Something (a process?) runs every two minutes

L

Larry Kahm

A friend has a new HP desktop with Win XP Home. He told me that something
pops up - usually every two minutes - and nothing happens.

I saw the following: stop all active programs, click the desktop, wait a
while, and sure enough, the cursor gets a small hourglass and then returns
to normal. If you are in any other program when this happens, you lose
focus and have to regain it manually.

I'm at a loss as to how to detect what, exactly, is going on.

Do any of you have any suggestions as to how to monitor this to determine
the culprit?

Thanks!

Larry
 
C

Carey Frisch [MVP]

Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by deceptive software
http://support.microsoft.com/?­id=827315

Download Ad-aware SE and scan your PC for the presence of sp­yware:
http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html?part=69274&subj=dlpage&tag=button

Symantec Security Check
http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/default.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym&plfid=23&pkj=YVXRORVWHFHMFNZMBBX

Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...a2-6a57-4c57-a8bd-dbf62eda9671&displaylang=en

Antivirus software: Frequently asked questions
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/antivirus.mspx

Install Avast! antivirus program (FREE)
http://www.avast.com/eng/down_home.html

3 Simple Steps to Help Ensure the Protection of Your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/athom­e/security/protect/default.msp­x

Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxp/choose.mspx

Utilize the following maintenance programs, at least monthly,
to maintain the optimum performance of Windows XP:

Description of the Disk Cleanup Tool in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310312&Product=winxp

How to Perform Disk Error Checking in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315265&Product=winxp

HOW TO: Analyze and Defragment a Disk in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;305781&Product=winxp

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxp/choose.mspx

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| A friend has a new HP desktop with Win XP Home. He told me that something
| pops up - usually every two minutes - and nothing happens.
|
| I saw the following: stop all active programs, click the desktop, wait a
| while, and sure enough, the cursor gets a small hourglass and then returns
| to normal. If you are in any other program when this happens, you lose
| focus and have to regain it manually.
|
| I'm at a loss as to how to detect what, exactly, is going on.
|
| Do any of you have any suggestions as to how to monitor this to determine
| the culprit?
|
| Thanks!
|
| Larry
 
L

Larry Kahm

Thanks - this is more comprehensive than a list I found searching Google
earlier today.
 
D

David Candy

Audit Process Tracking - turn it on and wait 2 minutes then look in the security log. Turn it off.

All terms used can be searched for in Help.
 
L

Larry Kahm

Turns out that Norton Personal Firewall was logging an attempt by MSMSGS.EXE
to access the internet.

Now why msmsgs.exe needs to access the internet every 2 minutes, I have no
idea. But what's annoying is that the NPF log causes the loss of focus by
the current application.

Thanks to everyone for pointing out some really terrific tools.

Larry
 

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