Re: My system is haunted!
- From: Bruce Chambers <bchambers@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:27:27 -0600
BAL007 wrote:
This is not a joke! I started to hear sporadically some music and voice on my PC, like if I was listening to a radio station; I have no such application on my system. When this is happening, only ordinary applications (like Outlook or Word) are running. Stopping all the applications does not make any difference. When it happens, I have noticed that a process called 17134.exe is running and is consuming quite a lot of memory space. At start-up of my system, the original memory space used by that process is around 2000K but when I start hearing the sounds, the amount of memory used is around 58000K and varying; it uses between 10 to 30% of CPU. If I stop the process, the situation goes back to normal, no more sounds. The description of the process is “Unload PerfMon Counters”. I looked for a file named 17134.exe on my disk but there is no such file. When I start my system, I have a window with an error message: 17134.exe application error, click OK to terminate the program. The process is recreated automatically. I make sure that my anti-virus is always up-to-date and I ran a full scan on my system. Nothing unusual was detected. I would like to know if that process is legitimate, and why it behaves like that. Any thoughts?
The file "17134.exe" is most certainly not legitimate, and is a sure sign that whatever anti-virus application you're using is not adequate protection. Not that the file is necessarily a virus, per se, but it is certainly not a welcome addition to your system. What other anti-malware measures have you taken? Remember, there are several types of malware, and many of them are not detected by purely anti-virus applications.
As you're getting an error message that clearly indicates that the program is trying to initiate each time you start Windows, the first thing you should do is use MSConfig to determine how the file program is starting, and where it's located.
This Knowledge Base Article refers to WinXP, but the same principles apply in Vista:
How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;310560
Remember, Msconfig was designed to be a troubleshooting tool, not a "startup configurer." Use MSConfig to determine the location of the command that is attempting to start the program, and remove it. To cease the selective startup notifications, either return your settings to the way they were, or permanently remove the undesirable programs from your startup configuration.
Additionally, in Vista, Windows Defender can be used to monitor/control Startup programs. To use Windows Defender, click the Orb > Control Panel > Windows Defender > Tools > Software Explorer and select the "Startup Programs" category.
Additionally, AutoRuns from Sysinternals is a bit more complicated, but it'll provide the same (and much more) information and capabilities:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/SystemInformation/Autoruns.mspx
I'd also have to conclude that the reason you've failed, so far, to find the file is that you've unwisely left Windows Explorer's default settings, and haven't re-enabled the capabilities to see and search for hidden or "system" files.
--
Bruce Chambers
Help us help you:
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http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375
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The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
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