NTVDM.exe

[Guest]

I have a problem with my system slowing to a crawl about every minute or so
for a couple of seconds. Sometimes for 2-3 seconds and sometimes for as much
as 10 seconds. When I open task mrg and see what processes are using the
memory I see that NTVDM.exe is using like %70. I have read that this exe file
is used to run 16 bit applications. Is there anything I can do to keep this
from slowing my computer so much? Thanks, samcat84

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Update your antivirus software and run a full system scan.

Do the same for whatever anti-spyware applications that you have.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

Updated both and ran the Lavasoft Ad-ware program.No issues found by any of
those scans.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

So what 16-bit programs are running?

[[1. Start Task Manager. To do so, right-click a blank spot on the taskbar,
and click Task Manager.
2. On the Processes tab, note the contents of the Image Name column.
3. If any 16-bit programs are running, you see an entry for Ntvdm.exe, which
is the virtual DOS machine that is provided by Windows XP. You also see
wowexec.exe (the Windows on Windows subsystem), and the executable name of
each 16-bit program that is running in that WOW virtual machine. As a
helpful visual aid, wowexec.exe and the 16-bit executable file names are
indented. ]]
HOW TO Identify a 16-bit Program in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=320127

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Guest]

I tried to duplicate everything that was running when I had the problem. I
had flight simulator 2004, an add-on weather program named Activesky V6 and
an add-on aircraft that has some gauge files called RealityXP that I believe
to be the only 16 bit program on this machine. I have just opened all that
and, although NTVDM.exe was running and using 80% of the CPU, wow.exe never
appeared! The CPU usage by NTVDM.exe fell to 2-10% and all appeared to be
running fine.
This was an upgrade to XP that came from Gateway. The first time I
installed it I had no problems like this. I had to install a new hard drive
and this problem appeared after the install of Windows at that time. It
affects not only flight simulator, but also online games on MSN. Thanks for
the help, Sam.

So what 16-bit programs are running?

[[1. Start Task Manager. To do so, right-click a blank spot on the taskbar,
and click Task Manager.
2. On the Processes tab, note the contents of the Image Name column.
3. If any 16-bit programs are running, you see an entry for Ntvdm.exe, which
is the virtual DOS machine that is provided by Windows XP. You also see
wowexec.exe (the Windows on Windows subsystem), and the executable name of
each 16-bit program that is running in that WOW virtual machine. As a
helpful visual aid, wowexec.exe and the 16-bit executable file names are
indented. ]]
HOW TO Identify a 16-bit Program in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=320127

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

Updated both and ran the Lavasoft Ad-ware program.No issues found by any
of those scans.