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Dave's Tech World
Windows Tasks and definitions
|
Task List
Name |
PROGRAM &
MANUFACTURER |
WHAT IT IS
AND WHAT YOU CAN DO |
|
|
|
|
|
3cdminic |
3CDMINIC.exe
(3Com) |
3Com
DMI Agent (DMI = Desktop Management Interface).
This task is installed when you install the full driver suite for many
3Com network cards – it runs as a background task on Windows 9x/ME and
as a service on Windows NT4/2000/XP/2003. This version of the 3Com DMI
Agent allows any DMI management browser to access information about your
3Com network card such as the driver version, size and statistics on
number of packets sent, CRC receive errors, and much more. DMI also
enables your network card to be remotely configured for features such as
Remote Wake Up, OS‑absent alerts, and the 3Com Managed PC Boot Agent.
Recommendation :
The main purpose of this task/service is to provide
statistical and troubleshooting information to the Network Administrator
in large organisations, particularly at times when there are network
performance issues or application issues on parts of the network or on
specific PCs . Ironically, however, our recommendation is that if you
are using Windows NT4/2000/XP/2003 and you experience unexplained random
illegal operations, access violation errors, or Dr Watson crashes, then
this is one of the first services to set to Disabled on the
Services tab of
The Ultimate Troubleshooter when troubleshooting the
problems ! While we have yet to come across error messages or data
which emphatically points to 3CDMINIC as the culprit, our empirical
evidence seems to show that the crashes lessen or disappear altogether
if this service is disabled. Other than the above, if you are a home
user with 3Com network cards, or you operate a small company network,
you most probably will have no need for this task/agent, in which case
you can either de‑install the 3Com DMI Agent in the “Add/Remove
Programs” icon in the Control Panel, or you can decide to initially
simply disable the task on the Startups tab of The Ultimate
Troubleshooter in Windows 9x/ME, or set the startup mode of this service
to Disabled on the Services tab of The Ultimate
Troubleshooter in Windows NT4/2000/XP/2003 (look for the 3Com DMI
Agent service). In all cases, if you are simply an end-user, you
should consult your Network Administrator before permanently
de-installing or disabling this task/service. |
|
3cmlnkw |
3CMLnkW.exe
(US Robotics / now 3Com) |
Essential background task for some
US Robotics 56K WinModem software-based modems.
Recommendation :
Leave alone. |
|
3dfxman |
3dfxMan.exe
(3dfx Interactive Inc) |
3dfx Tools Task Manager. System
Tray task installed by the drivers for 3dfx graphics cards, or Voodoo
graphics cards from the Voodoo 3 onward. It enables you to manipulate
and configure the various features of your 3dfx/Voodoo graphics cards
straight from the System Tray.
Recommendation :
Down to end-user preference. Unless you are a gamer, we recommend you
disable it with
The Ultimate Troubleshooter as you will rarely, if ever, make use of
it and yet it adds to the clutter of the System Tray. |
A
|
Aaar |
Aaar.exe |
See
IWAR.
|
|
Aasd |
Aasd.exe
|
See
IWAR. |
|
Absr |
Absr.exe
(?) |
Auto Browser component of the
Backdoor.Autoupder virus.
Recommendation :
Immediately update your antivirus software and then run a full virus
scan of your PC. |
|
Acao |
Acao.exe
|
See
IWAR. |
|
Acbtnmgr_x63
Acbtnmgr_x73
Acbtnmgr_x83 |
AcBtnMgr_X63.exe
AcBtnMgr_X73.exe
AcBtnMgr_X83.exe
(Jetsoft for Lexmark) |
Lexmark X63/X73/X83 Button Manager, also called “Lexmark Scan & Copy
Control Program”. System Tray icon for the Lexmark X63/X73/X83
multifunction printer/scanner/copier. Through that icon you can access
from your PC all the functions available on the control pad of your
Lexmark X63/X73/X83 : scan, scan to e‑mail, scan and fax, scan to OCR,
copy, scanning resolution settings.
Recommendation :
Down to end-user preference. This program is not strictly necessary for
the proper operation of your Lexmark X63/X73/X83 as you can use most of
the above features via the printer’s control panel. However you need
this System Tray program to scan to e-mail, fax, or OCR, and to change
the machine’s defaults, such as the default scanning resolution, the
email address to scan and e-mail to, etc... Should you decide to
disable this task on the Startups tab of
The Ultimate Troubleshooter, you can start it at any time via
“Start \ Programs \ Lexmark X63/X73/X83 \
Lexmark Scan & Copy Control Program”. |
|
Acbtnmgr_x84-x85 |
AcBtnMgr_X84-X85.exe
(Jetsoft for Lexmark) |
Lexmark X84/X85 Button Manager, also called “Lexmark Scan & Copy
Control Program”. System Tray icon for the Lexmark X84/X85
multifunction printer/scanner/copier. Through that icon you can access
from your PC all the functions available on the control pad of your
Lexmark X84/X85 : scan, scan to e‑mail, scan and fax, scan to OCR,
copy, scanning resolution settings.
Recommendation :
Down to end-user preference. This program is not
strictly necessary for the proper operation of your Lexmark X84/X85 as
you can use most of the above features via the printer’s control panel.
However you need this System Tray program to scan to e-mail, fax, or
OCR, and to change the machine’s defaults, such as the default scanning
resolution, the email address to scan and e-mail to, etc… Should you
decide to disable this task on the Startups tab of
The Ultimate Troubleshooter, you can start it at any time via
“Start \ Programs \ Lexmark X84/X85 \ Lexmark
Scan & Copy Control Program”. |
|
Acmonitor_x63
Acmonitor_x73
Acmonitor_x83 |
ACMonitor_X63.exe
ACMonitor_x73.exe
ACMonitor_x83.exe
(Jetsoft for Lexmark) |
Lexmark X63/X73/X83 Button Monitor. Background task installed by the
drivers for the Lexmark X73 or X83 multifunction
printer/scanner/copier. This background task monitors the X63/X73/X83
for activity and interacts with ACBTNMGR_X73/83 above for operations
involving the PC (e.g. scan to e-mail). Also, for large copy jobs it
relays the current copy count back to ACBTNMGR_X63/X73/X83 so you can
view it on your PC.
Recommendation :
In the main this task is necessary, so leave it alone. |
|
Acmonitor_x84-x85 |
ACMonitor_X84-X85.exe
(Jetsoft for Lexmark) |
Lexmark X84/X85 Button Monitor. Background task installed by the
drivers for the Lexmark X84 or X85 multifunction
printer/scanner/copier. This background task monitors the X84/X85 for
activity and interacts with ACBTNMGR_X84/85 above for operations
involving the PC (e.g. scan to e-mail). Also, for large copy jobs it
relays the current copy count back to ACBTNMGR_X84-X85 so you can view
it on your PC.
Recommendation :
In the main this task is necessary, so leave it alone. |
|
Acrord32 |
AcroRd32.exe
(Adobe) |
The Adobe Acrobat Reader program
itself. Adobe Acrobat Reader will open automatically if you click on a
PDF file in Windows Explorer, or if you start it via
"Start \ Programs". Adobe Acrobat Reader also gets started in
integrated manner if you click on a web page link to a PDF file –
when you do that your browser starts Adobe Acrobat Reader in "integrated
manner" (plugin) and presents you the PDF document as if it were a web
page. Once started in this manner, ACRORD32 does not terminate, even
when you close your browser, and it continues to run transparently in
the background so that it can open faster the next time you click on a
PDF web link – it will only disappear from your Task List if you do an
"End Task" on it, or if you reboot your PC.
Recommendation :
Leave alone unless you are troubleshooting a problem. If you are, and
you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader visibly opened, then do an
"End Task" on ACRORD32. |
|
Acrotray |
AcroTray.exe
(Adobe) |
Adobe Acrobat
Assistant. This background task is installed when you install the full
version of Adobe Acrobat. It comes into action when you create PDF
files from non Adobe applications through the "Watched Folders" feature
of Acrobat Distiller.
Recommendation :
Usually harmless. Only disable with The
Ultimate Troubleshooter if you specifically experience problems
with it. |
|
Acsd
AolAcsDaemon1
Aolacsd |
ACSd.exe
AOLacsd.exe
(AOL) |
AOL
Connectivity Service. Background task introduced with version 9.0 of
AOL and which supposedly reconnects you to AOL if you lose your
connection while online. It runs as a task in Win9x/ME, and as a
service under WinNT4/2000/XP/2003.
Recommendation :
At the time of writing, 15‑Dec‑2003, this task is an annoying feature of
the latest AOL. For a start the concept itself beggars belief since we
cannot see how the task can check for loss of connection without
constant pinging of a particular Internet address (be ready for ACSD
firewall alerts!) – in short unnecessary traffic on your connection; the
very sort of behaviour normally attributed to spyware ! But that is
the least of the problems : this task is responsible for boot-up errors
on some PCs, constant autodials on boot-up of some PCs, it is
incompatible with some programs on others (you have to terminate ACSD to
use the programs without problems), on other PCs it uses inconsiderable
amounts of memory for what its role is, on some Win2000/XP PCs we have
found it running away with CPU resources and incredibly slow PCs as a
result, and, worse, it stays around when you have deliberately closed
your Internet connection. This, in our opinion, is TerribleWare !
Unfortunately, at the time of writing we do not have a solution to the
problem : even if you disable this task on the Startups tab
of
The Ultimate Troubleshooter on Win9x/ME, or set the service to
manual on WinNT4/2000/XP/2003, opening AOL starts the task anyway. Out
of frustrations some users have reverted back to AOL 8.0. The advice
for those who stay with version 9.0 is that it is unthinkable that AOL
will not eventually address the problem, so keep downloading those AOL
updates whenever you are prompted by the software.
Update (16-Jul-2004) : from our records, sometime in March
2004 AOL finally fixed the worst problems with this task in AOL 9.0
Optimized and in the process gave it a new name too – AOLACSD.EXE.
|
|
Actionagent |
ActionAgent.exe
(Dell) |
Part
of Dell’s OpenManage Client Instrumentation software which allows the
user or system administrator to view, and sometimes set, various
statistics, characteristics, configuration, and performance data of
specific hardware components in your Dell PC. This task/service is used
to set and reset configuration parameters of a particular
hardware item (e.g. your network card).
Recommendation :
Such software is not critical to the good running of your
PC, so you may decide to disable it on the Startups tab of
The Ultimate Troubleshooter in Windows 9x/ME, or set the startup
mode of this service to Disabled on the Services tab
of The Ultimate Troubleshooter in Windows NT4/2000/XP/2003. Note
: if you are troubleshooting problems
with your PC or server, then we strongly suggest that if you fail to
home in on the cause of your problems, you should also try disabling
this task/service during your investigations. |
|
Activation |
Activation.exe
(Microsoft) |
Microsoft’s Activation module for
their Windows XP and Microsoft Office XP/2002 products.
Recommendation :
Leave alone. We are not yet sure as to how exactly ACTIVATION.EXE
works; however, given the problems one can run into with inactivated
Windows XP / Office XP / Office 2002 products at the best of times, we
do not recommend doing anything with this background task. |
|
Ad-watch |
Ad-Watch.exe
(Lavasoft Sweden) |
There
is no better description of Ad‑Watch (an option available only with the
paid version of Ad-Aware) than Lavasoft’s own description : “Ad‑Watch
is a real time monitor add‑on included in the Ad‑Aware Plus and
Ad‑Aware Professional software programs. It runs silently in the
background, waiting for adware, spyware, and other parasites that may
try to install themselves or modify your system. While Ad‑Aware detects
and cleans your system from known malware and advertising parasites,
Ad‑Watch goes even further by catching these programs before they even
integrate in your system. If malware/parasites are detected, Ad‑Watch
pops up, unloads the particular module and launches Ad‑Aware. You can
change the action taken by Ad‑Watch in the Preferences menu.”.
Recommendation :
Down to end-user preference. In our view, however, Ad-Watch should
only be used by advanced users as they alone will be able to work
out at all times which programs should be allowed to modify the
Windows Registry, and which ones should not. All other users, through
insufficient technical knowledge of such issues and through insufficient
experience in understanding all the consequences of a particular action,
run the risk of preventing software that they actually need, from
running properly or at all (even to the point of the much needed
software running into intractable installation problems). Should you
want to, you can disable Ad‑Watch by going into Ad‑Aware, clicking
Settings, then Ad‑Watch, and then unchecking
Load Ad‑Watch on Windows startup. |
|
Addrbook |
Addrbook.exe
(Novell) |
Novell GroupWise Address Book. This task appears when you first use the
GroupWise Address Book and remains after you have closed the
Address Book – the intention here is that the Address Book will open up
quicker the next time you call it up.
Recommendation :
If you have closed the GroupWise Address Book, and you are in the
process of troubleshooting a problem, then terminate this task.
Otherwise leave it alone as it does speed up the opening of the Address
Book the second time you use it. |
|
Adgjdet |
ADGJDET.exe
(Creative Labs) |
Jet Detection background task.
What a description – for a moment we got excited with thoughts of
advanced flight simulation ! Not to be, though. This task, installed
with the drivers for Creative’s SoundBlaster Live and Audigy soundcards,
detects when something changes on one of the soundcard’s ports. One of
the applications is that if it detects that you have plugged headphones
into the Live! drive, it then shuts off the rear speakers output jacks.
Recommendation :
Clever features. We have not had any negative reports about this task
yet, so you might as well leave it running. |
|
Admillikeep |
AdmilliKeep.exe
(???) |
Trojan virus. This virus first appeared on the scene
in late December 2004 and at the time of writing, 17‑Jan‑2005, most
antivirus programs do not pick it up as a problem yet. We do not yet
know how it gets picked up but, typically, the users who have been
infected with it have consistently told us they clicked on something
they shouldn’t have ! This is a very strange pest as it both makes
itself very easy to uninstall but impossibly difficult to stop !! For
example : if you try to stop this program, ADMILLIKEEP, then its
“brother”, ADMILLISERV, restarts it, and vice versa. Similarly,
if you try to remove these from the Startups tab of
The Ultimate Troubleshooter, they get added back in immediately !
Recommendation :
Get rid of this immediately :
1) Restart your PC into Safe Mode by pressing F8
continually after turning your PC ON till you get a menu where “Safe
Mode” is one of the options (if you are unable to start your PC
into Safe Mode, then try the following in Normal Mode).
2) Go to “Add/Remove Programs” in the Control Panel
and uninstall Admilli Service if you find it in there.
3) Next, start
The Ultimate Troubleshooter and go to the Startups tab and
for each instance of either ADMILLIKEEP or ADMILLISERV, if they still
exist, do the following : right-click on it and choose Delete
from the hard disk the file that this Startup points to; next,
right-click on this entry again and this time choose Delete this
Startup entry.
5) Click the big green APPLY button to make your changes
stick.
6) Reboot your PC into Normal Mode.
7) Download Ad-Aware or SpyBot from our
Downloads library and run it to eliminate all possible
adware and spyware.
8) Make sure you have an up-to-date reputable antivirus program
and run a full virus scan on your PC.
|
|
Admilliserv |
AdmilliServ.exe
(???) |
Trojan virus. This virus first appeared on the scene
in late December 2004 and at the time of writing, 17‑Jan‑2005, most
antivirus programs do not pick it up as a problem yet. We do not yet
know how it gets picked up but, typically, the users who have been
infected with it have consistently told us they clicked on something
they shouldn’t have ! This is a very strange pest as it both makes
itself very easy to uninstall but impossibly difficult to stop !! For
example : if you try to stop this program, ADMILLISERV, then its
“brother”, ADMILLIKEEP, restarts it, and vice versa. Similarly,
if you try to remove these from the Startups tab of
The Ultimate Troubleshooter, they get added back in immediately !
Recommendation :
Get rid of this immediately :
1) Restart your PC into Safe Mode by pressing F8
continually after turning your PC ON till you get a menu where “Safe
Mode” is one of the options (if you are unable to start your PC
into Safe Mode, then try the following in Normal Mode).
2) Go to “Add/Remove Programs” in the Control Panel
and uninstall Admilli Service if you find it in there.
3) Next, start
The Ultimate Troubleshooter and go to the Startups tab and
for each instance of either ADMILLISERV or ADMILLIKEEP, if they still
exist, do the following : right-click on it and choose Delete
from the hard disk the file that this Startup points to; next,
right-click on this entry again and this time choose Delete this
Startup entry.
5) Click the big green APPLY button to make your changes
stick.
6) Reboot your PC into Normal Mode.
7) Download Ad-Aware or SpyBot from our
Downloads library and run it to eliminate all possible
adware and spyware.
8) Make sure you have an up-to-date reputable antivirus program
and run a full virus scan on your PC.
|
|
Adobe Gamma Loader |
Adobe Gamma Loader.exe
(Adobe) |
Adobe Gamma installs with Adobe
Photoshop 5.0 or later. You use it to colour calibrate your monitor at
system level and create ICC profiles that describe how your monitor
reproduces colour. Any application that uses ICC profiles can use these
profiles. Colour calibration of one’s monitor is used primarily in the
printing industry (magazine designers, etc..) to ensure that colours are
represented in the same way by all of the designer’s equipment :
monitor, scanner, colour printer. Adobe Gamma Loader enables you to
colour calibrate your monitor and then saves that calibration. When you
next boot up it automatically loads the calibration settings for you.
Recommendation :
Unless you are designing jobs to print and you know about
colour calibration, this feature will be of little use to you, so you
might as well disable it with The
Ultimate Troubleshooter. If you do know about calibration and
intend to use it, make sure you do not have two calibration utilities
running at the same time (some monitors come with their own calibration
utilities) as they will clash with each other. |
|
Adservice |
ADService.exe
(Iomega) |
Active Disk Service. See ADUSERMON below.
Recommendation :
Disable on the Startups tab of
The Ultimate Troubleshooter in Windows 95/98/ME, or set the
startup mode of this service to Disabled on the Services
tab of The Ultimate Troubleshooter. |
|
Adusermon |
ADUserMon.exe
(Iomega) |
Active Disk User Monitor.
Background task installed when you install the full set of drivers for
your Iomega Zip drive. This task supports the Iomega Active Disk
feature which allows developers to produce Zip disk based software which
will run, fully self-contained, immediately on insertion of the software
Zip disk into the Active Disk aware Zip drive.
Recommendation :
In December 2002, to all intents and purposes Iomega’s Active Disk is a
dead technology – the proliferation of CD-ROM drives on almost every PC
has made sure of that. Active Disk is therefore a facility you can
safely get rid of by disabling ADUSERMON with The
Ultimate Troubleshooter. |
|
Advchk |
Advchk.exe
(Symantec) |
Advanced Tools Integrity Check.
This is purely a startup task which is included with Norton SystemWorks
or Norton AntiVirus 2003 Professional. This task checks, when your PC
starts up, whether the Windows Registry or some of the crucial
components of your Norton security software may have been compromised by
a virus. If the components all check OK, the PC continues, otherwise a
warning is issued to the end-user. Either way, the task terminates once
it has done its job of checking the integrity of components.
Recommendation :
Given the function of this startup task we classify it as essential as
it ensures that you do not use security products which may have been
stealthily compromised by a virus or Trojan task – Leave it alone
therefore. If, however, you experience startup problems with your PC,
then you should disable this startup on the Startups tab of
The Ultimate Troubleshooter as part of your troubleshooting
experiments. |
|
Aerr |
Aerr.exe |
See
IWAR.
|
|
Agentsvr |
AgentSvr.exe
(Microsoft) |
Microsoft Agent Server. Microsoft
Agent Server is an ActiveX control which software developers can use to
add character animation to their software or web pages, text to speech
facilities, or end-user voice commands capability. In layman terms it
is Microsoft software which other programmers can use to talk to you,
display a talking animated character, or listen to voice commands from
you. The most famous of those animated characters is that "paper clip"
Microsoft Office assistant which most users turn off.
Recommendation :
If it is running in your Task List then it is because some software you
are using requires it. Leave alone. |
|
Agsatellite |
AGSatellite
(AudioGalaxy) |
This program is a Napster clone.
Just like Napster, and most other Napster clones, you can minimize the
program to the System Tray. Many users, however, do not realise that
when they think they have closed the program, the program is actually
still running in the background and showing as an icon in the System
Tray.
Recommendation :
Unless you have queued some downloads, right-click on the icon and close
the program as, otherwise, some of your PC resources are being wasted
unnecessarily, and a significant portion of your Internet bandwidth
could be taken up through someone downloading MP3s from your
PC in the background ! |
|
Agtexe16 |
Agtexe16.exe
(Atomica) |
Essentially this task provides the
same Alt+Left-click feature as AGTSERV below, but for older
16-bit Windows programs, of which there are still quite a few out there
(and some are a mixture of both 32-bit and 16-bit code). This task is
installed by the Atomica software on Windows 9x/ME systems only. If
32-bit and 16-bit are technical terms that mean nothing to
you, simply continue on to the "Recommendation" section below.
Recommendation :
You could try disabling it with The
Ultimate Troubleshooter – if you find that you never have an
instance when Alt+Left-click does not work, then you do not
have 16-bit or 32-bit/16-bit programs where you need the Alt+Left-click
facility and you can leave AGTEXE16 disabled, otherwise simply re-enable
it. |
|
Agtserv |
AgtServ.exe
(Atomica) |
Background task for the Atomica
online reference software (Atomica Personal, Atomica Pro, Atomica
Slingshot). Atomica is an extremely useful product which enables you to
position your mouse on a word on the screen so that with an
Alt+Left-click you can get an instant popup window with dictionary +
encyclopaedia + reference articles information on that word – the
Internet at its best ! However, you have to be permanently connected to
the Internet to get the best out of this product. AGTSERV is the
background task which handles the Alt+Left-click and goes and
fetches the appropriate information.
Recommendation :
If you use Atomica a lot, keep this task – we have not heard of any
problems with it. If you disable the task with The
Ultimate Troubleshooter, you have to go and actually type into the
Atomica AnswerBar the word that you want information on. |
|
Ahqinit |
AHQInit.exe
(Creative Labs) |
We are not yet 100% sure but it
seems to be the Windows 2000/XP equivalent of AHQTB below. |
|
Ahqtb |
AHQtb.exe
(Creative Labs) |
Audio
HeadQuarters for SoundBlaster Live! Sound cards !! In layman terms :
System Tray application installed with the drivers for Creative Labs’
SoundBlaster Live! Sound cards and which enables you to bring up that
utility from the System Tray.
Recommendation :
There are many reported problems with AHQTB, from startup
error to crashes under Windows XP. If you absolutely want to start this
application from the System Tray, then make sure you have the very
latest updates and patches for your SoundBlaster Live! Software !
Otherwise we recommend strongly that you disable this item on the
Startups tab of
The Ultimate Troubleshooter since you can run it from
“Start \ Programs”. |
|
Ahqtbu |
AHQTbU.exe
(Creative Labs) |
Audio
Headquarters for SoundBlaster Live! Sound cards !! In layman terms :
System Tray application installed with the drivers for Creative Labs’
SoundBlaster Live! Sound cards and which enables you to bring up that
utility from the System Tray so you can set/unset various settings on
your soundcard.
Recommendation :
There are many reported problems with AHQTB and AHQTBU,
from startup error to crashes under Windows XP. If you absolutely want
to start this application from the System Tray, then make sure you have
the very latest updates and patches for your SoundBlaster Live! Software
! Otherwise we recommend strongly that you disable this item on the
Startups tab of The
Ultimate Troubleshooter since you can run it from
“Start \ Programs”. |
|
Aim |
AIM.exe
(AOL) |
AOL
Instant Messenger. This is AOL’s own Internet chatting software,
equivalent to MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, and many others. You
either have it currently open or minimized to the System Tray as an
icon.
Recommendation :
As a startup item it is down to end‑user preference. If
you do not want AOL Instant Messenger started automatically, or if you
do not use it at all and only have it there because it was installed by
default when you installed AOL, then open AOL Instant Messenger and
configure the preferences so that it does not start with Windows. |
|
Alarmapp |
AlarmApp.exe
(Palm) |
System Tray background task which ensures that you get on your PC/laptop
the alarms that you have either set in the Palm Desktop software, or
that you set on your Palm organizer and then transferred to your PC
through a hotsync.
Recommendation :
Essential if you want your Palm alarms notifying you when
working on your PC. You can enable/disable this option in the
“Tools \ Options \ Alarms” tab in the Palm Desktop software, or
through disabling this task on the Startups tab of The
Ultimate Troubleshooter. This task has a history of problems
(crashes, strange error messages, and worst, non-notification of
alarms!!), particularly under Windows XP. Most of those problems,
however, were resolved in version 4.1 or later of the Palm Desktop
software. If you have version 4.1 or later of the Palm Desktop software
and are experiencing problems with this task, do a hotsync to ensure
both your PC and your Palm are in sync, then fully de-install the Palm
software through the “Add/Remove Programs” icon in the Control
Panel, delete this task from the Startups tab of The Ultimate
Troubleshooter (if it is still there), reboot your PC, re-install the
latest version of the Palm Desktop software, re-hotsync with your Palm,
and then set the options in the “Tools \ Options \ Alarm” tab
in the Palm Desktop software to re-enable this task. At the time of
writing, 28‑Mar‑2004, this usually solves most problems associated with
this task. |
|
Alertsvc |
AlertSvc.exe
(Symantec) |
Norton AntiVirus Alert Service
present in older versions (NAV 5.0, NAV 2000, NAV 2001) of Norton
AntiVirus for Windows NT4/2000.
Recommendation :
Essential for the full functioning of your Norton AntiVirus product. If
you experience the not uncommon problem of ALERTSVC consuming excessive
CPU time, make sure you do a manual LiveUpdate to pick up the latest
program updates. |
|
Alg |
ALG.exe
(Microsoft) |
Application Layer Gateway service
found only on Windows XP. ALG is an integral part of ICS (Internet
Connection Sharing) and ICF (Internet Connection Firewall) in Windows
XP. Microsoft’s description : "Provides support for 3rd
Party protocol plug-ins for ICS and ICF".
Recommendation :
If you use Windows XP’s Internet Connection Firewall, you must have ALG
running. If you use a 3rd Party firewall, set ALG to manual
in "Control Panel \ Administrative Tools \ Services". |
|
Alogserv |
ALogServ.exe
(McAfee) |
Background task installed with
McAfee VirusScan and whose purpose is to log all McAfee background virus
scanning activities. As of February 2002 there is nothing positive we
can say about this program ! Since its introduction with VirusScan
5.x, this program has caused end-users endless problems and McAfee has
had to issue fixes and help documents for it. It has been responsible
for gobbling up all resources, with the result being a PC which
slows down to a crawl and eventually locks up completely. In other
instances ALOGSERV appears many times in the Task List. This is
silly : antivirus protection is necessary these days, it is not
optional, and the least one would expect from an antivirus software
publisher is higher standards of testing to ensure that its antivirus
software does not behave..... like a virus !!!
Recommendation :
If you have McAfee VirusScan, visit their website to ensure you have the
very latest software updates (as opposed to virus updates). If you are
experiencing performance related problems, lockups, or other problems
which you cannot explain, then disable ALOGSERV with The
Ultimate Troubleshooter – VirusScan will still work fine without it
in the background. Note, however, that if you start VirusScan
manually through "Start \ Programs", VirusScan will in turn start
ALOGSERV. Thus, once you have stopped using VirusScan and exited out of
it, remember to do an End Task on ALOGSERV. |
|
Alunotify |
ALUNotify.exe
(Symantec) |
Automatic LiveUpdate Notification
for Symantec’s Norton AntiVirus. Through the LiveUpdate options
settings you can configure Norton AntiVirus to automatically update
itself over the Internet, either silently in the background (the best
method if you have a broadband connection), or through notifying you
whenever there are updates available for you to manually download (the
recommended setting if you have a dial-up modem or ISDN connection).
You will only see ALUNOTIFY in your Task List if you have configured
Norton AntiVirus to "notify" you.
Recommendation :
Essential for the proper protection of your PC against viruses – leave
alone. If you need to "tinker" with this task, do so via the LiveUpdate
option in Norton AntiVirus. |
|
Amra |
Amra.exe |
See
IWAR.
|
|
Annclist |
Annclist.exe
(Microsoft) |
Microsoft Announcement Listener
task for Microsoft WebTV. Microsoft WebTV was first introduced in
Windows 98, and was also part of Windows Millennium. At the time of
writing however, 14‑Dec‑2003, Microsoft WebTV is an obsolete technology
that has been superseded by Windows Media Player and Windows Media
Streaming.
Recommendation :
Unless you use Microsoft WebTV, disable or delete this task with The
Ultimate Troubleshooter. |
|
AOL Companion |
Companion.exe
(AOL) |
See COMPANION in these
pages. |
|
Aoldial |
AOLDial.exe
(AOL) |
Dialer introduced with AOL 9.0 Optimized and which enables you to
connect to the Internet via AOL without first having to start your main
AOL software and connect to your email.
Recommendation :
The installation of AOL 9.0 Optimized automatically inserts the dialer
as a startup item. The problem with this is that not everyone
necessarily wants to connect to the Internet immediately after turning
the PC ON, and on PCs which use modem connections rather than broadband
this task can not only add significantly to the boot-up time of the PC,
but, worse, on some PCs, because of timing issues, it will give errors
either on boot-up or on shutdown, or both. On such PCs our
recommendation is to disable this task on the Startups tab of
The Ultimate Troubleshooter and simply let your browser connect you
when you decide to go onto the Internet. |
|
Aolfix |
AOLFix.exe
( ???) |
You have the QHOSTS trojan
virus. |
|
Aolsp scheduler |
AOLSP
Scheduler.exe
(AOL) |
AOL
Spyware Protection task introduced with AOL 9.0 Optimized and which is
AOL’s contribution to the anti‑spyware and anti‑adware movement. Once a
week this task scans the PC’s hard disk(s) for known spyware and adware.
You can modify the frequency of the scans within AOL 9.0 Optimized, and
you can also turn it off altogether.
Recommendation :
At the time of writing, 18-Jul-2004, we have some reservations about AOL
Spyware Protection and our main reservation is that it is made by Aluria
Software whose own anti-spyware offerings think, in some versions, at
the time of writing, that our product,
The Ultimate Troubleshooter, is spyware and as a result prevent it
from opening !! Basically, unlike with antivirus software, we believe
that most anti‑spyware programs are not yet safe enough to be run in the
background and unattended. Our reasons for this are that in this day
and age of Internet enabled software, there are hundreds of safe
programs out there which communicate over the Internet
legitimately and which are not spyware. Yet, from our experience
and our research there are few anti‑spyware programs which are rigorous
enough in their research to have a very high degree of accuracy in only
ever targeting known spyware programs and tasks and
never making guesses. SpyBot is one such program in our
opinion, but there are others. Unfortunately, at the time of writing,
Aluria Software’s anti‑spyware products are not products we would trust
to run in the background and unattended. The last thing you want is to
find that a program that is important to you, and which is actually
safe, has been incorrectly identified as spyware, and disabled, and you
have no idea that that is what happened because it ran in the background
and you did not check the results. Our recommendation, therefore, is
that you disable automatic spyware protection scanning within AOL,
disable this task on the Startups tab of
The Ultimate Troubleshooter, and simply manually run the AOL
Spyware Protection as necessary. How often you should do this
depends on how often you download and install from the Internet, how
often you open emails from unknown sources, and whether you use file
sharing programs such as KaZaA. Note : On
20‑Jul‑2004, the Director of Operations of Aluria Software swiftly
acknowledged to us that Aluria Software was indeed incorrectly
identifying some components of The Ultimate Troubleshooter as
adware/spyware, and indicated that the problem would be resolved in
updates later in the same week. He also stated “False positives
do occur with the best programs out there including antivirus programs,
it is not a case of guesswork but unfortunate similarity”. Aluria’s
Director of Operations then named a few products which have recently had
the same problem. At this point, from experience, we disagree. After a
careful initial selection, years ago we used to use Dr Solomon AntiVirus
both in-house and at our corporate customers, and never experienced a
single “false positive” in years of usage. Then Dr Solomon got bought
out and, alas, we experienced such nightmares with the product within a
month or two of it having been bought out, that we had to move to a
different product. This time, again after a careful and lengthy
evaluation of all leading products on the market, we homed in on Norton
AntiVirus. Well, in the 5+ years since we have used it, in‑house and at
our corporate customers, we have not once experienced a single
“False Positive”. Not once ! Sure, we have had the occasional
problems with the product, rectified with updates, but not once have we
had Norton AntiVirus identify a legitimate program as a virus or
spyware/adware. If Dr Solomon can do it, if Norton AntiVirus can do it,
then our view is that that has to be the yardstick for this particular
industry. |
|
Aoltpspd |
Aoltpspd.exe
(AOL) |
AOL TopSpeed background task which implements AOL’s
new web caching technology introduced in AOL 9.0 Optimized and which
results in significant speed gains when accessing the Internet via
dial‑up modem
(note that independent tests have shown that AOL TopSpeed technology
also results in faster access on broadband lines although the gains are
not as significant as they are over dial-up – around 10% gain).
Recommendation :
An essential component of AOL 9.0 Optimized without which you cannot
browse the Internet through the AOL browser. Leave alone. |
|
Aoltsmon |
AOLTSMon.exe
(AOL) |
AOL TopSpeed Monitor service installed on
Windows 2000/XP and introduced in AOL 9.0 Optimized. We do not yet know
the exact purpose of this service, but we do know that without it you
cannot browse the Internet using the AOL browser.
Recommendation :
As an AOL user you should in general leave this task alone. If you are
an advanced user and do not use AOL’s own browser but use, instead, a
browser like Mozilla or FireFox which both have inbuilt web acceleration
caching of the type used by AOL TopSpeed technology, then you can
disable this service by setting its Startup Mode to Manual
on the Services tab of
The Ultimate Troubleshooter. |
|
Aoltray |
AOLTray.exe
(AOL) |
America Online’s System Tray icon
from version 5.0 onward. This icon enables you to start AOL through a
double-click. A single click, on the other hand, brings up a number of
options which enable you to access specific AOL features, such as your
Address Book, your Personal Filing Cabinet, etc... The "System
Information" option on this menu is one of the better "System
Information" options around.
Recommendation :
We have not had any reports of problems with AOLTRAY. Therefore, since
e-mail is a core application nowadays you probably will want to keep it
running. If not, then you can disable it with The
Ultimate Troubleshooter. |
|
Aornum |
Aornum.exe
Aornumsp.exe
Ornum.exe
(iWon.com) |
Background data collecting task from iWon.com which connects back to
iWon servers to supply them with miscellaneous information about your
Internet browsing and which also pulls up popup advertisements when you
are browsing the Internet with Internet Explorer. An extract from
iWon.com’s Privacy Policy on 13‑Apr‑2003 : “If you elect to install
certain software products (the “iWon Software Products”) provided by
iWon to its users, such as iWon PLUS, the iWon Messenger, or iWon
Co-Pilot, iWon may collect additional information about you. This
happens because iWon Software Products automatically communicate over
the Internet with iWon’s servers and, in order to provide you with
information or services, may convey to iWon certain information
regarding your activities, including, for example, the URL of sites you
visit. iWon Software Products may also upgrade their functionalities
from time to time without further action on your part, and some of these
functionalities may expand the scope of the information that is
communicated to iWon’s servers.”. In short, what we call adware
and, also, potentially spyware. AORNUM, which appeared on the scene
around August 2002, used to originally only be installed if you
installed the iWon Prize Machine software. As per the above extract, it
is nowadays also installed by iWon Plus and other iWon software
products.
Recommendation :
If you absolutely want to play iWon’s $1 million game,
you have no alternative but to keep AORNUM on your PC. If, on the other
hand, you have no time for it then you should de-install all
iWon programs that you find in “Add/Remove Programs” in the Control
Panel (note that, in addition to sending information about you, AORNUM
significantly slows down the boot-up period of your PC, it often
prevents ScanDisk and Defrag from completing, and on some PCs it
consumes 100% of CPU resources, effectively locking up the PC).
Unfortunately, a full de‑installation of all iWon software is only the
beginning of the cleanup operation as, totally unacceptably, the AORNUM
software still remains after de‑installation of iWon software and in
many cases is even concealed by being renamed !! This is unacceptable.
To fully rid yourself of AORNUM after de‑installation of all iWon
software, run SpyBot Search & Destroy from our
Downloads page. |
|
Apasserv |
APASServ.exe
(Sunbelt Software) |
Sunbelt Software’s Auto-Start service for the AutoPilot
software – Windows XP only. AutoPilot is automatic “System
Tuning” software which claims to tune your XP system for peak
performance on-the-fly taking into consideration at all times the
PC’s changing workload and its CPU specific capabilities and fine tuning
facilities (Intel and AMD).
Recommendation :
This service is essential for the proper functioning of
the AutoPilot software. |
|
Apntex |
ApntEx.exe
(Alps Electric Co) |
Alps Pointing Device Driver for
Windows NT4/2000/XP. This task will be found on laptops which use
TouchPads made by Alps Electric (e.g. Sony Vaio laptops). Both this task
and APOINT below are needed for the TouchPad to work properly.
Recommendation :
Required if you use or may use the TouchPad – leave alone. |
|
Apoint |
APoint.exe
(Alps) |
Driver for Alps manufactured
touchpads found in some laptops. On Windows NT4/2000/XP both this task
and APNTEX above are required for the TouchPad to work properly.
Recommendation :
Essential if you use the touchpad, which you may do some day if your
mouse malfunctions, or you forgot to take it with you. We suggest you
leave it alone. |
|
Appservices |
AppServices.exe
(Iomega???) |
Windows 2000/XP service which seems
to be installed by the Iomega Zip drive drivers. We do not know what
this task does.
Recommendation :
The only recommendation we can make is that if you no longer use an
Iomega Zip drive then you should try setting this service to Manual or
Disabled in "Administrative Tools \ Services" in the Control Panel. |
|
Apropos |
Apropos.exe
(POP! – PeopleOnPage) |
Advertising Internet Explorer add-on installed by the software from
POP!, or PeopleOnPage. PeopleOnPage’s own description of themselves :
“We are the first company to develop the technology necessary to make
one‑on‑one chatting possible on any website on the world wide web - not
just on specialist chat sites or on sites with added chat features. So
for the first time ever, instead of having to visit a particular
community or dating website to chat, you can TAKE chat to any website.
To get started, you simply download a basic item of software to let you
see the profiles of other POP! users on the same site as you - whichever
site that happens to be. Then, if you want to contact them, you simply
click to email or chat with them, right there and then.”.
In
addition, as of 25-Jan-2004 the license agreement for downloading and
installing PeopleOnPage’s software, specifically states : “POP!
World is being provided to you free of charge in exchange for your
agreement to download and view advertising served via Apropos (a
proprietary browser-based advertising delivery system). Apropos will
deliver advertising on your computer screen on behalf of POP advertising
clients. These advertising clients may be competitors of the publishers
whose Web pages users may be viewing or may have viewed recently. By
viewing advertisements served via Apropos ("Apropos Ads"), POP is able
to subsidize the cost of providing you POP! World.”.
Recommendation :
From the explanations above, Apropos is clearly advertising software, or
adware – if you are experiencing annoying popup or pop-under ads, then
this task will be one of the culprits. Additionally, as per the license
agreement this task will sometimes “collect anonymous computer usage
information and/or update user information” – what we call spyware
(sending information from your PC out to PeopleOnPage). From this point
on the decision to keep APROPOS is yours : if you use PeopleOnPage,
then you are required to keep both POP! and APROPOS, as per the license
agreement. If you do not use PeopleOnPage, then get rid of this
software immediately. Aside from being adware and spyware, it is
responsible for Internet Explorer lockups and severe slowdown in the
PC’s operation with programs taking much longer than usual to open, or
with APROPOS showing as “not responding”. To remove APROPOS,
use the “Add/Remove Programs” icon in the Control Panel
and remove POP and AM Server if the latter does not
get removed automatically when you remove POP. Next, use
The Ultimate Troubleshooter to remove any APROPOS startup entries
that may still be left behind. Finally, reboot your PC. |
|
Aptezbp |
Aptezbp.exe
(IBM) |
Part of IBM’s Aptiva EZ Buttons
software. The EZ Buttons software enables the user to customize and use
the rapid access buttons on the Aptiva’s Rapid Access Keyboards.
Typically these keyboards include up to 14 rapid access buttons which
enable the user to directly access specific Windows functions, such as
Help, your CD player, audio functions, Suspend mode, etc... Four of the
buttons can be customized to start whichever application you wish to
start at the push of a button.
Recommendation :
This task is an essential part of the EZ Button software. If you use
the Rapid Access buttons, you need to have APTEZBP running. APTEZBP
uses a relatively large amount of memory and has caused problems on PCs
with only 32Mb of RAM. If you have 64Mb or more, however, APTEZBP
should not cause you any problems. |
|
Apwheel |
Apwheel.exe
(Alps) |
Mouse wheel software for Alps wheel
mice.
Recommendation :
Not necessary under Windows 98SE or later as the wheel is handled
properly by Windows without additional software. However, as with all
such software, there are "bells and whistles" (additional features)
which some users use. If you do not use any of these additional
features then you should be able to disable APWHEEL with The
Ultimate Troubleshooter and still have your wheel work properly.
Note that APWHEEL will sometimes clash with the installation of software
programs causing an "ISINST30 General Protection Fault". If you
experience this, do an End Task on APWHEEL, install your software, and
then reboot your PC for APWHEEL to be restarted with Windows. |
Armon
Armon32
Armon32a |
Armon32.exe
Armon32a.exe
(Inverse Technologies) |
Access Ramp Monitor. Monitoring
software which is installed by many ISPs’ software and which supposedly
monitors your Internet connection. Here is the MindSpring ISP
explanation of ARMON32A :
"Inverse AccessRamp provides technology allowing us to accurately
measure availability and performance of our network from the perspective
of our customers. The technology consists of a client that resides on
our customers PC’s and servers residing within the MindSpring network.
The client collects data on our customers’ real Internet experience with
MindSpring. It includes information such as failed connection attempts,
error codes, connection speeds, redials, and time to login. Other key
physical information such as POP, customer ID and modem type are also
collected. This data is then sent to servers within MindSpring and
aggregated across the entire MindSpring customer base allowing an
accurate depiction of our customers experience with the our service.
This allows our Network Engineers and Technical Support departments to
more effectively and proactively address problems both within and
outside the MindSpring enterprise."
Recommendation :
While it may not be used for that purpose, this sort of software has
"spyware" potential. Additionally, ISPs actually do not need this type
of feedback in order to be able to work out where things are going wrong
on their network – there are many monitoring technologies available
which do not involve software sitting on end-user PCs. Finally,
ARMON32A conflicts with some software packages, Intuit’s QuickBooks
amongst others. For all these reasons we recommend disabling ARMON32A
with The
Ultimate Troubleshooter – it really does nothing for you, the
end-user, and could be detrimental anyway ! |
|
Arupld32 |
ARUpld32.exe
(Visual
Networks) |
Browsing History
Uploader application from Visual Networks. This application gets
installed when you install some ISPs’ CDs. Its purpose is understood to
be to enable the ISP manage its network through the feedback it receives
from this utility about your web browsing habits. We call this
spyware and we are completely against the use of such programs.
As if this weren’t enough, we have seen many cases of end-users
experiencing low resources problems, or Windows Protection Errors on
shutdown after the installation of this program and whatever else the
ISP’s CD also installs on the end-user’s PC.
Recommendation :
Disable or Delete using The
Ultimate Troubleshooter. If you do not find any entry in The
Ultimate Troubleshooter, then search your hard disk for ARUPLD32.EXE and
rename it by adding ".old" at the end of the name – this will prevent it
from being loaded. You may have to boot your PC into Safe Mode
in order to be able to rename ARUPLD32.EXE – with most versions of
Windows this is achieved by holding the CTRL key down as your PC
is booting up. Finally, note : AT&T customers –
ARUPLD32.EXE may be necessary for you to be able to access the Internet
through your AT&T subscription. If that is the case, complain
extremely strongly to AT&T about their use of spyware on your PC,
then obtain a firewall like Norton’s Personal Firewall or Zone Alarm to
prevent this process from sending information out of your PC. |
|
Asdscsvc |
ASDSCSVC.exe
(BrightStor, now part of Computer Associates) |
ARCServe Discovery Service
installed by the ARCServe Windows NT4/2000/2003 fileserver backup
software.
Recommendation :
We are not sure what this service does. In some Windows NT4 Server
installations this service sometimes consumes excessive amounts of CPU
time – some installations have set it to "Manual" rather than
"Automatic" and have not experienced any problems with the ARCServe
software. |
|
Aspnet_state |
ASPNet_State.exe
(Microsoft) |
The
ASP State Service provides support for out‑of‑process session states for
ASP – Windows XP/2003. Microsoft’s explanation : “ASP has a concept
of session state – a listing of values associated with the client
session is accessible from ASP pages through the Session property.
There are three options provided to store session data : In process; SQL
database; and out-of-process. The ASP State Service stores session data
out-of-process. The service communicates with ASP using sockets.”.
Recommendation :
Essential if you want your PC/server to be able to process out of
process ASP session requests or if you use Norton Ghost v9.
Unless you work with ASP, or you use Norton Ghost v9, this service is
usually not necessary and its Startup Mode may be set to
Manual on the Services tab of
The Ultimate Troubleshooter.
Note : if you change the startup mode from its default, do not
set it to “Disabled”, keep to our recommendation of merely setting it
to Manual as this ensures that if another program on your PC
needs this service, it will be able to start it when it finds that it is
not running. |
|
Aspnet_wp |
ASPNET_WP.exe
(Microsoft) |
ASP.NET Worker Process. This the
process which implements all functions of ASP.NET.
Recommendation :
Essential for the proper functioning of ASP.NET. If you experience
problems with this process, however, first ensure that you have the
latest patches, and then also read the Microsoft Tech articles on the
best way to run this process. |
Atdialler1
Atdialler2
Atdialler3 |
ATDialler1.exe
ATDialler2.exe
ATDialler3.exe
(???) |
Internet connection dialler that is
part of the Freeserve Connection Kit (from the UK ISP "Freeserve").
The purpose of the dialler is to automatically try other numbers if the
main connection number for your selected dial-up service is engaged or
is experiencing temporary technical problems. The number at the end of
the program name indicates the version of the Freeserve Connection Kit
that you are using – ATDIALLER3 indicates, therefore, that you are using
the most recent version of the kit. ATDIALLERx shows up as an icon in
the System Tray.
Recommendation :
At the time of writing, 3-Oct-2003, this application is problematic at
best. The problems : Engaged numbers followed by many retries, 56K
connections working at no more than 33K, conflict with some programs,
e.g. FreeCell, crashes of the dialler if connection problems are
encountered, and the need to reboot the PC if the dialler does crash. A
very poor piece of software, in our opinion, which we always recommend
de-installing (Note, one more problem : de-installing this software
sometimes causes unexpected problems!!). If you are technically
advanced and you know how to manually create a connection to an ISP, our
advice is that you obtain your Freeserve connection number(s) from our
Internet Service Providers page, de-install the Freeserve Connection
Kit, and create your Freeserve connections manually. |
|
Ati2cwxx |
ATI2cwxx.exe
(ATI Technologies) |
Part of ATI display drivers for
some ATI or ATI-chipset based graphics cards. Often seen in laptops as
part of the VGA drivers for the onboard ATI graphics card, particularly
DELL and Compaq laptops.
Recommendation :
At this stage we are not completely sure of the role of this background
task; however disabling it does not seem to cause any problems
whatsoever. |
|
Ati2evxx
Atievxx
Atipolab |
ATI2evxx.exe
ATIevxx.exe
(ATI Technologies) |
ATI
External Event Utility EXE Module. Another background task which gets
installed when you install ATI display drivers. Under Windows
NT4/2000/XP/2003 the service registers as the “ATI Hotkey Poller” and
further investigation shows that it is related to the handling of
various ATI Hotkeys which bring up specific ATI utilities. Not only is
this facility useless to 99.99% of users, but there is also no
documentation anywhere on those ATI hotkeys !! Additionally some of
our more inquisitive users have been able to prove that ATI2EVXX can
sometimes be an incredible resource hog using up to 85% of CPU
utilization !! Older versions of this background task show up as
ATIPOLAB in the Task List.
Recommendation :
Disable on the Startups tab of
The Ultimate Troubleshooter in Windows 95/98/ME. If you cannot
find it on the Startups tab, then read about ATIPTAXX below and
disable that task as it often is the task that starts ATI2EVXX. In
Windows NT4/2000/XP, go to the Services tab of The Ultimate
Troubleshooter, find the ATI Hotkey Poller service and set its
Startup Mode to Disabled. |
|
Ati2mdxx |
ATI2mdxx.exe
(ATI Technologies) |
ATI 2D Mode Component task
installed by the drivers for graphics cards using the ATI Radeon
chipset.
Recommendation :
We do not yet know the role of this task, so we an only recommend that
you leave it. |
|
Ati2plab |
ATI2plab.exe
(ATI Technologies) |
Part of ATI display drivers for
some ATI or ATI-chipset based onboard graphics cards. Seen mostly in
laptops, particularly DELL, Compaq, or MITAC laptops.
Recommendation :
At this stage we are not sure of the role of this background task, so
leave it untouched. |
|
Ati2plxx |
ATI2plxx.exe
(ATI Technologies) |
Part of ATI display drivers for
some ATI or ATI-chipset based onboard graphics cards. Seen mostly in
laptops, particularly DELL, Compaq, or MITAC laptops.
Recommendation :
At this stage we are not sure of the role of this background task, so
leave it untouched. |
|
Ati2s9ag |
ATI2S9AG.exe
(ATI Technologies) |
ATI
SmartGART startup task installed by the drivers for ATI Radeon graphics
cards on Windows 95/98/ME. ATI’s own description : “SMARTGART is an
advanced diagnostics tool that automatically determines and configures
the optimal AGP and PCI bus settings for the most stable graphics
performance. SMARTGART will run a series of tests on the first reboot
after a driver install. During the test SMARTGART may blank the
screen.”. Additionally : if you, as the end-user, decide to go and
modify some of your ATI graphics card settings through the Control Panel
ATI icon, these settings will be saved but on the next reboot this
startup task will run and check whether the new settings will work
without stability problems. If ATI’s SmartGART startup task believes
that the new settings will make the PC unstable, it corrects the
relevant settings accordingly.
Recommendation :
Leave alone – this startup task only runs during Windows
boot. Once it has performed all the checks mentioned above, it stops,
which is why you will never see it in your Task List. Note for gamers
and advanced users : if you find that some settings that you set
through the ATI icon in the Control Panel, do not stick, it is
most probably because ATI2S9AG performed its function and decided to
modify the settings you had set on account that it felt they would lead
to instability. Thus, if this causes you problems because you want
specific settings regardless of what ATI SmartGART thinks, then
disable this startup task on the
The Ultimate Troubleshooter to prevent SmartGART from changing your
specifically chosen settings. |
|
Ati2sgag |
ATI2SGAG.exe
(ATI Technologies) |
ATI
SmartGART Service installed by the drivers for ATI Radeon graphics cards
on Windows 2000/XP/2003. ATI’s own description : “SMARTGART is an
advanced diagnostics tool that automatically determines and configures
the optimal AGP and PCI bus settings for the most stable graphics
performance. SMARTGART will run a series of tests on the first reboot
after a driver install. During the test SMARTGART may blank the
screen.”. Additionally : if you, as the end-user, decide to go and
modify some of your ATI graphics card settings through the Control Panel
ATI icon, these settings will be saved but on the next reboot this
service will run and check whether the new settings will work without
stability problems. If ATI’s SmartGART service believes that the new
settings will make the PC unstable, it corrects the relevant settings
accordingly.
Recommendation :
Leave alone – this service only runs during Windows
boot. Once it has performed all the checks mentioned above, it stops,
which is why you will almost never see it with a status of “Running”.
Note for gamers and advanced users : if you find that some settings
that you set through the ATI icon in the Control Panel, do not
stick, it is most probably because ATI2SGAG performed its function and
decided to modify the settings you had set on account that it felt they
would lead to instability. Thus, if this causes you problems because
you want specific settings regardless of what ATI SmartGART
thinks, then set this service to Manual or Disabled on
the Services tab of
The Ultimate Troubleshooter to prevent SmartGART from changing your
specifically chosen settings. |
|
Aticwd32 |
ATIcwd32.exe
(ATI
Technologies) |
Driver enhancement
for some ATI VGA cards.
Recommendation :
We have never seen an instance where this background task is needed.
Delete in The
Ultimate Troubleshooter. |
|
Atikey |
ATIKey32.exe
(ATI Technologies) |
Another hotkey handler by ATI which
runs in the System Tray – comes with the drivers for ATI ultra cards.
It watches for ATI scheme hotkeys and enables the user to program the
hotkeys as well as switch between the schemes. This program autoloads
ATIICON.
Recommendation :
Useless and a nuisance. It gives "General Protection Fault" with
some HP drivers and is responsible for slow boot-up times on some PCs.
Delete with The
Ultimate Troubleshooter. |
|
Atiptaab |
ATIptaab.exe
(ATI Technologies) |
Part of ATI display drivers for
some ATI or ATI-chipset based onboard graphics cards. Seen mostly in
laptops, particularly Compaq laptops.
Recommendation :
At this stage we are not sure of the role of this background task, so
leave it untouched. |
|
Atiptaxx |
ATIPtaxx.exe
(ATI Technologies) |
ATI
Task Bar Icon. This is a System Tray icon which gets installed when you
install the ATI drivers. All this icon does is enable you to bring up
the Display Properties from the System Tray. Since the Display
Properties can be invoked in many other ways, this icon simply adds to
the clutter of the System Tray.
Recommendation :
Go into the Display Properties (Display icon in
the Control Panel) and take the tick off the “Enable ATI Task Bar
Icon” option. You will have to seek out this option as it is in
different places for different ATI drivers. Typically, however, you
need to go to the Settings tab, then click the ADVANCED
button, and then find the option on one of the tabs that have the
ATI icon as part of the tab name. Also, particularly with the
recent drivers from ATI, once you have found that option you may find
that the option is already unchecked but that the ATI icon is still
showing in the System Tray. When that is the case, check the option,
click APPLY, and then uncheck the option again and click APPLY again.
Once you have unchecked that option, delete the “ATIptaxx.exe”
line on the Startups tab of
The Ultimate Troubleshooter – this will prevent ATIPTAXX starting
at boot-up. Note, however, that ATIPTAXX will still get started
automatically every time you call up Display Properties, but at least it
will not start automatically at boot-up. If you want to totally
disable ATIPTAXX from starting at any time, and you are
familiar with editing the Windows Registry, then home in on the
following registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ATI Technologies\Desktop,
then the sub-key NoAtipta and set it to 1 instead of
its 0 default (our Thanks to the AnswersThatWork user who told us about
this). |
|
Atiqipcl |
AtiQiPcl.exe
(ATI Technologies) |
This
is one of the oddest startup entries we have ever come across. You will
never find this program in your Task List , you will only ever find it
as a startup item. The bizarre thing, however, is that in our
experience the program file ATIQIPCL.EXE can never ever be found on
the hard disk ! We believe, therefore, that ATIQIPCL.EXE is a
program installed purely at driver installation time, which, thanks to
this startup entry, runs on the first reboot after you have just
installed the ATI drivers, does what it needs to do, and then deletes
itself from your hard disk.
Recommendation :
Click on this entry on the Startups tab of
The Ultimate Troubleshooter. If TUT tells you that the file does
not exist, then simply delete this entry. |
|
Atisched |
AtiSched.exe
(ATI Technologies) |
Part of th | | |