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03-27-2006, 08:21 AM
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#1 |
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Member (6 bit)
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 44
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Mystery program periodically forces Minimize
Since I can't properly diagnose the problem, I'm sticking this in the general WinXP folder in hopes someone has encountered something similar and has a suggestion or solution.
Since Saturday, a mystery program has periodically been executing (or attempting to execute). I know this is happening because the the window, containing a blank icon and no program information, shows up on the taskbar for about a second, then vanishes. This has no apparent effect upon system operation except where full-screen (i.e., non-windowed) programs are concerned, in which case, the execution of the mystery program forces the one I'm working on to minimize. In the case of something like Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, this is absolutely disastrous, as it causes the program to freeze, requiring a forced close from Task Manager. By periodic, I mean it occurs once or twice an hour. During one test, occurrences were spaced exactly one hour apart, at about the top of the hour (:56 after, per the system's internal clock), but this is not consistent. The only serious change contemporaneous with the appearance of the mystery program was an update to HP Image Monitor, including its updater software, so this was obviously the initial suspect. However, disabling the program and removing the associated scheduled event have no apparent effect. In fact, I have tried all of the following without any apparent effect on the operation of the mystery program (except timing): Disabling McAfee ViruScan Disabling Comcast Support Agent Disabling WinZip's TSR Disabling all other non-essential TSR's Rest assured, a complete system scan by McAfee was negative for any viruses. A Spybot sweep similarly failed to correct the problem. Finally, I attempted a System Restore to Wednesday, but the problem is still recurring. So, any suggestions? Here's the system specs: Homebrew Intel P4 3.0GHz w/HT 1 GB DDR RAM 80 GB HDD (primary) 250 GB HDD (secondary) WinXP Home Ed., SP2 ATi RADEON X800 PRO AGP Creative Audigy2 sound card Internet connection--broadband through Comcast What I'm looking for is: (a) some way of identifying and terminating/uninstalling the mystery program; or (b) some way of preventing the forced Minimize when the program executes. Worse comes to worst, I suppose I can do a clean Windows install, but this is such a hassle, I consider it a last resort. Last edited by Deckard_BR; 03-27-2006 at 08:35 AM. |
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03-27-2006, 08:58 AM
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#2 |
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Member (10 bit)
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Belgium
Posts: 873
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Use Hijackthis to make a log of what it finds and post that here, but first read this thread about Hijackthis use.
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03-27-2006, 09:05 AM
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#3 |
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Member (6 bit)
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 44
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That looks pretty promising. It may be perfectly innocuous (and I suspect it is), but it's also driving me up the wall. Just finding out what it is will go a long way to correcting things.
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03-27-2006, 11:22 AM
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#4 |
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brewer, mostly...
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Laying on the floor, in the brewery
Posts: 1,315
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There is a free download from sysinternals called "process explorer". I have found this tool extremely handy for diagnosing these type of bugs.
Get it here: http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilitie...sExplorer.html -Kev
__________________
Symantec-free zone. To stay malware free: AVG antivirus/antispyware, Malwarebytes anti malware, Commodo Pro free firewall, ccleaner, Windows updates. or.... just install Linux Too many computers in this house to list. They are all my builds, some AMD some Intel... |
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03-28-2006, 08:31 AM
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#5 |
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Member (6 bit)
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 44
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I decided to do Process Explorer first, since it seemed more narrowly tailored to the issue. Looks like it keeps a log for 5 minutes in the form of the little running graph in the top right. I think the culprit was a program called hptskmgr.exe, which, luckily, suggests where it came from. So, I uninstalled HP Updater completely (through Add/Remove Programs), and I hope that does the job. I'll post later if it turns out not to have. It may be I have to blow through all of HP's programs to get rid of this pest.
In other news, I hate HP's imaging software. |
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03-28-2006, 08:23 PM
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#6 | |
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Member (10 bit)
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Belgium
Posts: 873
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Quote:
 I've hated HP software since my last printer mixed a few swedish dialogs in with the dutch language installation program for the drivers. And crashed at three different places so I had to resort to manually install the drivers. And then the printer didn't work right. However you look at it, hp's quality of software has dropped like a brick the last few years. |
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03-29-2006, 11:51 AM
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#7 |
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brewer, mostly...
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Laying on the floor, in the brewery
Posts: 1,315
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Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of HP imaging software but I still use it. I always disable their update manager, though.
-Kev |
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03-29-2006, 02:37 PM
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#8 |
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Member (6 bit)
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 44
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Yeah, I've discovered the culprit is a program that calls itself HP Solution Manager (HPOSM.EXE). It activates a couple of other HP-related programs as well. Now, I just have to figure out which of these three HP programs it's related to so I can shoot this clay pigeon and get my Elder Scrolls game back.
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