Anyone know what aspnet_wp is?

[David Kirby]

I was recently adding a new user account on my WinXP pro
machine and noticed a user account that I did not set up.
The account name was 'aspnet_wp' with limited rights but
I did not knowingly set up this account. I immediately
deleted this account (It was a reflex action and I am not
sure that was the right thing to do). I do not know what
this 'aspnet_wp' is or how it got there. I have done some
searching on the Internet (Google and Semantic)
for 'aspnet_wp' with little results, but it does appear
to be a legitimate program. My concern is that my
security may have been compromised and that this account
was added with malicious intent. I also am guessing that
it could have been added harmlessly. I don't know what to
do at this point. Disconnect from the Internet, reformat
the hard drive, change all my passwords or just not worry
about it?!?!

Additional setup information:
Norton System Utilities 2003 - virus definitions are up-
to-date and scan reveals no infection(s). Security scan
from Semantec indicates a safe operating environment.
WinXP pro - Fully updated, firewall enabled and .NET 1.1
installed

Thank you in advance for any advice or comments.

Confused and worried,
David

[Mark Salloway]

Hi David,
aspnet_ws is a user for the asp.net worker process used by IIS, this was
created when you installed the .Net framework to support ASP.net on your
webserver.

So no need to worry about it being there.

--
Mark Salloway
Microsoft Windows MVP
Associate Expert

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
http://www.mvps.org/marksxp



"David Kirby" > wrote in message
...
> I was recently adding a new user account on my WinXP pro
> machine and noticed a user account that I did not set up.
> The account name was 'aspnet_wp' with limited rights but
> I did not knowingly set up this account. I immediately
> deleted this account (It was a reflex action and I am not
> sure that was the right thing to do). I do not know what
> this 'aspnet_wp' is or how it got there. I have done some
> searching on the Internet (Google and Semantic)
> for 'aspnet_wp' with little results, but it does appear
> to be a legitimate program. My concern is that my
> security may have been compromised and that this account
> was added with malicious intent. I also am guessing that
> it could have been added harmlessly. I don't know what to
> do at this point. Disconnect from the Internet, reformat
> the hard drive, change all my passwords or just not worry
> about it?!?!
>
> Additional setup information:
> Norton System Utilities 2003 - virus definitions are up-
> to-date and scan reveals no infection(s). Security scan
> from Semantec indicates a safe operating environment.
> WinXP pro - Fully updated, firewall enabled and .NET 1.1
> installed
>
> Thank you in advance for any advice or comments.
>
> Confused and worried,
> David