XP 64bit technical question

[WebDude]

If I open Windows Task Manager and click on the Processes tab, I can see a list of the processes that are running. A few of them have the name of the file, followed by a "*32", for example "rundll32.exe *32". Just what does this *32 signify? It can't just be a 32 bit executable, because I also have instances of rundll32.exe running that don't have the *32 after them.

Also, is there anyway of tracking down just what is launching a particular process? I raise this because I have a certain "rundll32.exe *32" that is causing some problems (problems which go away when I terminate the process). I've done some searching in the registry, and cleaned out a few things, but that same file still runs at startup.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Doh!]

One is for 32-bit and the other is for 64-bit (w/o *). The 32-bit should be from the SysWow64 folder while the 64-bit should be from the system32 folder. Both are legit in most cases unless you have gotten the Win32.Lovgate.J virus.

Do you have a nvida video card? If yes, disable the nvidia video card-related service in the admistrative tools.

Go here & download the tool to see what's going on: http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ProcessExplorer.html

 

[WebDude]

Thanks man for the help. Not really sure what was going on, but that process was definitely related to the nvidia display somehow. I uninstalled the nvidia drivers (ver. 81.94), rebooted and installed a slightly newer version (81.95). Now the errant process is not running, and the problem has gone away.