What is the "alg.exe" ?

Our database contains 1385 different files for filename alg.exe . You can also check most distributed file variants with name alg.exe. This files most often belongs to product Microsoft® Windows® Operating System. and were most often developed by company Microsoft Corporation. This files most often have description Application Layer Gateway Service. Agregate rating is 5(5) stars - based on 23 reviews.This is executable file. You can find it running in Task Manager as the process alg.exe.

The name of the file is very short and thus very generic one, but in most cases this executable should be the Application Layer Gateway Service from Microsoft Corporation :

"This subcomponent of the Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) / Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) service provides support for independent software vendors (ISVs) to write protocol plug-ins that allow their proprietary network protocols to pass through the firewall and work behind ICS."

More info can be found on http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc783418(WS.10).aspx

File details of most used file with name "alg.exe"

Product:: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
Company:: Microsoft Corporation
Description:: Application Layer Gateway Service
Version:: 5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-0852)
MD5:: 8c515081584a38aa007909cd02020b3d
SHA1:: ef5728c819f466bfe56c36bc9db3fac004ef3d50
SHA256:: a5e13ca10f702928e0de84c74d0ea8accb117fd76fbabc55220c75c4ffd596dc
Size:: 44544
Directory:: C:\Windows\System32
Operating System:: Windows XP
Occurence:: High

Is the Process "alg.exe" Safe or Threat ?

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95% of reviewed files are marked as Safe .
5% of reviewed files are marked as Threat .
32% of reviewed files are marked as System file.

Latest new variant of the file with name "alg.exe" was discovered 4025 days ago. Our database contains 108 variants of the file "alg.exe" with final rating Safe and 13 variants with final rating Threat . Final ratings are based on file reviews, discovered date, users occurence and antivirus scan results.

Process with filename "alg.exe" can be Safe or Threat. You must define more file attributes to determine right rating. Our freeware awards winning tool provides easiest way to check your files via our database. Tool contains many useful functions for keep your system under control and uses minimum system resources.
Click Here to Download System Explorer for Free.

Filename "alg.exe" is used by Microsoft Windows System files. Many threats uses filenames of System Processes to camouflage itself. You should consider suspected any file which uses system filename and is not stored in system directory or has invalid file version information. Correct system file contains full file version information from Microsoft.

User Reviews of the "alg.exe"

There are multiple files in compliance with actual filter settings. All reviews for this files will be displayed.

Reviews for all files with name "alg.exe"

SAFErating from user MikeOne for file C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe (Variant: 21755076)
This executable is the Application Layer Gateway Service from Microsoft Corporation :
"This subcomponent of the Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) / Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) service provides support for independent software vendors (ISVs) to write protocol plug-ins that allow their proprietary network protocols to pass through the firewall and work behind ICS."
More info can be found on http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc783418(WS.10).aspx
SAFErating from user SD-564L for file C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe
SAFErating from user Tony L. Requena for file C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe
SAFErating from user MikeOne for file C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe (Variant: 1212)
Application Layer Gateway Service from Microsoft Corporation, safe. "This subcomponent of the Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) / Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) service provides support for independent software vendors (ISVs) to write protocol plug-ins that allow their proprietary network protocols to pass through the firewall and work behind ICS." More info on http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc783418(WS.10).aspx
SAFErating from user Admin for file C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe
THREATrating from user hiro for file %COMMONFILES%\alg.exe (Variant: 51519)
Malware : Trojan-Dropper.Agent virus
SAFErating from user SadasPoeta for file C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe
SAFErating from user MikeOne for file C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe (Variant: 675)
Application Layer Gateway Service from Microsoft Corporation
SAFErating from user Waldo for file C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe (Variant: 9769)
yes it's safe but it's easly infectet, so protect your computer well.
SAFErating from user MikeOne for file C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe (Variant: 165)
In this MD5 version the file is safe, was not marked as a threat or virus-containing application by any antivirus software. Check the MD5 hash, there can be more versions of this file. For more info about the file watch the TheDutchJewel's review or directly http://www.tech-faq.com/alg.shtml
SAFErating from user MikeOne for file C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe (Variant: 58208)
In this MD5 version the file is safe, was not marked as a threat or virus-containing application by any antivirus software. Check the MD5 hash, there can be more versions of this file. For more info about the file watch the TheDutchJewel's review or directly http://www.tech-faq.com/alg.shtml
THREATrating from user MikeOne for file %COMMONFILES%\alg.exe (Variant: 51519)
In this MD5 version, this file was marked by most antiviruses as Trojan/Agent virus. Remove it from Your computer. Scan is recommended. Check the MD5 hash and file location, there can more files with this name.
SAFErating from user Admin for file C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe (Variant: 612)
alg.exe is part of operating system. It is required for third party firewalls or Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) to connect to the internet.
SAFErating from user TheDutchJewel for file C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe (Variant: 143)
Alg.exe represents the Application Layer Gateway Service and it is a component of Microsoft Windows operating system. It is an essential process and it's required for the Internet Connection Sharing and the Windows Internet Connection Firewall. Upon execution, alg.exe calls a number of DLLs and processes for initialization of the Internet Connection Firewall and the Microsoft Windows Internet Connection. Alg.exe is essential for secure and stable running of computer and so, it should not be terminated. Alg.exe allows an individual to use third-party protocol plugins on the system. So, if you use a third-party firewall then you should not remove this process. Also, if you use Internet Connection Sharing or Windows Firewall then you should not remove this process as removing it causes you to lose the network connectivity until the next system reboot. In addition to this, other network-related software also need alg.exe for their proper functioning. Only one copy of alg.exe is available in memory at any given time and if you see more than one copy of alg.exe then you're most likely to have a spyware or a virus on your system. You can use the Task Manager to check how many copies of alg.exe are available in memory. Also, another important point regarding alg.exe is that 'Local Service' usually appears as the user name for it and if there's an instance of alg.exe with a different user name then it could be a malware. Source: http://www.tech-faq.com/alg.shtml