|
Task
List |
PROGRAM
& |
WHAT
IT IS |
|---|---|---|
| W3dbsmgr |
W3DBSMgr.exe (Pervasive Software) |
Database Service Manager
for Pervasive SQL 2000 Workgroup edition, also called the
Database Engine or the MicroKernel engine. It runs on the
workgroup PC which you have designated as the Pervasive SQL
server and shows as an icon in the System Tray if it is started
by the Startup Folder, otherwise there is no icon in the
System Tray if it is started via the Registry. Recommendation : If you use Pervasive SQL, you need the Database Engine to be running, so you should leave this task alone. That said, the Database Engine, W3DBSMGR, has a tendency to crash or freeze the PC it is running on if it is started at boot-up via the Startup folder at the same time as other programs – our recommendation in this scenario is that you take the Database Engine out of the Startup and start it manually when all the other auto-started programs have finished opening. |
| Wanmpsvc |
WanMPSvc.exe (AOL – America Online) |
WAN MiniPort Service
installed by AOL 7.0 and later versions on Windows 2000/XP
systems. Recommendation : Irrelevant to the VAST majority of AOL users, if not all of them. Some users, however, have reported errors with this service. We advise therefore that you go into "Control Panel \ Administrative Tools \ Services" and set this service to Manual. |
| Waol |
WAOL.exe (AOL – America Online) |
WAOL.exe is actually the
main AOL program, not to be confused with AOL.exe which is a
System Tray icon for AOL. Recommendation : None – you have the main AOL program open, which is why WAOL is showing in your Task List. |
| Watch |
Watch.exe (Mustek, ScanMagic & others) |
Direct Scan System Tray
utility installed by the Twain drivers for Mustek and ScanMagic
scanners, and possibly other makes of scanners. In this case
"Direct Scan" is not quite what its name normally implies when
used in conjunction with other scanners. Here WATCH is simply a
green System Tray icon which depicts a scanner. When you
double-click on it it brings up the scanning software that came
with the scanner and its Twain drivers, and it enables you to
scan or call up other utilities to do with your scanner. Recommendation : This icon is larger than most System Tray icons, and it is so life-like and so noticeable, it actually makes remembering how to start the scanner, dead easy. We find it very user friendly as a result and recommend keeping it. |
| Watchdog (1) |
Watchdog.exe (Mustek, ScanMagic & others) |
One of the strangest
background tasks we’ve ever come across. This task, installed
by the drivers for older generations of Mustek scanners, simply
turns the scanner light ON when it is scanning, and OFF when the
scanner is idle !!! Hilarious. Recommendation : If this task is not running the scanner light is ON all the time (!!!) which can be confusing for the end-user who may think there is something wrong with the scanner. Leave alone therefore. |
| Watchdog (2) |
Watchdog.exe (Compaq) |
Compaq Internet Watchdog
program. We have as yet no idea as to what this task does.
Recommendation : |
| Wbload |
WBLoad.exe (Stardock Corp) |
WindowBlinds Load module.
This startup item loads WindowBlinds at Windows boot-up.
WindowBlinds is primarily a "skin" utility which enables you to
change the way your Windows environment looks, much like the
Windows Schemes in the Appearance tab of Display
Properties (Control Panel). It also boasts certain security
features to enable you to restrict what specific users can do
while in Windows. Recommendation : You need this startup item if you want WindowBlinds to start when Windows starts. However, if you are troubleshooting PC startup problems this should be one of the first items you temporarily disable during your troubleshooting experiments. |
| Wcescomm |
Wcescomm.exe (Microsoft) |
Microsoft ActiveSync
Connection Manager. ActiveSync is Microsoft’s free
Synchronization manager which enables you to synchronize your
Windows CE based handheld/palm-size PC with your desktop PC.
You can synchronize documents but also e-mail and calendaring
items. WCESCOMM starts whenever the PC boots up and runs in the
background in the System Tray until it detects that a Pocket PC
has been connected to your PC, at which points it shows up to
begin the synchronization process. Recommendation : One of the most common problems with ActiveSync is the WCESCOMM process hanging because ActiveSync encountered problems during synchronization. When that happens the user often has no option but to shutdown and restart his PC before ActiveSync will again recognize his Pocket PC. Another issue is WCESCOMM interfering with your connection to a network, or preventing the user from using some of his serial or USB ports with other software. Finally, when not in use, WCESCOMM can often still consume up to 10% of CPU processing time ! Disabling it with Startup Manager does not work because it is re-installed as a startup item the next time you manually start ActiveSync ! If you have any of the above problems, download ActiveSyncToggle from our Downloads page – it enables you to stop and start ActiveSync (in the shape of WCESCOMM) as and when you really need it. |
| Wcmdmgr |
Wcmdmgr.exe (Wild Tangent) |
Wild Tangent’s Automated
Support Engine for their Web Driver. The Wild Tangent web
driver is used in many applications, from games to MP3 players. Recommendation : This program is not required; its sole purpose is to enable Wild Tangent to automatically support new hardware through the feedback that it gets from this program over your Internet connection. Our recommendation, therefore, is that you stop it from running. To do that find the Wild Tangent icon in the Control Panel, then the "Automatic Updater" tab, and clear the "Automatic Updater enabled" checkbox. Next, disable WCMDMGR with Startup Manager. |
| Weather |
Weather.exe (AWS Convergence Technologies Inc.) |
System Tray application
which informs you of weather alerts in your area or in whichever
United States area you want to monitor. It displays in the
System Tray as the current temperature of the area you are
monitoring – you can then right-click on the icon to access
various configuration options, or you can double-click on it for
a more expanded and expansive summary of the weather. Although
the free version is sponsored by advertising, this is one of the
few ad sponsored apps which we would tolerate as it is, quite
simply, extremely useful for some people : those living in
coastline, river valleys, mountain or tornado areas, long-range
commuters, etc.. Recommendation : Of no use if you find this on your new computer and you do not live in the United States, in which case de-install it via the Control Panel. Otherwise we have not had any report of problems caused by WEATHER. |
| Webcolct |
Webcolct.exe (Logitech) |
Background task installed
with the Logitech MouseWare 9.x software and which drives an
on-screen Internet browser integrated "web wheel". The
WebWheel is a programmable on-screen ... wheel which
enables you to access, through the click of the mouse, up to 5
web addresses, as well as some of the most common browser
commands (Forward, Back, Favorites, Reload current page, Stop
loading page). Our Thanks to the AnswersThatWork user who
pointed us to the right information. Recommendation : Without this task the WebWheel will not work. Thus it is up to you as to whether you like and use that facility, in which case you should keep this task, or whether you have no use for it, in which case you can disable this task with Starter. |
| Webscanx |
WebScanX.exe (McAfee) |
McAfee’s Web and ActiveX
Scanner. WebScanX was originally available as a separate
product from McAfee’s antivirus products, but with web use now
prevalent everywhere, it is nowadays integrated with all their
antivirus products. The WEBSCANX task resides in the background
and scans your Internet downloads for viruses; it also provides
you with e-mail protection by scanning e-mail attachments, and,
finally, it also watches out for malicious code in the Java and
ActiveX applets on the web pages you access. Recommendation : In theory this task is essential for comprehensive protection of your PC using McAfee products, and we would normally suggest to leave it alone. However, at the time of writing, 2-Jan-2003, security holes, and medium to dramatic negative performance effects when browsing the web, were found in WEBSCANX between June 2002 and now, and McAfee was notified by various users, particularly, in our experience, AOL users who had at times intractable problems when WEBSCANX was running. Some McAfee/Network Associates answers to users actually suggested to disable WEBSCANX to alleviate the slowness problems. Now in 2003 McAfee may have produced some fixes, so ensure that all your McAfee products are fully updated with program updates as well as virus definitions updates. If that does not solve the problem, disable WEBSCANX with Starter – the vast majority of websites are safe; simply remember to manually virus scan every file you download, and be careful with email attachments. |
| Webshotstray |
WebShotsTray.exe (Twofold Photos Inc) |
Main component of the
Webshots Desktop software which enables you to display, as
screensaver, quality photographs from the Webshots.com website.
You can also configure the software to automatically download
photos, share photos, and more. This task also displays a
System Tray icon for the end-user to access the Webshots
facilities. Recommendation : You can terminate this task by right-clicking on the System Tray icon and exiting it; however, you do lose the Webshots screensaver features if you do so. |
|
Webtrap Webtrapnt |
WebTrap.exe WebTrapNT.exe (Trend Micro) |
WebTrap is a feature of
Trend Micro's PC-Cillin antivirus software which
integrates with your web browser and attempts to protect your PC
from malicious Java or ActiveX code on the Internet pages that
you access. WebTrap also enables you to block out specific URLs
(web page addresses) which you do not want to access, whether
wilfully or unknowingly. WEBTRAP runs on Win9x/ME while
WEBTRAPNT runs on WinNT4/2000/XP. Recommendation : We have seen or received too many reports of intractable Internet browsing problems with this feature enabled, including from AOL Tech Support Engineers amongst others, so our advice has to be that you disable this feature from within your PC-Cillin antivirus software. |
| Wf2k |
Wf2k.exe (Leadtek) |
System Tray task installed
by the drivers for the WinFast series of Leadtek graphics
cards. This app enables the user to monitor or overclock their
graphics card !!! Recommendation : Irrelevant to most users. Disable with Starter. |
|
Wflmgr32 |
Wflmgr32.exe |
This
is a background program which runs when you have Novell
GroupWise 5.5 running. |
| Wfxmod |
WFxMod.exe WFxMod32.exe (Symantec) |
WinFax Pro Modem Support
Functions Task / Service. Recommendation : Leave alone unless you have problems with it, in which case consult us. |
| Wfxsnt40 |
Wfxsnt40.exe (Symantec) |
WinFax Fax Port Launcher
task. This task will also show as a Delrina product, which is
what WinFax used to be before it was bought by Symantec, and it
will also show as a Windows XP WinFax Printer Driver because the
faxing feature within Windows XP is from WinFax. This task
appears only on Windows NT4/2000/XP. Recommendation : Absolutely essential to the proper functioning of WinFax, you will not be able to fax without it. Leave alone. |
| Wfxsvc |
WFXSvc.exe (Symantec) |
WinFax Pro Service –
WinNT4/2000/XP. This service handles most fax functions of
WinFax Pro. Recommendation : Essential to the proper functioning of WinFax Pro. |
| Whagent |
WHAgent.exe (webHancer Corporation) |
The main component of
webHancer. First, what webHancer Corporation say about
webHancer : "webHancer Customer Companion resides on the
end-user’s computer where it transparently monitors Internet
performance. It measures overall network/site delay and the
performance times experienced by actual end-users. It
unobtrusively measures DNS lookups, TCP connect and web-page
download performance which includes DNS Lookup Time, Response
Time, Network Round Trip Time, Load Time, Connection Delay,
Access Speed. webHancer sends information about web sites you
have visited back to a webHancer server. This information is
used by e-business sites to help improve the performance of
their sites, in turn improving the surfing experience of
end-users like you." Our translation : spyware. Software like this has no business being on your PC. We consider it an invasion of the end-user privacy. In most cases webHancer comes bundled with free or cheaply priced software. Versions of Audio Galaxy, iMesh, and Wildcat Web Optimizer include it. Recommendation : Any software like webHancer which sends information back to a central server about almost any Internet activity that you perform, will inevitably have a negative performance effect on your Internet browsing, particularly if you connect via modem or ISDN, rather than via ADSL or Cable Modem. As if this were not enough webHancer sometimes prevents the installation of software (WinZip), it crashes too often on bootup with illegal operations, PCs suffer blue screens or illegal operations mentioning WHAGENT. But it gets worse : hastily getting rid of webHancer will in most cases either prevent your PC from accessing the Internet, or you will suffer endless crashes in your browser. Unbelievable, and unacceptable. This is virus-like behaviour, pure and simple. It is our view that webHancer is about the worst piece of spyware there is. The best way we have found of getting rid of webHancer is : (1) Remove webHancer Customer Companion through the "Add\Remove Programs" icon in the Control Panel. (2) Next, reboot. (3) Finally, download SpyBot Search & Destroy from our downloads page, install it, run it, and say yes to the removal of any remaining webHancer components. If you are lucky, this will work and you will be able to access the Internet without crashes. If not, you will need to go to the webHancer website, www.webhancer.com, download "webHancer Customer Companion", install it, reboot your PC, remove "webHancer Customer Companion" through the "Add/Remove Programs" icon in the Control Panel, reboot, install and run SpyBot Search & Destroy, and.... hope. If you still experience problems after this, then you have serious problems and you should contact us via our PC Query form. |
| WhenUSave |
Save.exe (WhenU.com) |
See SAVENOW. |
| Win32_i |
WIN32_I.exe (Searchbarcash.com, CDT Inc???) |
Although we are not sure
yet, at the time of writing, 22-Jun-2003, we believe this
task/service to be an Internet Explorer add-on search bar which
some websites promote and which is related to Searchbarcash.com.
Typically, the end-user will be coaxed into downloading a
"brilliant new and powerful search facility add-on". If the
user decides to take up the offer, he will find himself
redirected to the SearchBarCash.com website for the downloading
of the search bar, and will eventually end up with this task.
The website which promotes the SearchBarCash toolbar receives a
fee for every successful download of the search bar. Recommendation : Although this is a very new product, if our observations are correct, this is adware, as the three PCs we have seen with this task, suffered endless irritating advertising popups. To remove, remove anything called "SearchBarCash" in "Add/Remove Programs" in the Control Panel and disable this task with Starter. |
|
Winampa |
Winampa.exe |
Background
task from Winamp which has two purposes : on the
one hand it provides the Winamp System Tray icon, and on the
other it maintains file associations so that other
applications do not take over file associations which Winamp
normally handles. As a System Tray icon Winamp is rarely
used; most users use Winamp through double-clicking on an MP3
file rather than through actually starting it through
Start \ Programs. Therefore, for most users there
is no need for a Tray icon which just adds to the
clutter. More worryingly, in our experience WINAMPA
seems to cause unexplained crashes in Netscape and Internet
Explorer, and a few other programs. Disabling WINAMPA
totally seemingly gets rid of the crashes. |
| Winkdrj, Winkhgw, Winkhr, Winkhy, Winklvr, Winkly, Winkmc, Winknk, Winknsj, Winkoc, Winkoq, Winkrlg, Winksuc, Winktn, Winkvhc, Winkxd, Winkxjm, Winkyb, | ??? | You have the KLEZ virus !!! |
| Winlogon |
WinLogon.exe (Microsoft) |
Windows NT4/2000/XP Logon
application. This process manages users’ logons and logoffs on
your PC/Server. The window which pops up and prompts you for
your username and password, or which allows you to logoff or
shutdown, is the WINLOGON process. Recommendation : An integral part of the operating system, leave alone. |
|
Winmgmt |
WinMgmt.exe |
Windows
Management Instrumentation from Microsoft. WMI enables
you to write scripts for the management of devices, user
accounts, services, networking, and other aspects of your
Windows 98/ME/NT/2000 system. |
| Winnet |
Winnet.exe (CommonName Ltd) |
Background task installed
by the CommonName Internet Explorer Add-on toolbar. This
toolbar enables you to enter keywords or short phrases which
will take you straight to the website of the organisation that
might have bought those keywords, or phrases (or a close match)
from CommonName. So, for example, if CNN had bought the phrase
"World News" and you typed "world news" in the
CommonName toolbar, it would take you straight to the CNN
website. CommonName often comes bundled with file sharing
programs such as iMesh and older versions of Kazaa. Recommendation : In our opinion this is a useless system for the simple reason that, in the grand scheme of things, only a few companies have subscribed to the service. If the vast majority of the world’s websites operate outside of CommonName, what is the point of using the CommonName toolbar !!? To make matters worse, however, WINNET often misbehaves by hogging up to 90% of CPU time resulting in the PC slowing down to a crawl. We recommend de-installing anything to do with CommonName through the "Add/Remove Program" icon in the Control Panel, and then running Spybot from our Downloads library to complete the cleanup process. |
|
Winoldap |
Winoldap.exe |
Windows
module, required to run MS-DOS based applications, and which
is auto-started when Windows is asked to run an MS-DOS
application. In general, therefore, this module will
only ever appear in the Task List when you also have MS-DOS
based applications running. |
| Winpppoverethernet |
WinPPPOverEthernet.exe (Fine Point Technologies) |
Background task for WinPoET.
WinPoET is a program which provides support for PPPoE
(Point-to-Point Protocol Over Ethernet). For the layman PPPoE
is a technology which enables your ISP to connect you to
DSL/ADSL access in a manner that looks to you as if you are
connecting via a standard modem, except that you are in fact
connecting via a network card. Putting aside what you may have
been told by your ISP, the only and real reason for using this
technology is to enable your ISP to provide broadband DSL access
while at the same time not having to go through costly
modifications of their authentication infrastructure
(authentication is the process of verifying that you are an
authorised user of your ISP’s network, and then letting you
access the Internet). WinPoET, and others like it, was invented
in the early days of DSL to enable ISPs to embrace DSL at vastly
reduced costs to them since they could use their
existing infrastructure with very few changes. In 2002 and beyond, most new DSL
services are provided without such software with the ISPs
providing the end-user with DSL routers. Recommendation : If WINPPPOVERETHERNET is running on your PC, and it was provided by your current ISP, then you need it, period. |
| Winsrvc |
Winsrvc.exe (Permissioned Media) |
You have the
W32.Friendgreet.worm worm virus (not quite a virus – read
on). This background task is installed by electronic greetings
cards which users send to each other for fun unaware of its
worm-like activities. At the time of writing, November 2002,
there is a debate as to whether this should really be classified
as a virus given that on receipt and opening of the electronic
greeting cards, users are warned, by way of a License Agreement
screen, of the fact that answering Yes will mean that they
consent to the software installing itself on their PC and
e-mailing persons in their Microsoft Outlook Contacts list with
an e-mail inviting them to download FriendGreetings or related
products. The problem is, very very few users actually read
License Agreements, so most users end up clicking Yes and
installing something on their PC which they probably would never
have entertained having ! It is for this reason, and
because of pressure from corporate customers, that antivirus
software manufacturers such as Symantec are now treating WINSRVC
as a virus. Recommendation : The above notwithstanding, every PC that we have ourselves dealt with and which had WINSRVC in its Task List, had problems, some of them extremely severe. Make no mistake, in our experience this is a nightmarish background task; so, virus or not a virus, you should remove WINSRVC from your system. Removing WINSRVC is not simple – this Symantec page shows you how to do it if you have Norton AntiVirus. |
| Winssk32 |
WinSSK32.exe (???) |
You have the Sobig.E virus. |
| Wintasks |
WinTasks.exe (LI Utilities Inc) |
You have WinTasks
configured to run in the System Tray. Recommendation : Down to end-user preference. |
| Winword |
Winword.exe (Microsoft) |
You have Microsoft Word open. |
|
Wkcalrem |
WkCalRem.exe |
The
Microsoft Works Calendar Reminders background task. It
pops up reminders whenever a scheduled event in your Works
calendar is coming up. |
| Wkdetect |
WKDetect.exe (Microsoft) |
A background program which
automatically looks for updates to Microsoft Works when you are
connected to the Internet. This is a rare one for Microsoft as
Microsoft does not usually indulge in this practice. Recommendation : We are against all programs which look for updates and/or update your software in the background, for one reason only : updates are sometimes worse than the present version ! In our view the process of updating your software should be : backup your data, read about what the updates are for, then update deliberately if you still feel there is ground for updating the software. Disable this item by clearing "Check for updates online" in "Tools \ Options" in Microsoft PictureIt and, possibly, some of the other Microsoft Works programs. Then, disable in Startup Manager too. |
| Wkfud |
WKFUD.exe (Microsoft) |
Microsoft Works Marketing
Feature. This is a strange one – no-one has any idea as to what
it does, and we have not found or received any Microsoft
information about it. So we cannot tell you what it does except
that we are 100% certain that it is not necessary
for the correct functioning of Microsoft Works 6/2000/2002. Recommendation : Disable with Startup Manager, particularly under Windows XP as it causes crashes on XP boot-up. |
| Wkscal |
WksCal.exe (Microsoft) |
Microsoft Works Calendar. You have the Microsoft Works Calendar open. |
| Wkssb |
WksSb.exe (Microsoft) |
Microsoft Works Portfolio
which comes as part of Microsoft Works 6 or later. Portfolio
enables you to drag documents from the Internet into the modules
of Microsoft Works (wordprocessor, spreadsheet, etc...) via the
Portfolio. Recommendation : If you do not use this facility you can disable it by going into the "Tasks \ Options" menu option in Portfolio and then clearing the "Start the Works Portfolio every time I start Windows" box. |
| Wkufind |
WkUFind.exe (Microsoft) |
Microsoft Works 2002
PictureIt! update detector. Another auto-update feature that
you should turn off ! If you are not convinced, then this from
a Microsoft document should convince you : "You may notice
that when this feature runs your computer may freeze or the
program may try to update itself.... You may also notice that
the computer will try to dial your Internet Service Provider,
connect to the Internet, and download any updates." Recommendation : Turn the feature off. Auto-updating is the worst feature to ever have ON in any computer program. (1) Open PictureIt!. (2) Open a picture. (3) Choose the Tools \ Options menu option. (4) Clear the "Check for updates online" option. (5) Close PictureIt!. (6) Reboot your PC. If that still does not get rid of WKUFIND, then also disable it in Startup Manager. |
| Wmencagt |
WMEncAgt.exe (Microsoft) |
Windows Media Encoder
Agent. This task enables you to use your Windows Media Encoder
remotely from another system. Recommendation : This is a potential security hole on your PC and we cannot think of anyone who would want to use such an esoteric feature. Disable in Startup Manager. |
|
Wmexe |
WMexe.exe |
Background
program which gets installed with the 3Com or US Robotics
Winmodem type of modems. |
| Wmiexe |
Wmiexe.exe (Microsoft) |
Microsoft’s Windows
Management Instrumentation (WMI). Windows Management
Instrumentation provides a standard Windows programming method
of accessing system information, performance information, event
monitors, and application monitors. Thus, for instance, if you
wanted to write a product which detailed which hard disks your
PC has, their capacity, manufacturer, and other miscellaneous
information, you could use WMI scripting to retrieve the
information from your PC. In fact you could use WMI for
something as simple as finding how much spare hard disk space
you have. WMI is an essential component of Windows from Windows
98 SE and Windows 2000 onward. In Windows 98/ME WMIEXE is a
transparent task visible only through Starter. Recommendation : Leave this task alone. If you are experiencing errors which mention WMIEXE, then your problem is not strictly with WMIEXE, but with something else on your PC – contact us. |
| Wmnvram |
Wmnvram.exe (US Robotics / 3Com) |
Software driver for some US
Robotics WinModems. Recommendation : Essential to the proper operation of the modem – leave alone. |
| Wnad |
WNAD.exe (?) |
Horrendous background
software which results in endless advertisements opening when
you browse the web, in computer crashes, in weird and worrying
behaviour of software on your PC, in reduced Internet bandwidth,
and sometimes in an inability to boot your PC up. WNAD
constantly polls back to an ad server on the Internet and
results in endless advertisements when you surf the web : we
call this adware. WNAD gets installed when you view or install
specific jokey animated jokes or software, the most known such
software being "Yo Mama Osama". Recommendation : We have not seen a single PC which ran WNAD and which was not suffering from some minor or major instability. Remove at once ! To remove, download and install SpyBot Search & Destroy from our Downloads section, and then run it – it will remove all WNAD software. |
|
Wnconnect |
WNConnect |
Data
extraction module of the STARS accounting system (STARS –
Store Total Accounting & Retail System). |
| Wncsmserver |
WnCSMServer (AT&T WorldNet) |
Background task seen on PCs
which connect to the AT&T WorldNet Internet service and
which use the AT&T provided dialler. WNCSMSERVER is a module
which gets installed with the AT&T dialler and which interfaces
with the AT&T WorldNet Registration Servers for user logins
(Login ID, Password) and which also downloads new AT&T Access
Numbers. Recommendation : Essential to the proper operation of the AT&T dialler – leave alone. |
| Wowexec |
WOWExec.exe (Microsoft) |
Windows on Windows
Executable environment process, or more specifically Win16 on
Win32 – it runs on Windows NT4/2000/XP. WOWEXEC is started by
NTVDM. As explained elsewhere on these pages, NTVDM is itself
started every time you run a 16-bit program (this may be a DOS
program, a Windows 3.1 program, or even a program designed for
Windows 9x/NT4 but which has a mixture of 16-bit and 32-bit
programming code). Recommendation : Leave alone – see NTVDM for more details. |
| Wqk |
Wqk.exe / Wqk.dll (???) |
You have the KLEZ virus. |
| Wuauboot |
WUAUBoot.exe (Microsoft) |
Microsoft Post Boot
Auto-Update task for Windows Millennium Edition. WUAUBOOT does
pretty much the same job as WUAUCLT below, except that it tries
to auto-update your PC a few minutes after it has successfully
booted up and only if it is able to find an opened connection to
the Internet. If it does not find a connection to the Internet,
it terminates. In short, WUAUBOOT works at boot-ups while
WUAUCLT works on an internal hard coded repeat timer (24-hours). Recommendation : We recommend against having any sort of AutoUpdate feature turned ON for operating systems. If your system works, do not fix it. Updates should be manually controlled as the downside, if something goes wrong, is potentially an unusable PC. Turn OFF Automatic Update as follows : "Start \ Settings \ Control Panel \ Automatic Updates \ Turn OFF automatic updating". Then reboot your PC. |
|
Wuauclt |
Wuauclt.exe |
Microsoft
AutoUpdate for Windows Millennium Edition. Whenever you
connect to the Internet, WUAUCLT checks the Microsoft website
for updates to Windows Millennium Edition. |
| Wucrtupd |
WUCrtUpd.exe (Microsoft) |
Windows Update Critical
Update Notification. This will appear in your Task List if you
did a Windows Update at some stage and installed the "Critical
Update Notification" component. In some versions this
process is scheduled to run every 5 minutes and you cannot
change the schedule (under Windows 98 you can get round it with
the "sucrtupd" technique, but not under other versions of
Windows). Recommendation : Do not walk, run to your "Add/Remove Programs" icon in the Control Panel and immediately de-install Microsoft Windows Critical Updates Notification. The consequences of some Microsoft Critical Updates have been such that the last thing you need is something to remind you, and therefore entice you to update your Windows environment with the very latest bug fix (which is what critical updates really are) from Microsoft. It is not just that some of those updates have been quite simply disastrous (remember May/June 2002 ?), it is also that too often for our liking, the full consequences of installing some of those updates are not always clearly spelt out by Microsoft. Yes, some of those updates are needed from a security point of view, but in 98% of cases if you either run a good firewall or your PC is configured securely, then you are protected anyway, so do not fix what doesn’t need fixing. It is best that you simply do a Windows Update once every two or three months, say, and only at times when you do not require your PC urgently in the following 24 hours ! Finally, quite aside from the above, WUCRTUPD is also sometimes responsible for illegal operations, 3-seconds mouse freezes, WULOADER error messages, and Invalid Page Faults in KERNEL32. Have we said enough ? |
| Wuloader |
WULoader.exe (Microsoft) |
Microsoft’s Windows Update
Critical Update loader. This task will only appear in your Task
List if you installed the Microsoft Critical Update Notification
(via a Windows Update in most cases). In addition to the well
publicised "Invalid Page Fault" problems with
WULOADER,
two other downsides are that WULOADER by default accesses the
Microsoft website every 5 minutes and, when it is running,
ScanDisk and Defrag will restart endlessly and will not be able
to complete. Recommendation : De-install Windows Critical Update Notification via the "Add/Remove Programs" icon in the Control Panel. You are not missing anything. Simply run a Windows Update once a month to see if there are some critical updates you should install. Note, before you install a critical update, check with us first to see if that update is "safe", otherwise, as has sometimes happened with Microsoft updates, your PC could end up critically disabled. |
|
Wzqkpick |
Wzqkpick.exe |
Introduced
with WinZip in version 8.1. This is the System Tray icon
task which enables you to start with WinZip from the System
Tray. |