List of Programs running in task bar and how they were started.

[Frank Church]

Is there a way of getting the names of the executables running in Task
Bar and how they were started?

I have come across a particularly persistent virus program calling
itself Windows Antivirus 2007/8 and Vista Antivirus 2008, which users of
this forum have probably come across before.

In one instance I have been able to disable it by using the msconfig
program to disable every strange looking program, and leave the rest to
a genuine AV checker.

Knowing which programs are running and which registry settings launched
them or what other programs launched them will be very useful.

An ideas?

 

[Malke]

Is there a way of getting the names of the executables running in Task
Bar and how they were started?

I have come across a particularly persistent virus program calling
itself Windows Antivirus 2007/8 and Vista Antivirus 2008, which users of
this forum have probably come across before.

In one instance I have been able to disable it by using the msconfig
program to disable every strange looking program, and leave the rest to
a genuine AV checker.

Knowing which programs are running and which registry settings launched
them or what other programs launched them will be very useful.

It is always useful to know what is running on your computer but, except in
rare cases, that won't get rid of Antivirus 2007/08. To see what
programs/processes are running, use Task Manager. If you don't recognize
something, Google it. You can also use Process Monitor (free) to see what
called a particular process. This is useful when you have a lot of
svchost.exe processes (as is usual).

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/default.mspx - Sysinternals
(now at MS)

To remove Antivirus 2007/08, here is my usual response:

*****
Your system is infected with a rogue antivirus program. It is called "rogue"
because it pretends to be A Good Guy but is really Evil. Do not pay them!

Here are removal steps:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/malware-removal/uninstall-antivirus-2009
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic154529.html (earlier versions)

These may work for you and all may be well. However, in many cases the
computer will also be infected with Zlob and/or Vundo trojans and protected
by a rootkit. These machines are extremely difficult to clean.

If your machine is one of these cases, either get guided help at one of the
specialty forums below OR back up your data and do a clean install of
Windows. It is your choice. If you are unsure how to back up your data or
how to do a clean install, you can take your machine to a local computer
professional. I don't recommend using BigComputerStore/GeekSquad types of
places.

PLEASE DO NOT POST LOGS IN THE MS NEWSGROUPS.

http://aumha.net/ - Click on the HijackThis forum. Read the announcement and
the stickies *first*.
http://www.atribune.org/forums/index.php?showforum=9
http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum22.html
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/cleanup
http://www.cybertechhelp.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=25Look
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/Malware_Removal_HiJackThis_Logs_Go_Here-f37.html
http://gladiator-antivirus.com/forum/index.php?showforum=170
http://spywarewarrior.com/viewforum.php?f=5
http://forums.techguy.org/54-security/
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/
*****

Malke

 

[Frank Church]

It is always useful to know what is running on your computer but, except in
rare cases, that won't get rid of Antivirus 2007/08. To see what
programs/processes are running, use Task Manager. If you don't recognize
something, Google it. You can also use Process Monitor (free) to see what
called a particular process. This is useful when you have a lot of
svchost.exe processes (as is usual).

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/default.mspx - Sysinternals
(now at MS)

To remove Antivirus 2007/08, here is my usual response:

*****
Your system is infected with a rogue antivirus program. It is called "rogue"
because it pretends to be A Good Guy but is really Evil. Do not pay them!

Here are removal steps:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/malware-removal/uninstall-antivirus-2009
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic154529.html (earlier versions)

These may work for you and all may be well. However, in many cases the
computer will also be infected with Zlob and/or Vundo trojans and protected
by a rootkit. These machines are extremely difficult to clean.

If your machine is one of these cases, either get guided help at one of the
specialty forums below OR back up your data and do a clean install of
Windows. It is your choice. If you are unsure how to back up your data or
how to do a clean install, you can take your machine to a local computer
professional. I don't recommend using BigComputerStore/GeekSquad types of
places.

PLEASE DO NOT POST LOGS IN THE MS NEWSGROUPS.

http://aumha.net/ - Click on the HijackThis forum. Read the announcement and
the stickies *first*.
http://www.atribune.org/forums/index.php?showforum=9
http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/forum22.html
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/cleanup
http://www.cybertechhelp.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=25Look
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/Malware_Removal_HiJackThis_Logs_Go_Here-f37.html
http://gladiator-antivirus.com/forum/index.php?showforum=170
http://spywarewarrior.com/viewforum.php?f=5
http://forums.techguy.org/54-security/
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/
*****

Malke

The problem with Task Manager is it doesn't show the path to the running
executable, so a trojan masquerading as a standard windows program
cannot be easily spotted.

I think I should have said Tray Icon programs rather than task bar. The
title is probably misleading

 

[Malke]

The problem with Task Manager is it doesn't show the path to the running
executable, so a trojan masquerading as a standard windows program
cannot be easily spotted.

I think I should have said Tray Icon programs rather than task bar. The
title is probably misleading

I understood what you meant. Look at the various Sysinternals' tools at the
link I already gave you.

Malke

 

[Phillip]

If you are using Windows Vista , then use Vista Manager . It shows all
the process inclucing Microsoft services or non Microsoft services .
If you think one of the service seems to be malware or virus , then
you can easily google it by single clicking the button . By the way ,
it is the useful software for all of Windows Vista users .

 

[Malke]

If you are using Windows Vista , then use Vista Manager . It shows all
the process inclucing Microsoft services or non Microsoft services .
If you think one of the service seems to be malware or virus , then
you can easily google it by single clicking the button . By the way ,
it is the useful software for all of Windows Vista users .

Since he posted in a Windows XP newsgroup, I'm going to assume that's the
operating system he's running.

Malke