Task List
Name

PROGRAM &
MANUFACTURER

WHAT IT IS
AND WHAT YOU CAN DO
F-stopw F-StopW.exe

(Frisk Software)		 On-Access scanner task for the F-PROT antivirus software. If this task is running your PC is protected in real-time as this task scans in the background each file that you access.  When F-STOPW is running you can also see an icon in the System Tray – if you right-click on the icon you can enable/disable the on-access scanner.

Recommendation :
Essential for the total virus protection of your PC.
Fa_gd32 FA_GD32.exe

(Cybermedia Inc, now McAfee)		 First Aid 98 Windows Guardian.  Once upon a time, in the days of Windows 95/98, a number of companies thought they could write software which would prevent or warn of Windows crashes, which would fix problems in tens of thousands of programs (Gee!!) thanks to constantly updated databases, which would provide safe installation and un-installation of software, and with some of them, which would provide the "System Restore" function which is now part of Windows since Windows Millennium Edition.  Would you know, the majority of these products turned out to cause crashes themselves !!!  Right from day one we never believed in such programs, if only because it is an impossible feat to keep track of all the software produced around the world, of their bugs, of their newest bugs or corrections in their latest versions, etc...  Like most other such programs, First Aid 98 and the company that made it, Cybermedia, eventually disappeared (bought by McAfee/Network Associates in the case of Cybermedia).

Recommendation :
Given that First Aid 98 has been a defunct product for some time, running it in 2002 and beyond without the benefit of program updates that take into account nowadays software, is courting trouble.  You certainly should not run it on anything other than Windows 95/98.  Our view is that if you are still running First Aid you should de-install it.  Note, however, that because of the way in which First Aid interacts with Windows, the de-installation of First Aid may actually cause you instability problems later (catch 22!!).  So, if your PC is currently relatively stable, do not try to fix what doesn’t need fixing, keep First Aid.
Fapiexe FAPIEXE.exe

(Thought Communications Inc.)		 Part of FaxTalk Messenger Pro.

Recommendation :
We have as yet no idea as to what this task does, so our recommendation has to be to leave it alone.
Fast Fast.exe

(Microsoft)		 From the little documentation we have found on this program FAST.EXE seems to be a program that gets installed only with older versions of Microsoft’s PowerToys for Windows XP.

Recommendation :
Microsoft’s recommendation is to upgrade to the latest version of PowerToys for Windows XP, available here.
Fawgrd32 FAWGrd32.exe

(Cybermedia Inc, now McAfee)		 Part of First Aid 98.  Read FA_GD32 above for more details.

Fbdirect

FBDirect.exe

(Visioneer)

Background Task for Visioneer scanners whose purpose seems solely to handle the "one-touch" button of the Visioneer scanners.  It kicks in when the end-user tries to do a direct scan using that one-touch button.

Recommendation :
Since 1999 FBDIRECT has consistently caused problems to end-users :  illegal operations, not responding, "application errors", or "linked to missing export".  This is not good software writing at all. Users who experience all the above can try downloading the latest drivers from our Drivers pages, but that does not always fix the problem.  If the latest drivers do not fix the problem, then disable FBDIRECT with Startup Manager.  The only problem with doing so is that you lose the ability to do direct scans using the one-touch button on the scanner itself – you have to use the software to scan.
Find Fast FindFast.exe

(Microsoft)		 Microsoft Office Find Fast.  This gets installed with Microsoft Office 95/97/2000.  The supposed benefit of Find Fast is that it will enable you to find documents faster from within Microsoft Office.  In practice :  as with TASKMON it makes no visible difference to end-users, particularly on nowadays fast PCs.  Thus, not only is Find Fast a total waste of time, but it is also a very significant annoyance too since, on many PCs, it results in the PC seemingly "freezing" for 2 to 5 seconds.

Recommendation :
Delete using Starter.  Also go into the FindFast icon in the Control Panel and choose the "Index \ Close and Stop" menu option.
Firedaemon Firedaemon.exe You have the Backdoor.NTHack virus.
Flashksk Flashksk.exe

(???)		 Background task installed with the drivers for smartmedia card readers.  We are not sure yet as to what this task actually does.

Recommendation :
Given that we do not know the purpose of this task, we can only recommend to leave it alone.  That said, this task will sometimes generate illegal operations on shutdown or at startup, particularly on Windows 2000 PCs.  Additionally, many users have reported problems being able to eject/shutdown USB devices when this task is running – killing the task usually allows the end-user to eject/shutdown his USB devices.

Flshstat

Flshstat.exe

(Toshiba)

Toshiba’s FlashPath Status Monitor software Tray icon.  The FlashPath Status Monitor software enables you to monitor the performance and possible problems with your FlashPath;  it also enables you to monitor the transfer of your photos from the camera to your PC via the floppy disk drive (using the FlashPath).

Recommendation : 
This Tray icon is not necessary for the good functioning of the FlashPath – it is purely a monitoring program. Unless you use your digital camera on a regular basis, we recommend disabling it with Startup Manager.  Whenever you want to monitor your FlashPath, simply start this monitor program through Start \ Programs \ FlashPath \ FlashPath Status.
Fotostation easy autolaunch FotoStation Easy AutoLaunch.exe

(FotoStation.com / FotoWare.com ???)		 Background task installed when you install the CD that comes with Nikon digital cameras.  That CD installs, amongst other things, FotoStation Easy, a digital images management and editing software package.  FotoStation Easy AutoLaunch pre-loads part of FotoStation in memory so that FotoStation loads faster whenever you decide to run it.

Recommendation :
As with Microsoft’s FindFast, useless on nowadays’ PCs. Disable with Starter.
Fpdisp4

Fpdisp4a		 FpDisp4.exe

FpDisp4a.exe

(FinePrint Software)		 The FinePrint Dispatcher.  This program handles the spooling of print jobs to the FinePrint printer.

Recommendation :
Absolutely essential to the FinePrint software, so leave it alone.
Fppdis1a Fppdis1a.exe

(FinePrint Software)		 FinePrint pdfFactory.  This is the background task which handles the creation of PDF files when you print to the FinePrint pdfFactory printer.

Recommendation :
Absolutely essential to the pdfFactory, so leave it alone.
Ftctrl32 FTCtrl32.exe

(Thought Communications Inc.)		 Background support task for Thought Communications’ FaxTalk Messenger Pro.  This task watches for incoming voice and fax calls so that fax and voice calls can be routed to the appropriate fax and voicemail mailboxes.

Recommendation :
Essential to the proper functioning of FaxTalk. Leave alone.
Ftpqueue FTPQueue.exe

(Ipswitch)		 FTP Queuing utility of the WS-FTP FTP client program from Ipswitch which enables you to schedule FTP jobs for specific times and dates.  It shows up as an icon in the System Tray.

Recommendation :
Very few FTP users actually schedule FTP jobs "for later" !  Unless you are such a user, we recommend disabling FTPQUEUE in Startup Manager.