Iaas

Iaas.exe

See   IWAR.

Iamsetup

IAMSETUP.exe

(CallWave)

CallWave’s Internet Answering Machine application. This program enables you to receive phone messages while you are online browsing the web.  Instead of your line signalling "busy" to the caller, Internet Answering Machine answers the call and prompts the caller to leave a message.  As soon as the caller has finished his message, Internet Answering Machine replays it over your speakers.

Recommendation : 
This is not a free service – also, it only works in Canada and the USA. Therefore, if you are not using it, de-install Internet Answering Machine through the "Add/Remove Programs" icon in the Control Panel (the entry to de-install is "CallWave Internet Answering Machine").

Iap

IAP.exe

(Dell)

Dell’s OpenManage Instrumentation Access Provider.   This service looks up the Dell database of DMI enabled hardware (DellOMCI.mdb) for configuration information and passes that information on to other OpenManage modules that require it.

Recommendation :
If you use Dell’s OpenManage software, you need this service running, otherwise you can disable it by setting its startup mode to  Disabled  on the  Services  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter.

Ibmpmsvc

IBMPMSvc.exe

(IBM)

IBM Power Management  Windows 2000/XP service which implements ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) on IBM ThinkPad laptops.  In effect it provides support for the  FN+FKEY  combinations which enable the end-user to do such things as putting the laptop in standby mode, switching the display from the laptop to an attached monitor, etc...  While the  FN+FKEY  combinations provide varying degrees of facilities across the ThinkPad range of laptops, you will find nevertheless that, in general, the following key combinations perform the following functions on almost all ThinkPad laptops :
FN+F1 :  Unused
FN+F2 :  Unused
FN+F3 :  Turns off the LCD display.  Press any key, or move the mouse to get the display back.
FN+F4 :  Puts the laptop into  Standby  mode.  Press the  FN  key on its own to wake it up again.  This is also called the  Sleep  function.  The setting for  FN+F4  can be changed so that it puts the computer in hibernation mode or so that it shuts the laptop down.
FN+F5 :  Enables/Disables Wireless and/or Bluetooth if the laptop has them.
FN+F6 :  Unused.
FN+F7 :  Toggles the display between the LCD only, the attached external monitor only, or both at the same time.  This function does not work if you are in the middle of playing a DVD or a video clip.
FN+F8 :  Enables the user to switch the screen size between  Expanded  and  Normal  mode when the display image is smaller than the physical screen.  This feature is not available under Windows 2000/XP.
FN+F9 :  Opens the IBM ThinkPad EasyEject software which enables you to stop and eject all ejectable devices connected to the ThinkPad, to the ThinkPad Mini Dock, or to the ThinkPad Port Replicator.
FN+F10 :  Unused.
FN+F11 :  Unused.
FN+F12 :  Puts the laptop into  Hibernation  mode.  To return to Normal operation, press the Power button for less than 4 seconds.
FN+PgUp :  Turns the ThinkLight ON/OFF.
FN+Home :  Makes the display brighter.
FN+End :  Makes the display dimmer.
FN+Spacebar :  Enables the full screen Magnifier function.

Recommendation :  
We view this service as an essential service as almost every user will need to use one or more of the above FN+FKEY combinations once in a while.  Leave alone.

Iconclnt

Iconclnt.exe

(APC – American Power Conversion)

System Tray icon installed on Windows 95/98/ME by APC’s   PowerChute   UPS monitoring software.  You can right-click on the icon to start the PowerChute software to check what events were recorded by your UPS (power cut, power dip/hike), or to schedule a UPS self test.

Recommendation :
Down to end-user preference since you can access the PowerChute software from  “Start \ Programs”.  Note, however, that this particular task has a history of problems ranging from hogging up the CPU and therefore slowing the PC to a crawl; or preventing the PC from shutting down properly;  to preventing ScanDisk or Defrag from completing.  If you experience such problems, try first downloading from our  Drivers  page the latest version of the PowerChute software that is supported by your UPS.  If that does not solve the problem, then disable this task on the  Startups  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter – PowerChute will still continue to monitor your UPS and gather statistics; you just won’t be able to open the full program from the System Tray.

Icsmgr

ICSMGR.exe

(Microsoft)

ICSMGR gets installed on any PC which shares an Internet connection using Microsoft’s Internet Connection Sharing protocol (ICS). This program, which relays all DNS and DHCP requests, is vital if your PC is accessing the Internet via ICS.

Recommendation : 
Leave alone if you are on an ICS network.  If you are not, remove Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) from the Network icon in your Control Panel as its presence can often cause [sometimes serious] conflicts or unnecessary complications when you are configuring network components of your PC.

Icwconn1

ICWConn1.exe

(Microsoft)

If this task is currently running, then you have the Microsoft  Internet Connection Wizard  currently open.  If, however, this entry is on the  Startups  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter,  it will usually look like this :  “C: \ Program Files \ Internet Explorer \ Connection Wizard \ icwconn1.exe / desktop”.  It will have been put there by a past installation of Windows or of Internet Explorer to ensure that you always have an icon on your desktop labelled  “Connect to the Internet”  and which enables you to start the Internet Connection Wizard (if the icon is deleted from the desktop, this startup entry ensures it is recreated at your next bootup).

Recommendation :
As a startup entry, it is down to end‑user preference as to whether you keep this entry or not.  Advanced users who know how to create Internet connections will usually have no need for this entry and will delete it from the  Startups  tab of The Ultimate Troubleshooter.  Less advanced users, on the other hand, may wish to leave it enabled so that they always have an easy way to create new Internet connections straight from the icon on the desktop (if you need to recreate your Internet connection at some point and you ask your Internet Service Provider to help, your ISP’s tech engineers will usually favour walking you through via the  “Connect to the Internet”  desktop icon).

Idrivert

IDriverT.exe

(Macrovision)

Macrovision’s  InstallShield’s InstallDriver Table Manager   service installed on Windows 2000/XP PCs whenever you install a software program where the publisher has used Macrovision’s InstallShield as the program installer software.  This service only ever runs when you are installing or uninstalling software packaged with the InstallShield installer software – it helps the InstallShield installer software track properly the various products installed over the course of time on your PC and which use InstallShield as their installer;  this in turn ensures that all those products can be uninstalled properly when needed.

Recommendation :
Leave alone.  This service has no impact on the performance of your PC and is inactive 99.5% of the time till the day that you install or uninstall software packaged with InstallShield.

Iewersv

IEWERSV.exe

(???)

Part of the  Winpup  adware.  If you have Winpup on your PC and you use Internet Explorer as your Internet browser, you will experience endless popup and popunder advertisements.

Recommendation :
Remove immediately, as follows :   Delete this entry from the  Startups  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter  Next, search your hard disk(s) for all  winpup*.*  files – delete all files that are found.  Next, search your Windows folder  (C:\Windows  or  C:\WinNT) for a file called  telnat.exe; if you find it, delete it.  Hopefully this will do it; however, there is nothing less certain as this software constantly renames itself to random filenames.  Finally, run  Spybot  from our  Downloads  library to make sure there aren’t any residues left.

Iexplore  (1)

IExplore.exe

(Microsoft)

You have Microsoft’s  Internet Explorer  running !  (if the full path showing in  The Ultimate Troubleshooter  is  C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Iexplore.exe).

Iexplore  (2)

Iexplore.exe

(???)

You have the   Backdoor.Aphexdoor  virus, or one of the many other viruses masquerading as Internet Explorer   (most particularly if the full path showing in  The Ultimate Troubleshooter  is  C:\Windows\Iexplore.exe  or  C:\WinNT\Iexplore.exe).

iFinger

iFinger.exe

(iFinger Ltd)

Background task belonging to the   iFinger   program.  iFinger is a program which integrates content from well‑known publishers into all your Windows programs (at the time of writing, 8‑Jan‑2006, Oxford University Press, Merriam-Webster, Zanichelli, Bloomsbury and Ernst Klett Verlag were a few of the publishers).  This integration gives the user instant access, both on and off-line, to any reference content bought through iFinger or World Of Reading and installed on the hard disk – you can also add your own reference material to iFinger.  With iFinger installed, when you move your cursor over a word on a web page, or double-click on a word or highlighted text in any of your Windows programs, the iFinger program accesses the reference material you have linked it to and returns in a pop‑up box relevant information on the word or highlighted text.

Recommendation :
This task is the entire iFinger program – thus leave it alone if you do use iFinger, otherwise either uninstall the program through the  “Add\Remove Programs”  icon in the Control Panel, or disable this task on the  Startups  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter.

Imapi

IMAPI.exe

(Microsoft)

Image Mastering API Service for CD-Burning.  This service, introduced in Windows XP and 2003, manages recording data & music to CD using the Microsoft IMAPI standard, a standard which allows any application which conforms to it, to be able to write directly onto a CD using either the Redbook audio format, or the Joliet or ISO-9660 formats for data CDs.  When this service is enabled, a  Recording  tab appears in the Properties sheet for your CD-Writer and you are then also able to drop data directly onto a CD‑R from Windows Explorer or from within Windows applications, without the need for third party CD-Writer software.

Recommendation :  
This service is disabled by default in Windows 2003, and may be enabled by default in Windows XP depending on the manufacturer of the PC.  When enabled this service often creates conflicts with third party CD Writing software, from slowness to complaints that another program is using the CD‑Writer,  or strange error messages from your CD‑Writer software.  In short, unless you have Roxio’s Easy CD Creator v5 or v6, using your CD‑Writer software while the IMAPI service is running, often leads to troubles.  Our recommendation, therefore, is that you either use Windows XP/2003 to write to recordable CDs, or you use your CD-Writer software (and disable this service from starting at boot-up), but not both.  To prevent this service from running at startup, set it to  Manual  in  “Control Panel \ Administrative Tools \ Services” – look for  “IMAPI CD‑Burning COM Service”.  Note, if you have IMAPI enabled then you should have at least Service Pack 1a installed if you are running Windows XP.  Finally, if you get strange IMAPI errors when using Windows Explorer, then try setting to ON the  “Launch folder windows in a separate process”  setting on the  VIEW  tab of the  “Tools \ Folder options”  menu option of Windows Explorer.

Imapp

IMApp.exe

(IncrediMail Ltd)

This is the  IncrediMail  email program which you either have open or minimized to the System Tray.  Do not confuse this task with  IAMAPP  described earlier in these pages (Norton Personal Firewall).

Recommendation :  
We first got acquainted with IncrediMail in early 2002 when trying to solve numerous crashes on a PC.  Well, from that time to 2005, we have yet to ever come across a PC with IncrediMail which was not suffering from horrendous problems, whether it be unbelievable slowness because IncrediMail was consuming most of the CPU capacity, to KERNEL32 errors, illegal operations, Internet Explorer crashes, and more, and more, and more.  All such problems would disappear with the de-installation of IncrediMail !   We do not have one single good word to say about this program which has caused our clients endless nightmares whenever an end-user thought it a good idea to install it on their PC.  If you want a free alternative to Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, our advice is to de-install IncrediMail via the  “Add/Remove Program”  icon in the Control Panel (also delete any references to IncrediMail in Starter) and then use a program like  FoxMail  available on our  Downloads  page.  17‑Dec‑2003 update :   we have had one AnswersThatWork user today making a point of telling us they have IncrediMail, have not experienced problems with it, and are a satisfied customer.  Late December 2003 to January 2004 update :  another five users tell us having used IncrediMail without problems but indicate using  IncrediMail Premium, the non‑free version – this may be a crucial difference as all the problems we have experienced at AnswersThatWork’s clients have all been with the free version.

Imgicon

Imgicon.exe

(Iomega)

Background Iomega program which gets installed when you install Iomega’s Zip Drive Windows software (IomegaWare).  IMGICON displays pretty life-like icons for any Zip drives you have in your PC, whether internal or external (Parallel, USB, Firewire).  These icons look exactly like the actual drives and you can even tell whether the drives are external or internal. 

Recommendation :
The visual differentiation provided by IMGICON’s iconisation is extremely useful, particularly for non‑technical users, so we would recommend you keep the IomegaWare software even though it is not actually needed for internal zip drives since Windows has inbuilt support for internal zip drives without any additional drivers.  Note, however, that our experience under Windows 95 and Windows 98 is that the IomegaWare software can create conflicts or random problems with parallel port devices (eg. Your printer).  If you experience such problems then go to our  Drivers   section and download the very latest IomegaWare drivers as these newer drivers (as of March 2005) seem to have cured all the problems.

(Ahead Software)

Incdsrv

InCDsrv.exe

(Ahead Software AG)

This is the InCD software for Windows NT4/2000/XP/2003 which enables you to drag files onto a CD-R directly from Windows Explorer, or to save onto CD directly from within applications like Microsoft Word or Movie Maker, etc.., without using the CD Recording software that came with your CD‑Writer (Nero) – this type of feature is also called  “Packet Writing”  software.  While a great and potentially very useful concept, the limitations of InCD CDs lead us to always recommend its removal (CDs created with InCD are only ever guaranteed to be readable in CD Writers that are the same model as the CD Writer in which the CD was created – it is not unusual not to be able to read a CD created via InCD, in another CD-ROM drive).  We advocate to instead always use its sister product, Nero (also called “Nero Burning ROM”), to create CDs, as that is the only method that guarantees that you will be able to read the CDs you create in any other CD, CD‑Writer, or DVD drive – a crucial consideration if you are using CDs and DVDs for data backups or movie presentations !

Recommendation :
In addition to our strong reservations expressed above, there are significant problems with some versions of InCDSrv, from excessive memory usage which adversely impacts other applications, to the often reported inability to access CD-ROM or CD-Writer drives when trying to use software other than InCD (with error messages such as  “Drive inaccessible”  or  “Recordable CD device not detected”).   That said, make no mistake about it :  it is our view that in March 2005 packet writing software, whether from Ahead or its competitors, is still inherently unsafe – it will work reliably most times but you can bet your bottom dollar that the day it won’t work it will be on an absolutely crucial CD/DVD and you will only find out days, weeks, or months later when you need to retrieve data from it, and at that point it will too late !   Packet writing software is there as a selling point because  the competition does it  and it is a  very attractive  feature for first-time users.  Our recommendation is that if you are used to using  InCD,  continue to use it but at the same time educate yourself to becoming totally proficient and at ease with the full Nero product,  Nero Burning ROM, so that you can eventually use it confidently and as a result feel safe in the knowledge that all your CDs and DVDs will be reliable and usable across all ranges of CD/DVD‑ROM and CD/DVD‑Writer drives.  Once you have reached that stage, remove InCD via the  “Add/Remove Programs”  icon in the Control Panel.  Alternatively, you can temporarily disable InCD by switching over to the  Services  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter  and setting the  Startup Mode  of this service to  Disabled  –  simply set it back to  Automatic  whenever you absolutely need to use InCD so you can save directly onto a CD or DVD.

Incmail

IncMail.exe

(IncrediMail Ltd)

Part of the  IncrediMail  email program.

Recommendation :
We first got acquainted with IncrediMail in early 2002 when trying to solve numerous crashes on a PC.  Well, from that time to 2005, we have yet to ever come across a PC with IncrediMail which was not suffering from horrendous problems, whether it be unbelievable slowness because IncrediMail was consuming most of the CPU capacity, to KERNEL32 errors, illegal operations, Internet Explorer crashes, and more, and more, and more.  All such problems would disappear with the de-installation of IncrediMail !   We do not have one single good word to say about this program which has caused our clients endless nightmares whenever an end-user thought it a good idea to install it on their PC.  If you want a free alternative to Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, our advice is to de-install IncrediMail via the  “Add/Remove Program”  icon in the Control Panel (also delete any references to IncrediMail on the  Startups  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter) and then use a program like  FoxMail  available on our  Downloads  page.  17‑Dec‑2003 update :   we have had one AnswersThatWork user today making a point of telling us they have IncrediMail, have not experienced problems with it, and are a satisfied customer.  Late December 2003 to January 2004 update :  another five users tell us having used IncrediMail without problems but indicate using  IncrediMail Premium, the non‑free version – this may be a crucial difference as all the problems we have experienced at AnswersThatWork’s clients have all been with the free version.

Inetinfo

Inetinfo.exe

(Microsoft)

Microsoft Internet Information Service.  Seen primarily on Windows NT4/2000 Server where it provides Internet Proxy and Web Server services.

Recommendation :  
If you use either of the above facilities, leave running, otherwise you can set the service to manual.  Note :  for some strange reason, this service will in some cases prevent our product,  The Ultimate Troubleshooter,  from starting.  When that is the case, do a Windows Update and see if that solves the problem – if it does not, and you have no need for  INETINFO, then set its Startup Mode to  Disabled.

Inetp60.dll

Rundll32_8

Inetp60.dll

(BrowserAid.com)

Startup entry which loads one of the  BrowserAid  Internet Explorer toolbars.  This toolbar is typically loaded onto a PC when an end-user clicks on some popup advertisement, or installs specific software programs.  Very often the end-user does not realise that  BrowserAid  has been installed as an add-on feature to the program they were installing, and when it is installed from the Internet, the toolbar is usually presented as a  very useful  toolbar which will  “maximize your Internet searching experience”  or some other similar wording.  In reality this toolbar is what we call adware :  it sends information about your Internet browsing and searching habits and it pulls up popup advertisements.  Here is BrowserAid’s own marketing text to advertisers on  8‑May‑2004 :   “In today's highly competitive business environment, it is essential for companies to maximize marketing effectiveness. By empowering your customers with a branded BrowserAid toolbar, this is achieved in four ways:  Persistent Presence - With a BrowserAid customized toolbar, your customers will have constant visibility of your logo and one-click access to key areas of your website. This reinforces brand awareness and improves customer loyalty and retention.  E-Business Intelligence - BrowserAid will provide you with advanced user profile and click-stream analysis technology. This enables your company to align marketing campaigns with optimal audiences to deliver personalized, targeted marketing messages and track the success of each campaign.  Effective Customer Communication - BrowserAid's customer segmentation technology will enable your company to instantly distribute unique audio, video, and text messages to various customer groups. By interacting with the right customers at the right times, you will maximize communication effectiveness.  Instant Product Deployment - Using BrowserAid's product deployment technology, your company will be able to introduce new products or cross-sell existing ones by instantly deploying them on the desktops of your customers. By combining this technology with our e‑business intelligence technology, your company will be able to target the customers that are most likely to be interested in specific product offerings and instantly offer them a demo or trial of the product.”.

Recommendation :
If like us you do not like adware, delete this entry from the  Startups  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter  and then download  Spybot  from our  Downloads  section.  Install Spybot, update it online, and then run it to rid your PC of the BrowserAid toolbar and any other spyware or adware that may be on your PC.

Inetsw95

Inetsw95.exe

(Microsoft)

Essential component of Microsoft Personal Web Server for Windows 95.  This file will typically have been installed either through installing the Personal Web Server component of Windows 95 SR-2, or through installing the Personal Web Server that comes with Microsoft FrontPage 97.

Recommendation :  
If you are on Windows 95/98, and you use FrontPage 97/98, then this task is essential to the proper running of the Personal Web Server which enables you to test your websites before you publish them to your webhosting servers.  If you are on any other version of Windows, you should be upgrading to the Personal Web Server that is relevant to that version of Windows.

Infuzer

Infuzer.exe

(Trondent Development Corp)

System Tray icon for Trondent’s  Infuzer  software.  Infuzer is a piece of software which enables frequent travellers who use Infuzer-enabled travel booking and reservation websites, to copy through one click of the mouse all their travel and booking details onto their desktop calendar.  For example, you book a flight with an Infuzer-enabled website and, on completion of your booking, the website displays your itinerary details with flight times, etc.., together with an Infuzer icon for you to click on if you have Infuzer running on your PC; when you click on that icon all the details of your flight are copied instantly to your desktop calendar.

Recommendation :
Essential for the proper functioning of Infuzer – Leave alone.

InputPersonalization

InputPersonalization.exe

(Microsoft)

Task found on Tablet PCs running Windows Vista.  You either have the   Handwriting Recognizer   (also called  Handwriting Recognition Personalization Tool  or  Input Personalization)  currently open and you are training your Tablet PC to recognize your handwriting, or you are currently entering free-hand text on your Tablet PC and the  Handwriting Recognizer  is running in the background automatically converting your handwriting to machine understandable text.

Internat

Internat.exe

(Microsoft)

This Microsoft Windows program provides multilanguage support.  It will typically be running if you turned ON more than one keyboard language, or if you installed some or all the language options in Internet Explorer 5.0 or later.  In rare circumstances it conflicts with the Help in Access 97.

Recommendation :
Unless you have the specific Access 97 problem above, this program is harmless.  So it is up to you if you want to keep it or if you want to disable it with  The Ultimate Troubleshooter.

Internet Answering Machine

IAMSETUP.exe

(CallWave)

See IAMSETUP entry above.

Intrenat

Intrenat.exe

(???)

You have the   W32.HLLW.Doomjuice   virus.

Intuit.QuickBooks.FCS

QBFCService

Intuit.QuickBooks.FCS.exe

(Intuit)

QuickBooks File Copy Service.  Service which updates QuickBooks in the background once the updates have been downloaded from the QuickBooks servers.

Recommendation :
The  Startup Mode  of this service is  Manual, which means that it will start only as and when needed, ie. when QuickBooks downloads updates – Leave alone therefore.

Note : 
If you have QuickBooks set to auto-update automatically  and  the update runs into problems contacting the Intuit servers because of firewall issues on your PC, then there will be a situation where every day this service will be running, consuming upwards of 25Mb of memory, till the day that your PC is able to auto-update.  Thus, if you see this program running on the  TASKS  tab of TUT day after day, then either ensure that you resolve whatever communications problems the QuickBooks automatic updating system is having, or disable automatic updating in QuickBooks.

ioloDMVSvc

ioloDMVSvc.exe

(iolo Technologies)

iolo DMV Service.  Shocking background service introduced by iolo with System Mechanic 7 in mid December 2006.  We have no idea as to what this service actually does, and, at the time of writing, iolo have not released any details about it either.  What we do know about is the incredible impact this particular program had worldwide in preventing numerous legitimate programs from working properly or at all, as well as seriously destabilizing Windows itself.  The behaviour of this service is astounding and it is unimaginable that iolo released a product which had such disastrous consequences.  At the time of writing, 27-Jan-2007 this service stops numerous programs from starting; the list is endless :  Zone Alarm,  AJSystems,  Borland's Delphi programming environment,  Intuit's QuickBooks,  Essential PIM,  etc..., etc...,  and our own TUT program.  It is nothing other than virus-like in all its aspects, starting from the catastrophic effect it has on so many programs, to the fact that even if you uninstall System Mechanic 7 this program stays behind and continues its calamitous interference.

Recommendation :
Disable this service by changing its  Startup Mode  to  Disabled  on the  Services  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter.  System Mechanic 7 functions perfectly well without this service running.

10-Feb-2007 Update.  Some users are reporting to us that iolo have issued a fix.  Our recommendation :  update System Mechanic 7 but, given the history, still keep this service disabled.

12-Feb-2007 Update.  Incredibly, after fixing the problem in version 7.1.5 of System Mechanic, iolo Technologies reintroduced it again with version 7.1.6 yesterday.  Astounding stuff.
 

ioloServiceManager

ioloFileInfoList

ioloServiceManager.exe

(iolo Technologies)

iolo Service Manager.  Core service of System Mechanic which gets installed twice (!!) on the  Services  tab of TUT.  System Mechanic cannot work without this service running in the background.

Recommendation :
Leave alone – System Mechanic cannot work without this service running in the background.

Note :   this service will occasionally decide to gobble up memory.  On most occasions it uses 2Mb to 12Mb of memory.  On other occasions, however, and we have no idea what triggers it, it will keep gobbling up memory – 15Mb, 20Mb, 30Mb, 40Mb, 50Mb, and more !   This can only have a detrimental effect on the performance of the PC.  Make sure, therefore, that you often check for updates.

Iosdt

Iosdt.exe

(???)

You have a  Trojan virus  on your PC – IOSDT.EXE is its main file.   You most probably tried to download illegal copies of Microsoft software, and got infected by this trojan virus as a result (it gives access to your PC from the Internet).

Recommendation :  
Reboot your PC into Safe Mode and then do a search for all files and folders which start with  IOSDT  and delete them.  Next, empty your Recycle Bin and reboot back into Normal Mode.

Iowatch

IOWatch.exe

(Iomega)

Iomega Watch.  This background task, installed with the IomegaWare Zip/Jazz drive software, automatically prompts the user for a password whenever a read-write protected disk is inserted into the Zip/Jazz drive.

Recommendation : 
Essential if you protect your Zip/Jazz disks with Iomega Tools.  The earlier versions of Iowatch caused conflicts with other software under Windows 95/98.  If you use a really old version of IomegaWare (Iomega Tools 95), and you are experiencing problems, then go to our Drivers page and download and install the current version of IomegaWare.

Ipmon32

IPInSightMonitor

Ipmon32.exe

(Visual Networks)

Task installed by Visual Networks’   Visual IP Insight  software.  This software will typically have been installed when you set up your broadband Internet connection using your ISP’s installation CD.

At the time of writing, 13‑Jan‑2006, Visual Networks describe  Visual IP Insight  as follows :  “Visual IP InSight is an IP service management system designed to help service providers and enterprises manage IP connectivity and accessibility to IP network services from the end-user perspective. Visual IP InSight helps manage IP connectivity across all IP access technologies, including dial, dedicated, broadband (DSL, wireless, cable, ISDN), and VPN connections.  The product also features two application suites, Service Level Manager and Customer Care.  Service Level Manager helps monitor and manage SLAs (Service Level Agreements), troubleshoot and baseline network and connection performance-related issues by setting alerts for predefined acceptable threshold levels. Customer Care monitors performance from the end-user perspective, whether the access technology is dial, DSL, Cable, or VPN. Visual IP InSight is a three-tier architecture system (LINK) comprised of  ....... a back‑end composed of collectors, aggregators and databases which collect, timestamp and store key performance data .......”.

In summary this is a program which collects statistical performance data about your Internet connection while you use it and which sends it to your Internet Service Provider for them to analyze and possibly pre‑empt problems and provide you with a continually improving service.

Recommendation : 
You should aim to get rid of this task immediately !   As with many other organizations concerned with security, we do not like the use of such data gathering programs – more importantly, in 2006 the network troubleshooting technology available to Internet Service Providers is so advanced that there is  absolutely no need whatsoever  for your ISP to run a program on  YOUR  PC to help them pre‑empt or troubleshoot Internet connection problems or improve the quality of their Internet service.  No need whatsoever.  Additionally, over the course of the two years since this task has been around there have been in our view too many recorded problems with it.  Even Microsoft had to issue a Knowledge Base article about this third party product, article KB892890, as the bugs in this program were inconveniencing many users, ranging, in our experience, from problems with errors when opening or using the Control Panel, to boot-up errors, and Access Violation errors.

To remove this program :

1)   Disable this task on the  Startups  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter.  Make sure to click the big green  APPLY  button to make your changes stick.

2)   Restart your PC.

3)   To be totally certain that, in the case of your own particular ISP, this task is not linked to areas other than the ones explained above, run your PC with this task disabled for a day or two.

3)   Once you are satisfied that disabling this task has not affected your Internet connection (if it has, re‑enable it), if you want a guarantee you will definitely not have to re‑install your Internet connection software, then go no further, otherwise go into the Control Panel and run the  “Add\Remove Programs”  icon.

4)   If it is listed  uninstall  Visual IP Insight.

5)   Restart your PC.

6)   Delete this task from the  Startups  tab of The Ultimate Troubleshooter.
 

Ipodservice

iPodService.exe

(Apple)

Windows 2000/XP  “iPod Hardware Management Services”  service installed by Apple’s  iTunes  music playing and organizing software.  In earlier versions of iTunes, on installation iTunes would also install MusicMatch Jukebox.  The iPodService would sit in the System Tray and fire up MusicMatch Jukebox whenever you connected your Apple iPod player.  It is also through this service that the sync’ing of your iPod and MusicMatch libraries is done.  In the later versions of iTunes, such as version 6 or later, the iPodService is used by iTunes itself to communicate with connected iPods.

Recommendation :
The Startup Mode of this service is  Automatic  by default in earlier versions of iTunes, which is fine if you have an iPod.  However, if you do not use an iPod (ie. you only use the iTunes software), then immediately set the  Startup Mode  of this service to  Manual  on the  Services  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter  as it uses up to 5Mb of memory, which is significant.  In the latest versions of iTunes, such as version 6 or later, the Startup Mode of this service is  Manual, which is fine – in these newer versions of iTunes this service gets started by the  ITUNESHELPER  startup entry.

Ipodsrv

iPodSrv.exe

(Apple)

Service installed on Windows 2000/XP/2003 PCs when you install your iPod software.  We are not yet sure as to the role of this service.

Recommendation :
As we do not yet know what this service performs, we can only recommend to leave it alone.

Ipodwatcher

iPodWatcher.exe

(Apple)

iPod Watcher Background task which watches for your Apple iPod being connected to your PC and makes it available to Windows when you physically connect your iPod to the PC.  This task shows as an Icon in the System Tray.

Recommendation :
Essential if you want to work with your iPod from your PC – Leave alone.

Isass

isass.exe

(???)

You have the   Backdoor.Futro   virus.

Note – do not confuse this with  LSASS  which will most times show as  “lsass”  in your Task List where the first letter is in fact a lowercase  “L”  rather than an  “i”.

Issvc

ISSVC.exe

(Symantec)

Symantec’s   Internet Security Service   installed on Windows 2000/XP by Norton Internet Security 2005.

Recommendation :  
While we do not know the exact role of this service, we do know that Norton Internet Security 2005 cannot function properly if this service is stopped – it is an integral part of Norton Internet Security.  Leave alone therefore.

Ituneshelper

iTunesHelper.exe

(Apple)

Background task installed by Apple’s  iTunes  music player and also by version 7 of  QuickTime  which now comes inseparably bundled with iTunes.  We are not 100% certain but we believe this task to be what used to be a 3^rd party add-on program in the early days of Apple’s iPod when its iTunes software was incompatible with many CD-Writers.  The then  ITUNESHELPER  was an add-on that would sit between iTunes and a PC’s CD-Writer,  and would simulate being a compatible CD-Writer that iTunes could then utilize to create CDs on an otherwise unsupported CD-Writer.  ITUNESHELPER is no longer a 3^rd party add-on, it is now an Apple program and part of the iTunes software itself, and our guess is that it is now iTunes’ main CD writing interface.

Recommendation :
If this task is currently running, and you have iTunes open, leave it alone.  That said, this task, usually installed as a startup, does not actually need to be installed as a startup since iTunes starts it up anyway when it needs it.  We recommend therefore that you disable  ITUNESHELPER  on the  Startups  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter  and let iTunes start it up whenever it needs to, particularly since it has a history of occasionally conflicting with other software and it uses nearly 6Mb of memory.

IType

IType.exe

(Microsoft)

Microsoft IntelliType Pro.

Recommendation :
Down to end-user preference.

Ivpsvmgr

IVPSvMgr.exe

(Toshiba)

Toshiba IVP Service Manager application which appears as a red satellite dish icon in the System Tray.  This is Toshiba’s equivalent to the Windows Automatic Update feature as, whenever you are connected to the Internet, it will check for Windows updates and Toshiba updates.

Recommendation :
Automatic updating of a PC is a feature we always recommend against, as from time to time supposedly necessary upgrades significantly  mess up  a PC that was previously working fine.  Always manually update your PC.  Additionally, as regards IVPSVMGR specifically, we have noticed that it is responsible for slower boot-up times, and, worse, slower Internet access.  We recommend therefore that you disable this task with  The Ultimate Troubleshooter.

Iw

Iw.exe

(InternetWasher.com)

You have the  Internet Washer  program open or minimized to the System Tray  (Internet Washer is a program which enables you to manage your cookies, delete all temporary files including temporary Internet files, provides protection for your homepage settings, and more).

Iwar

Aaar,
Aasd,
Acao,
Aerr,
Amra,
Channelup,
Ctcr,
Deam,
Earu,
Eber,
Enns,
Euea,
Holu,
Iaas,
Oato
Oecm
Oeet,
Ohdd,
Oocs,
Opac,
Oses,
Resw,
Saea,
Saus
Sibc,
Sodd,
Tdrp,
Tesc,
Ttuh,
Whra,
Wted

Aatn,
Aida,
Auta,
Bnop,
Bssa,
Bssn,
Cspa,
Dsds,
Hela,
Hurd,
Laoc,
Lour,
Moun,
Mtst,
Muue,
Noha,
Notn,
Oewe,
Osus,
Rcsh,
Reoe,
Rper,
Smuc,
Sltr,
Upao,
Uate,
Woss

 

Iwar.exe

Aaar.exe,
Aasd.exe,
Acao.exe,
Aerr.exe,
Amra.exe,
ChannelUp.exe,
Ctcr.exe,
Deam.exe,
Earu.exe,
Eber.exe,
Enns.exe,
Euea.exe,
Holu.exe,
Iaas.exe,
Oato.exe,
Oecm.exe,
Oeet.exe,
Ohdd.exe,
Oocs.exe,
Opac.exe,
Oses.exe,
Resw.exe,
Saea.exe,
Saus.exe,
Sibc.exe,
Sodd.exe,
Tdrp.exe,
Tesc.exe,
Ttuh.exe,
Whra.exe,
Wted.exe

Task which is dropped onto your PC when you run the free  “hidden pornography”  scanner from PuritySCAN.com.  At the time of writing, 9‑May‑2004, PuritySCAN.com purports to scan your PC for hidden pornography and help you remove it.  For a start, at the time of writing, 9‑May‑2004, the scan for pornographic content is a total scam and downright dangerous.  The scan will reports files like  ASSETS.GIF  and  ASSETS.EXE  as files containing pornographic material because, wait for it, because ..... the names of the files contain the word  “ass”.  Shocking, shocking, shocking.  If we had gone ahead and  “cleaned”  our test hard drive of the reported files, we would have lost  “ASSETS.GIF”  which is a graphic file that is part of Microsoft Office 2000, and we would have lost  “ASSETS.EXE”  which is asset management software !!  And it gets worse :  STRIPED.GIF will also have been deleted because the filename has the letters  “strip”, and, unbelievably, SUNBANNA.GIF will have been deleted because the filename contains the letters .......... “Anna” !   There are no words to describe a scam like this one. 

It gets worse still :  what this software also does do is drop this file together with a second one onto your PC (The Ultimate Troubleshooter  will also highlight the second file), sets both up as startup entries, and the PC then gets inundated with popup advertisements and also experiences serious Internet browsing performance issues.  As much as it irritates us to be, to be fair there is a license agreement which states, amongst other things, that you agree to receive advertising :  “By installing PurityScan you understand and agree that PurityScan will make the following changes to your Internet Browser:  Several PROMOTIONAL CONSOLES (daughter console/interstitial) may be launched for the duration of time you spend online. These consoles may continue to be launched as long as you have PurityScan installed on your machine. PurityScan does not monitor the activities or collect information from users once they have left PurityScan.  By downloading PurityScan, you understand that these changes cannot be reversed without running the removal executable of PurityScan.  If you try to change the items above manually, your changes will be lost when you reboot or turn off your computer.”. 

This is nightmarish adware posing as a  free service to the Internet community – the publishers know full well that 90% of users never read License Agreements and that they will therefore get conned into running a not only useless but dangerous scan, and they will also get infected with adware (advertising software) !   Since its introduction in 2002 this task not only constantly changes name, to evade detection, but it has also appeared in the Task List of users who have never accessed PuritySCAN.com, so we suspect that ClickSpring have an Affiliates programme which allows unscrupulous websites to co‑brand the Pu