Is spoolsv.exe a Virus?
Category: Anti-Virus
When I boot up, my ZoneAlarm firewall says that "Spooler SubSystem App is trying to access the internet via spoolsv.exe". I know that spoolsv.exe is the print queue manager in Windows. What I don't understand is why it would need to access the internet.
A google search reveals that several viruses exist with that name. My anti-virus program does not detect anything nor did the Trend Micro or Panda online virus detectors. Am I infected with a virus? If so, how do I detect and eliminate it?
It's possible this is a virus or spyware, but my searching found that LOTS of people have this problem with ZoneAlarm, and that in most cases, it's harmless. Apparently the real spoolsv.exe program handles networked printers and occasionally needs to communicate with a remote printer, or check to see if there any networked printers.
I'd run the Microsoft Anti-Spyware program to see if picks up anything on this file, just to be sure. If it seems to check out okay, tell ZoneAlarm to deny internet access by spoolsv. If you then experience any problems printing, tell ZoneAlarm to allow the access.