Multiple Processes Running

[Walt McKinney]

I have had several occassions where duplicate processes are running on the
same machine. This causes all sorts of machine problems. The duplications
are not related to a single program, or single computer. This has happened
on several machines on our network (XP Pro workstations).

The duplications are usually one of the following programs:

WINWORD.EXE (MS Word)
OUTLOOK.EXE (MS Outlook)
IEXPLORE.EXE (Internet Explorer)

In some cases, there may be 4 or 5 duplicates listed under task manager when
the parent program has been closed.

Once the process is 'killed' manually, the program will restart
successfully. Does anyone know why this happens? I can't seem to find an
explanation anywhere. Maybe it's just me!

Thanks,
Walt

 

[Walter Clayton]

I have had several occassions where duplicate processes are running on the
same machine. This causes all sorts of machine problems. The duplications
are not related to a single program, or single computer. This has happened
on several machines on our network (XP Pro workstations).

The duplications are usually one of the following programs:

WINWORD.EXE (MS Word)
OUTLOOK.EXE (MS Outlook)
IEXPLORE.EXE (Internet Explorer)

In some cases, there may be 4 or 5 duplicates listed under task manager
when the parent program has been closed.

Once the process is 'killed' manually, the program will restart
successfully. Does anyone know why this happens? I can't seem to find an
explanation anywhere. Maybe it's just me!

Thanks,
Walt

It's not you and it's something that I've seen from time to time. Although
not with IE.
In some instances if an application doesn't exit cleanly or completely then
launching another instance can be problematic. Office products seem the
worst but the behavior isn't limited to Office products. The only thing I
can figure is the app is waiting on an event that never completes.