I'm running Windows XP Home Edition on a Dell Inspiron laptop.

WinPatrol has discovered a startup program that is not in the Startup Programs Database. The file is located at:
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\AWLSAT.EXE

The file is 184 KB. Does anyone know what it's for?



John of Wales

Submit the file to http://www.virustotal.com to scan it for viruses. Let us know the results please.

The AWLSTA.exe file seems to be sourced from BENQ.

As suggested, I submitted the file for checking and the file was given a clean bill of health. The following additional information was provided:

File size: 188416 bytes
MD5: 6ad5eb36be4c1a3972849fd0e8e8f1f6
SHA1: db4aca3788882139918ae891c9279e409b5825e4

Hmm..right click on the entry and copy and paste it as a reply into this topic.

I think I've solved the problem.

Two years ago I used a BenQ plug-in wireless adaptor with my laptop, and installed the associated software and driver. I've since replaced the adaptor with one made by D-Link.
I uninstalled the BenQ software before installing the D-Link device, but not all its files seem to have been removed.
In the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ folder I've found the following files, all attributed to BenQ:

AWLCFG.cpl - Control Panel Applet
AWLIOC.dll - AWL Driver Interface Library
AWLRES.dll - AWL Resources
AWLSTA.exe - AWL Status Tray Applet

I don't have any other BenQ devices, so I'm assuming all these files can safely be removed, together with the reference in the Startup.

Many thanks for your help.

John of Wales