[NvrNoNowX]

I may have asked this before - my short term memory kind of sucks. Anyway, is there a good website that lets me look up the processes running on my Windows Task Manager? I'm just curious as to what some of them are.

[Jackson]

Often the best way to do this is by searching the name of the app or process in Google. This usually turns up all the sites that purport to describe that particular process and you can sift through them and pick the one that looks like it makes some sense. There are several sites, but they don't all contain every process so this is the best way to maximize your chance of finding it, in my experience. Just type in the name exactly as it appears in the left-hand column of your task manager window ("AsIpfMon.exe", or whatever) and you should pretty quickly be able to figure out what it often the site will advise whether you actually need that process running. If you decide you want to turn it off permanently (and only make that decision if you're really, really confident that it isn't a crucial Windows component or necessary for some program you use) then you can run MSConfig (by typing msconfig into the "Run" dialog on the Start menu) and you can disable it so it won't automatically load at startup.

[ethigSmimbine]

The problem is I think adware or spyware has corrupted my search engine because it sends me to no name places lately, so i don't trust where it's sending me

[Weislenalkata]

Could be...I've never seen that. Usually what the malware will do is screw with the address bar. So, for example, when you type in "google.com" you wind up getting redirected. But I've never had experience with one that actually re-directed a search off the actual Google site.

Here are some sites you might try:

www.spywareinfo.com (general spyware/malware information and solutions)

http://www.processlibrary.com/ a process library (natch)

http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/process/ another process library

You might also search the forums at Spybot http://forums.spybot.info/index.php?.

Sometimes with malware, the name of the problem file might match the name of a legit file, but it's location tags it as a bad bug.

Probably the best first step is to download the free version of AdAware and run it. http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

Of course this is really two different problems. If you think you have actual hijackers onboard as opposed to just some extraneous and unnecessary resource hogs running, you should be a lot more concerned.

[poulaMahmah]

If you are getting redirected somewhere, download HijackThis on another computer, burn it to a CD, and run it on your computer. That might give you at least temporary relief to run a search on the running processes on your box.

[Adollobdeb]

thanks

[itepearce]

Dearest hijacker(s),

You suck.

Sincerely,
HoustonTX

[icyfreshy]

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/filedb/