cb/offer/fileneuber/rb/2/ ) and ran an initial scan, and it "found" something like 247 missing or problematic files in the registry. That program let me "fix" up to 15 of those for free, but would have required purchasing it for the others.

So, I did that but then just kind of stopped, since my PC was still new and basically had nothing else (other than Office) installed yet.

I just wonder what I should do about the jucheck.exe file and wants to continually pop up.

So, I thought I would take a while and let my WDW Magic friends, especially the geeks among us, weigh in... What do you all think about this?

Paul

 

[Master Yoda]

Pull up windows explorer and search for jucheck.exe. If it appears anywhere other than in the following directory, C:\Windows\System32, then it is more than likely malware.

Online scans form programs claiming to fix registry errors are highly dubious at best. Most of them do next to nothing aside from taking $40 out of your checking account.

If you have a reputable and up to date antivirus program (Windows security essentials is a good free one) run a full scan and it might fix the issue if it is indeed malware.

If it is a new PC and you have your system disks I would highly recommend formating and reinstalling a clean version of Windows 7. The majority of PC come loaded with a ton of crapware and the only way to get rid of all of it is to format and do a clean install.

 

[prberk]

Pull up windows explorer and search for jucheck.exe. If it appears anywhere other than in the following directory, C:\Windows\System32, then it is more than likely malware.

Online scans form programs claiming to fix registry errors are highly dubious at best. Most of them do next to nothing aside from taking $40 out of your checking account.

If you have a reputable and up to date antivirus program (Windows security essentials is a good free one) run a full scan and it might fix the issue if it is indeed malware.

If it is a new PC and you have your system disks I would highly recommend formating and reinstalling a clean version of Windows 7. The majority of PC come loaded with a ton of crapware and the only way to get rid of all of it is to format and do a clean install.

Thanks, but the only thing I question is whether the System32 directory is good as its location. (The internet sites that I searched said the opposite -- that it should be in another directory; that if it is in the System32 directory it is most likely malware.) Are you sure about that?

See http://www.file.net/process/jucheck.exe.html

Thanks again,

Paul

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Get one of these and just twat it

If you're insured that is.........

 

[Master Yoda]

Thanks, but the only thing I question is whether the System32 directory is good as its location. (The internet sites that I searched said the opposite -- that it should be in another directory; that if it is in the System32 directory it is most likely malware.) Are you sure about that?

See http://www.file.net/process/jucheck.exe.html

Thanks again,

Paul

Sorry I mixed up my wording...If it is there then it is malware. Regardless of that I would still look at doing a reformat and reinstall. Whenever I buy a new PC it is the first thing I do. PC manufacturers get paid a fair bit of cash by preinstalling all of this trial software and it can have a really bad effect on a PC's performance.

 

[prberk]

Sorry I mixed up my wording...If it is there then it is malware. Regardless of that I would still look at doing a reformat and reinstall. Whenever I buy a new PC it is the first thing I do. PC manufacturers get paid a fair bit of cash by preinstalling all of this trial software and it can have a really bad effect on a PC's performance.

I didn't come with restore discs. (It said it was online, except for MS Works and some drivers, which came with discs from Dell.) But I made some from the Dell services (not sure the name) program that came on the computer, when it was suggested, as part of set-up.

But that would probably mean that the malware would have been copied onto the restore discs if it already existed on my PC at startup, right?

Do you think I should call Dell and just ask them how to get a clean copy?

And, as for the whole concept of formating and re-installing, if I re-format the C drive, how would I get the computer to re-start, for re-installing Windows 7? Sorry for the stupid question, but I have never done that before.

Paul

 

[wdwmagic]

That file is the Sun Java update checker. It is perfectly normal and does not need to be removed.

Dont install any of those registry cleaners etc on WIndwos 7 - not needed.

 

[wdwmagic]

PS. if you want to get rid of the box popping up asking for permission, uninstall Sun Java. Very few websites actually use it anymore, and if it is required, you can always reinstall it when prompted.

 

[Master Yoda]

I didn't come with restore discs. (It said it was online, except for MS Works and some drivers, which came with discs from Dell.) But I made some from the Dell services (not sure the name) program that came on the computer, when it was suggested, as part of set-up.

But that would probably mean that the malware would have been copied onto the restore discs if it already existed on my PC at startup, right?

Do you think I should call Dell and just ask them how to get a clean copy?

And, as for the whole concept of formating and re-installing, if I re-format the C drive, how would I get the computer to re-start, for re-installing Windows 7? Sorry for the stupid question, but I have never done that before.

Paul

It is hard to say where it came form if it is in fact even malware at all. Like Steve pointed out the actual file in question is for Sun Java but there are malware programs that use the same file name. Uninstall Sun Java and see if that clears it up.

If you have never done a reformat and reinstall before it is not something I would attempt unless you have someone local that can help you. While it is easy to do it is also easy to mess up. Restore disks from manufactures like Dell are typically not clean copies.

 

[Monty]

If the computer didn't come with discs, you may have a restore partition on it instead. When it boots, you would see a restore option in text before Windows starts up and it would indicate what key to hit to initiate a repair or full rewrite of the operating system.

My son's netbook was set up that way.

 

[prberk]

If the computer didn't come with discs, you may have a restore partition on it instead. When it boots, you would see a restore option in text before Windows starts up and it would indicate what key to hit to initiate a repair or full rewrite of the operating system.

My son's netbook was set up that way.

It does have a restore partition in it. I noticed talk about that during setup. Hadn't heard of it before, but I noticed it.

Thanks everyone.

I am at work now, I will check back tonight when I get home and see what happens. I really appreciate everyone's advice. (And you can add more if you think of anything in the meantime.)

I will probably uninstall Java first and see if that file is still there. (Then maybe go for the restore partition if I am brave.) But before I do that, perhaps you can tell me if it would be stupid just to delete that single file directly from the C:\Windows\System32 directory. I am thinking that just doing it that way would cause some sort of "missing file" error. I remember that this was one of three Java ("ju----") named files (with the Java icon) listed next to each other within that directory when I looked. But the others are not popping up with messages.

Paul

 

[Lee]

While we are on the subject of malware....
I have some sort of bug that is redirecting all my Google search results.

I've run every program known to man to get rid of it....to no avail.

I'm gonna post on one of those computer help sites, I guess. They'll have me run scans and post logs....a long and painful ordeal.

Nasty little booger.

 

[artvandelay]

While we are on the subject of malware....
I have some sort of bug that is redirecting all my Google search results.

I've run every program known to man to get rid of it....to no avail.

I'm gonna post on one of those computer help sites, I guess. They'll have me run scans and post logs....a long and painful ordeal.

Nasty little booger.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware helped whne I had a similar virus, and it's free.

 

[unkadug]

While we are on the subject of malware....
I have some sort of bug that is redirecting all my Google search results.

I've run every program known to man to get rid of it....to no avail.

I'm gonna post on one of those computer help sites, I guess. They'll have me run scans and post logs....a long and painful ordeal.

Nasty little booger.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware helped whne I had a similar virus, and it's free.

Excellent advice art.

Give it a try Lee before you resort to the scans and logs.

 

[Lee]

Oh, I've run Malwarebytes several times. It always finds something, and asks for a reboot to remove it.
Afterwards....the problem still exists.
Same for Adaware, Super Anti-Spyware and Combofix.:shrug:

We're talking one seriously tenacious little bug here.

 

[Uponastar]

While we are on the subject of malware....
I have some sort of bug that is redirecting all my Google search results.

I've run every program known to man to get rid of it....to no avail.

I'm gonna post on one of those computer help sites, I guess. They'll have me run scans and post logs....a long and painful ordeal.

Nasty little booger.

I had that problem, too. Really nasty. Nothing helped. I was using McAfee at the time, and I tried everything mentioned here, to no avail. After reformatting for the third time, I switched to Norton and the problem was gone. That was a couple of months ago, and things have been running very smoothly ever since. I know everyone has their favorite security programs, but Norton fixed this one for me quickly and efficiently.

 

[prberk]

Good luck with that Lee. Wish I could help.

Just want everyone to know I actually was so busy last night that I could not get to working on my computer. I will try tonight and let you all know what happened.

Thanks again for all of the help.

Paul

 

[Master Yoda]

Oh, I've run Malwarebytes several times. It always finds something, and asks for a reboot to remove it.
Afterwards....the problem still exists.
Same for Adaware, Super Anti-Spyware and Combofix.:shrug:

We're talking one seriously tenacious little bug here.

I have run into similar pests. There is a file somewhere that just keeps spawning new bugs. The only way I was able to git rid of it was to format and do an OS reinstall.

 

[Evil Genius]

We've really had good luck with PC-Cillin from Trend Micro until a week or so ago when we were hit with a nasty little bit of malware. It wasn't caught and it was slowly shutting down everything on our PC. I was lucky enough to get into the registry and find and disable it. Then did a system restore back a little over a week and that cleared it up.

When I called Trend Micro to find out why it didn't catch it they did a quick check on the version we were using and stated "Oh we stopped supporting that about six months ago."...WHAAA???

So after I flipped my lid for about five minutes they offered to upgrade us to their newest version free of charge and things have been great ever since.

I just don't know why when a company has your email information that couldn't inform its subscribers that they needed to upgrade rather than wait for irrate phone calls...just bad customer service.

 

[theadmiral459]

Hitman 3.5 has help me get rid of some pretty nasty virus and malware