"taskmgr.exe"...keep or delete?

[Donny Hinson]

One of the things that seems to keep my computer HD grinding a lot of times is this file that shows up in the running processes on the task manager window. Normally, I can pretty well decipher (through the internet), whether a file is necessary...or junk. This one is an exception. Opinions run the gamut from "it's spyware or a virus" to "it's a necessary windows application that loads automatically every time you open up the task manager".

Neither Norton, nor Spybot, nor Adaware, seem to think anything about it.

Anybody got the straight skinny on this?

[Wiz Feinberg]

The file C:\Windows\System32\taskmgr.exe is your Windows Task Manager (TM). Open TM, using Control + Alt + Del, highlight taskmgr.exe, then click End Process and the TM will disappear. If you locate the file, in System32, right click on it and read it's Properties > Version. It should be identified as a Microsoft Corporation file, alias - Windows TaskManager.

On the other hand, if the taskmgr.exe you mentioned is located in a different directory, like Program Files, and/or is also listed as a startup program (use Msconfig to search startups), it is almost certainly a virus, Trojan Horse threat, or a Keylogger.

Do a Windows search for the file taskmgr.exe and see if it appears anywhere else (aside from the Bart PE directory, if you use that System Builder's tool).

[Donny Hinson]

Thanks Wiz!

What about the similar one (TASKMGR.EXE-06144C13.PF) in "C\WINDOWS\Prefetch"?

[Wiz Feinberg]

Thanks Wiz!

What about the similar one (TASKMGR.EXE-06144C13.PF) in "C\WINDOWS\Prefetch"?

Locate the original copy in your system32 directory and note it's exact filesize, then get the properties of the one in the prefetch directory and compare them. They should be the same size. The prefetch directory feeds Windows your frequently used system program files.