aha a computer question! novel!

[Lilaena De'Ville]

My computer has 31 running processes, which seems to be an unusual amount. Also, spybot is turning up new 'problems' every day. My virus and AdAware scans show...nothing.

Help what should I do!?

[Figrin D'an]

http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/security/


Check to see if any of the processes match those on this list of potential security threats. Check carefully, as some of them may look like legit processes at first glace (ie. varying from a legit process by only one letter.)

Perhaps post a screenshot of your processes, too.


Edit - A more complete list of processes, legit and harmful:

http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

[Jared Mriad]

I've noticed I have about the same concern, except with my PC running 36 processes, and one I noticed right off the start on the List Figrin posted. Here's a screencapture of my WTM. The two struck out processes are two that I know are legit, PS7 and Open Office.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I saw a few close ones, like you said, but nothing matched off the list, that I saw.

I do have a lot of HP processes running, I wonder how I can cut that down. (camera, photo, and printer software maybe?)

[Pierce Tondry]

You've also got five versions of rundll32 going. According to the site Fig listed, those usually show up when something about your software is buggy or when you have a virus.

In general, however, I find HP software to bug up and slow down my computer, an effect that increases over time. Reinstalling the printer files has done little to cure this, so most of the time I simply leave my printer unhooked, plugging it in only when I need to print something. You might be in the same predicament.

[Figrin D'an]

Yeah, you probably shouldn't have that many instances of rundll32.exe. Make sure your virus definitions are up-to-date, and try running the scan again. If it doesn't find anything, though, don't freak out too much. rundll32 is kind of a bizzare process that can crop up more than once, so if you are confident you don't have a virus, then just leave it alone.

As for the HP-related software, a lot of it is likely from the crappy little software extras they give you to install with your printer, webcam, etc, rather than just the base drivers. If you are concerned about it, uninstall all of that software, and just allow Windows to detect your devices, only installing the drivers from the CD if you have to. (You might be better off checking their website for updated drivers, too).

[Marcus Telcontar]

Not always true. Rundll32 is a link library that is one of the main control librarys for running programs. You will always get at least one instance of rundll32 going when you have programs actively ruinning, like printers, scanners, word processors, installing or removing programs..... quite a few legitimate services also depend on rundll32 for operation.

My PC is light on with installed stuff and it has 28 processes when all else is closed. 34 / 35 processes is what I consider normal for a PC, esp when it's has extra drivers and programs installed.

There's not really anything in either process list that stands out immediatly as suspicious.

Personally, I dont really look at the process list unless somethign has really gone mad. I go for Msconfig and a few other places first.

Edit : I'm not even sure how good the process list and MSCONFIG are goign to be soon in the detection of spyware and viruses anyway. There's a couple of really good variants coming out that will prove to be extremely difficult to spot.

[Master Yoghurt]

On that note, run "msconfig" and view the start up list. Uncheck stuff you dont really need at system startup. Should make windows boot up faster, and decrease memory usage.

And I agree with Marcus, nothing in there strikes me as suspicious.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I got rid of all the HP startups, and I'm down to 22 processes with Firefox open. :) Much better.

Well, thank you all for the 'help;' I guess I just needed some reassurance. :angel