HPservice.exe

[murrayotl]

Hello,

There is some question on this file HPservice.exe. Some sites claim the exe shouldn't be there and its a virus. I just received a new Envy 17t n100 CTO laptop with preinstalled Win 10. I only started loading software up. System Mechanic  flagged it as dangerous and wants to remove it.

If it is a legit file HP should talk with SM and have it whitelisted to stop warnings.

Any Help will be Appreciated.

Thanks, John

[DavidPK · Accepted solution]

Hi John,

I think you'll find the file is legitimate and related to the HDD protection software ( HP 3D DriveGuard ), but you can check this as follows.

Right click an empty area of the Taskbar and select Task Manager.

If not already selected, click on More details near the bottom left.

With the Processes tab selected, click on the 'Name' column header to arrange the process alphabetically.

Right click on the entry for HpService and select Open file location.

This should open the System32 folder with the entry hpservice already highlighted.

Right click this and select Properties.  Select the Details tab and you should see the Product name listed as 'Mobile Data Protection System' - there should also be a tab for the Digital Signatures.  If this is the case, the process belongs to HP 3D DriveGuard and is a legitimate file.

Regards,

DP-K

[murrayotl]

Hi DavidPK,

Thank You for answering my question. When I did a search after System Mechanic Pro flagged as Dangerous,  Some had as a virus and to remove it because of the .exe on the end. Their claims were if should be just HPservice. Why SM would classify it as dangerous needs to be resolved between HP and them. Everytime I run SM it is going to flag it.

Rogue Killer didn't find it as suspicious and McAfee didn't either.

Thanks Again,

    John

[DavidPK]

Hi John,

You're welcome

It is getting harder these days to know which files are legitimate and which aren't - generally speaking, doing a web search of the file in question will often lead to conflicting answers.  This is additionally complicated by the fact that Windows hides the extension ( .exe, .dll etc ) for known file types by default.

Generally, for this type of false positive, the manufacturer of the software will update its detection database - in the meantime, there should be an option in the software to simply exclude HpService from the scan, so you don't get this flagged every time.

All the best,

DP-K