Harriett wrote:
I never had that ctfmon.exe file on there  till I upgraded to
Explorer 7.>>


If you don't have MsOffice, that file should not be present.  It is an MS 
Office file.

But it also a known trojan masquerading under the same name:

"Note: ctfmon.exe could also be a process which is registered as a trojan. 
This Trojan allows attackers to access your computer from remote locations, 
stealing passwords, Internet banking and personal data. This process is a 
security risk and should be removed from your system"" (Uniblue Process 
Library)

More info here:

http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/process/ctfmon.exe.html

This problem can appear out of the blue with IE7---apparently Ms have 
assumed that everyone has Office. This is what's happened in your case. 
It's one of the problems that can occur with updates of any sort. IE7 is 
tightly integrated with the operating system and IE updates have always 
been notorious for doing a lot more than just being browser updates.

Instructions for disabling this file are here (scroll down through the 
comments):
http://ask-leo.com/ctfmonexe.html

Apparently it is tied in to the language bar in IE7 and is enabled by 
default.  It is stated to be a heavy memory hog, so it's best to eliminate 
it before it stuffs your system. It is a text monitor and not needed.

My guess is that, if it is indeed the genuine article, it reactivates every 
time you run your browser but does not unload when you close your browser.

Don Penlington

        The NOSPIN Group has added a new feature on our website,
           web based bulletinboard for questions and answers:
              Visit our sister website at http://nospin.com