Windows Task Manager Processes

Sorry, we can't really answer questions about this as we are almost as much in the dark as you are but if this information is helpful to you then just send us an email to say "thanks". Use the information at your own peril as we make NO GUARANTEES about it and we may be completely WRONG!

If your machine is running slow or doing strange things you may have a active virus or other rogue program running on your computer. How do you find out? Make sure that your anti-virus software is up to date FIRST! but following these instructions may help you.

If you hold down the CTRL and the ALT key on your keyboard and at the same time press the DELETE key then you will start up the Windows Task Manager window. This can show the names of all of the programs which are currently running on your computer.

The APPLICATIONS tab will show you the programs which are visibly running on your system while the PROCESSES tab will show you other programs which are running which may not be visible to you. Some of these processes are required for Windows to actually run and if you END TASK these critical processes then you may cause Windows to shut down. In general, if it's a Microsoft program, then you probably shouldn't use the END TASK option to terminate the process. However you MAY be able to terminate other programs in order to stop a crashed or non-responding program or virus from interfering with the normal running of your computer.

Use the END TASK option at your own peril but here is a list of many processes that we have seen running on our own (or our customer's) computers and what the purpose of these processes are. You can PROBABLY assume that any processes that say that they are from MICROSOFT are ok - but this MAY NOT be the case as it is possible to generate a program and say that it is a Microsoft program when it isn't. The Microsoft programs we have in this list we believe ARE genuine Microsoft programs/processes.

If a program or process isn't in this list you can find out what it is by locating it on your hard disk in Windows Explorer and then using the RIGHT mouse button to right-click on it and choose PROPERTIES. The information that is displayed about the program/process MAY be helpful in deciding whether it is safe or not.

Many of the files/processes can be found in your C:\Windows, C:\Windows\System or C:\Windows\System32 folders. On some systems you may not have a C:\Windows folder but you may have a C:\WinNT folder instead and if so then look there instead.

If you can't find the program/process in these folders then you can click on the START menu and then SEARCH and then FILES OR FOLDERS and then enter the name of that process into the search engine and see if Windows can find it for you. If you DO see the file in the listing then you can RIGHT-CLICK on the listed file and choose PROPERTIES and have a look at what it says in there. This may give you a clue as to what the process is for (and it may NOT).

Note that in the list below items in green we believe are genuine Microsoft programs while items in red we believe to cause problems.

To find out WHERE these processes are loaded and run from ou need to check the following locations....

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run using RegEdit
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run using RegEdit
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup using Windows Explorer
C:\Documents and Settings\{YourUsername}\Start Menu\Programs\Startup using Windows Explorer

MWSOEMON.Exe

Possible Windows Processes Running & their Purpose

Process Name/Purpose of Process Source

alg.exe Application Layer Gateway Service Microsoft

apdproxy.exe Adobe Photoshop Album Adobe

AutoSave.exe AutoSave - backs up changed files to a networked computer AutoSave

atiptaxx.Exe ATI Desktop Control Panel (ATI VGA driver) ATI Technologies

ati2evxx.Exe ATI External Event Utility (ATI VGA Driver) ATI Technologies

beetle.exe Cyber Beetle Mouse Driver Samsung

cs32desk.exe CoSession Remote Desktop (Remote Access Support Software) InSync

csrss.exe Client/Server RunTime Process Microsoft

ctfmon.Exe Microsoft's stupid text services file: see Removing CTFMON Microsoft

datalayer.Exe Nokia Mobile Phone Data Module Nokia

dcfssvc.Exe Kodak Digital Camera Driver Kodak

DirectCD.Exe Roxio Direct-CD software for CD-RW disks Roxio

explorer.exe Windows Explorer Shell Microsoft

icqnet.exe ICQ Messenger Network Monitor ICQ

imgicon.exe Iomega Zip Drive Icons Iomega

InCD.exe Nero InCD Rewritable CD Packet Driver Ahead Nero

incmail.exe IncrediMail Email Client Incredimail

inetinfo.exe Normally part of MS IIS web server but may also be Trojan.W32.RONTOKBRO Microsoft

iSafe.Exe Vet Anti-Virus Email Checker Vet

jusched.Exe Sun's Automatic Java Update Tool Sun Micro Systems

lsass.exe LSA Shell Microsoft

mailchkr.exe ? ?

megaedit.Exe Mega-Edit Text File Editor - similar to Windows Notepad Mega-Edit

mfntctl.exe Mighty Fax Controller

mhotkey.exe Keyboard Driver for Chiconey keyboards - safe to remove Mail Frontier

mlfbuddy.exe Mail Frontier Buddy (Matador Junkmail filter) Mail Frontier

Mlog.exe Reconnect Network Drives & Printers GO Software

Mozilla.exe Mozilla Internet Browser Mozilla.Org

msmsgs.exe Microsoft Messenger Microsoft

MsnMsgr.exe MSN Messenger Microsoft

My Web Search Email Plugin (Delete it?) C:\Program Files\My Way\... MyWebSearch.com

ncITray.Exe Nokia Mobile Phone Status Monitor Nokia

NeroCheck.exe Ahead Nero CD Writing Software Ahead Nero

ntvdm.exe NTVDM Application Microsoft

olfsnt40.exe Symantec Fax Starter Edition Symantec

qttask.exe Apple QuickTime Apple

RealSched.Exe Realplayer Media player software RealPlayer

Refresh.exe Iomega Zip Drive Refresh Iomega

save.exe Linked to WeatherCast - don't need it! WhenU.Com

servic~1.exe ? ?

ServiceLayer.Exe Nokia Mobile Phone Service Layer Module Nokia

services.exe Services & Controller App Microsoft

slserv.Exe User Level Modem Service (Rockwell Chipset Modem Driver) Netcomm? Rockwell

smss.exe Windows NT Session Manager Microsoft

soundman.Exe Advance Sound Effect Manager (audio driver) Advance Logic Inc

spoolsv.exe Spooler Subsystem App Microsoft

StartNT.exe Iomega Zip Drive Startup Options Iomega

svchost.exe Generic Host process for Win32 Services Microsoft

sysint16.Exe Unknown (Delete it?) Unknown

SynTPLpr.Exe Synaptics Touchpad (mouse) Driver Help Synaptics Inc

SynTPEnh.Exe Synaptics Touchpad (mouse) Enhancements Synaptics Inc

System Windows System Process Microsoft

System Idle Process Windows Idle Process Microsoft

taskmgr.exe Windows Task Manager Microsoft

uphclean.Exe Microsoft's Unreconciled Profile Cleanup Service (Speeds up logoff) Microsoft

VetMsg.Exe Vet Anti-Virus Vet

VetTray.exe Vet Anti-Virus System Tray Icon Vet

vsmon.exe Zone Alarm Firewall ZoneLabs

wb0x2.Exe This is a pop-up advert and should be killed Unknown

weather.exe 4 day Weather Forecast Software WhenU.Com

WebShotsTray.Exe WebShots Desktop Image & Screensaver software WebShots

winampa.Exe WinAmp Media Player (audio/Video player) WinAmp

WinCinemaMgr.Exe WinCinema DVD Player Software

winlogon.exe Windows NT Logon Application Microsoft

wowexec.exe Windows Win16 Application Launcher Microsoft

WzQkPick.exe Winzip Quick Pick Winzip

YPager.exe Yahoo Messenger Yahoo

Note that we believe that you should make sure that you have up to date virus protection (we recommend VET software), Malware/Spyware detection software (we recommend AD-Aware software) and also Firewall software (we recommend Zone Alarm software) on your computer if you connect to the internet.

You may find further useful information at
answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm