Mad

MAD.exe

(Microsoft)

Windows NT4/2000/XP/2003 Server editions only.  This service is the System Attendant Service for Microsoft Exchange Server from version 4.0 onward.  MAD is a necessary background service for Microsoft Exchange Server – some of its many functions :  to load the required DLLs whenever you configure Microsoft Exchange, to periodically check if users have been added to the Site and Configuration containers, to write log messages to the Message Tracking Log File on behalf of MTA (Message Transfer Agent) and the Internet Mail Service, to generate the offline address books.

Recommendation :
The System Attendant Service is a crucial service of Microsoft Exchange Server.  If you experience 100% CPU utilization problems, duplicate log entries, MAD instability, or other problems which you can track back to MAD, then ensure you have the latest Service Packs for both NT4/2000/XP/2003 Server and for the version of Microsoft Exchange Server which you are running as every Exchange Server Service Pack has one or more fixes for this crucial service.

Mainserv

APC UPS Service

Mainserv.exe

(APC – American Power Conversion)

APC’s   UPS Service  installed as a background task on Windows 98/ME or as a service on Windows 2000/XP/2003 by the APC PowerChute UPS monitoring software.  This task logs statistical data about all your UPS events (power dips, power surges, UPS power ON, UPS on standby, user tests, forced shutdowns, etc...).  It also feeds the current status of your UPS to the System Tray icon  (APCSYSTRAY, ICONCLNT) so that the icon can correctly display the current status of your UPS.  Ditto with the PowerChute software so that the software can correctly display the current status of your UPS when you open PowerChute.  Finally, if you have configured your UPS to shutdown after X amount of minutes of a power cut, this is the task which will take care of shutting your PC down.

Recommendation :
This task/service is essential to the proper functioning of your PowerChute software, so leave it alone if you actively monitor the status of your UPS or you have configured it to shutdown after X minutes of a power cut.  Note, however, that, aside from the auto‑shutdown facility, your UPS still protects your PC even when you do not have any component of the PowerChute software running.  More importantly, we have come across problems with  MAINSERV  where it would hog 90%-100% of the CPU with the PC slowing down to a crawl as a result.  This has never happened to PCs that we’ve configured, but whenever we’ve come across the problem with new clients, we first updated the PowerChute software, and then, if the problem still remained, we updated the PC’s motherboard chipset software and made sure that all latest Windows updates were installed, and the problem eventually disappeared.  At this stage it would seem, therefore, that whenever  MAINSERV  exhibits this problem it is more an issue with the Windows environment than with  MAINSERV  itself – the jury is out !   Nevertheless, if you have the problem and find that you just cannot solve it, either uninstall the APC PowerChute software, or disable all APC startups on the  Startup  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter  and set the  Startup Mode  of this service to  Manual  on the  Services  tab of The Ultimate Troubleshooter  (Win2000/XP/2003 only).

Maja

Antivirus

Maja.exe

(???)

You have the   W32.Netsky.H@mm   virus.

Manage

Manage.exe
 

See   WINSERVN.

Maplom

Maplom.exe

(GameJackal.com)

You have the   Game Jackal   program (formerly known as Maplon) currently running in the background in the System Tray, or currently open  (or set as a startup item).  Game Jackal  allows gamers to play their games without needing the games’ original CDs in the PC’s CD\DVD drive, thus avoiding wear and tear on the original CDs and avoiding the frustration of having to locate the relevant CD whenever the user wants to play a game.  Using his original game CDs, the gamer creates gaming profiles for each of his games, and then, later, simply uses those profiles, without any need for the original CDs, whenever he wants to play a game.

Massrv

Massrv.exe

(McAfee)

McAfee Anti-Spyware Service.  Core service of your McAfee Anti-Spyware software which detects and removes spyware and adware when you run a spyware scan, or when you have it guarding your PC in real‑time.

Recommendation :
Phew, what a stunner !   At the time of writing, 28‑Jul‑2006, on about 20% of PCs this task takes 25Mb of memory minimum; on a further 50% of PCs it takes 33Mb to 36Mb of memory; and on another 20% of PCs it takes a staggering 45Mb, 47M, 51Mb, or more, of memory !!!   Do McAfee have shares in a computer memory company ?   This is ridiculous – at this rate you could almost say you’re buying a PC solely to run anti-spyware software !   Seriously :  from our tests, if you have McAfee Anti‑Spyware permanently guarding your PC in real‑time, there is a good chance it will make your PC wilt.  Our advice :  configure McAfee Anti‑Spyware  not  to permanently guard your PC in real‑time and, instead, either schedule an automatic weekly anti‑spyware scan or do it yourself manually once a week.  You can turn real‑time protection OFF through the  Auto Protect  configuration tab of your McAfee Anti‑Spyware by disabling  Auto-Protect.  If you follow our advice, make sure to check the  Services  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter – if this service still shows with a  Startup Mode  of  AUTOMATIC, change it to  Manual.

Matcli

Matcli.exe

(Motive)

Motive Chorus Command Line Interface  (also sometimes called  “Motive Support Tuner Command Line Interface”).  Startup task installed with the customized Help & Support systems of various computer manufacturers or Internet Service Providers (ISPs), such as  Adelphia eSupport Assitant,  3Com Connection Assistant,  AOL’s Broadband Check-Up,  Blueyonder’s Instant Support,  BT’s Broadband Help,  BT Yahoo! Help, BT Broadband Basic Help,   Dell Resolution Assistant,  Hewlett‑Packard Instant Support,  NTL Broadband Medic,  Rogers NetAssistant,  SBC Self Support Tool,  Sprint FastConnect Virtual Assistant (Earthlink),  Sprint Virtual Assistant (Earthlink),  Sympatico NetAssistant,  or  Verizon’s Support Center.  In the majority of cases that we have seen, the main purpose of this task is to start a System Tray icon which gives you access to the appropriate support software mentioned above.  Additionally, wherever this startup task is found, it is in fact part of a software package bought or licensed from Motive Communications and which purports to enable your PC manufacturer or ISP to better support you.  From our experience, this evolving startup task has over the years come in various guises as part of differently named software suites from Motive.  Past names (not necessarily direct equivalent to MATCLI.EXE) have included  BJCFD.EXE, CCD.EXE,  MOTIVESB.EXE,  and  MOTMON.EXE  (some of the names date from the era when  Motive  used to be  Broadjump Client Foundation).  The above named support systems are in the main similar across the various companies, which makes sense since they emanate from the same source.  As an example, Dell’s description of their Resolution Assistant software has, at various stages, read as follows on their website :  “The Resolution Assistant provides an easy-to-use graphical interface for submitting service requests and keeping track of service requests you have already submitted”.

Recommendation : 
We have three major issues with MATCLI and the Support software that it starts.  The first issue is that the software simply errors on many PCs.  This is staggering.   Help & Support software which errors on boot-up, or which you cannot start, or which seriously destabilizes your PC.  We have come across MATCLI errors on boot-up with BT’s version of the software (BT = British Telecom), we have often come across Blueyonder’s Instant Support Tool erroring with  “Blueyonder Instant Support Tool program encountered technical problems while trying to diagnose your system”  (this on perfectly healthy systems!!),  we have come across HP’s Instant Support refusing point blank to open, and the list goes on, and we have many AnswersThatWork users complaining of the same type of problems.

The second issue we have is that the above Support packages are typically portrayed as efficient, modern, and effective thanks to their crucial ability to communicate with the supplier over the Internet.  Well, did they really think this one through ?   In a majority of cases where a problem is bad enough for the end‑user to want to call the Support Desk, in the case of the supplier being a PC manufacturer the problem will often also mean an inability to communicate over the Internet.  In the case of an Internet Service Provider .............???   You’ve guessed it : a problem that is bad enough for you to call an ISP Support Desk will in an overwhelming majority mean some sort of inability to communicate via the Internet !

The third issue we have with these packages is that, in our experience, the support desks of the companies who supplied this software, never seem to know in much detail what the software does, whether it is necessary, and, worse, we have never experienced those support desks actually asking us to use the software so they could resolve a particular issue.  We have called Blueyonder asking what MATCLI actually did, and why it was erroring on boot-up, only to be greeted by support staff who had no clue as to what MATCLI was, or who would reply like automatons that  “Instant Support is necessary for the good running of your broadband connection”.  We have never had an HP support staff ever ask us to use the HP Instant Support software, ever, and the stories of our AnswersThatWork users mirror our own experiences.

In our view, it is clear, therefore, that there is a significant gap, a bottomless gulf in fact, between the higher management of BT, Blueyonder, Dell, HP, etc..., who sign up with Motive to have these support packages on PCs or on ISP install CDs, and the actual Support Desks who have to support the end‑users.  The question is, therefore :   If the Support Desks of your PC manufacturer, or of your Internet Service Provider, have no detailed knowledge and understanding of how to use these support software programs, no detailed knowledge of the problems with them and their resolutions, and since, in our experience, they never seem to use them, what good is that software to you and why should you want it on your PC ??!!!

For all these reasons we always disable  MATCLI  from the  Startups  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter.  In all the cases that we have come across it has never been needed and the PC has been better for it !
Caution :   some Internet Service Providers have gone a little further than the others and have inextricably linked the Support Software to your ability to get a connection, with the result that if you disable MATCLI you end up with not being able to connect to your ISP.  For this reason it is important to only  disable  MATCLI  from the  Startups  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter  rather than delete the startup entry altogether;  this way, if you find that you are unable to connect to your ISP after disabling  MATCLI,  all you need to do is re‑enable it.

Maximizer_Startup

Maximizer_Startup.exe

(Toshiba)

Toshiba Notebook Maximizer Desktop icon.  Startup task which puts an icon on the desktop at Windows boot‑up.  That icon shows an open Toshiba laptop with a yellow smiling face as screen background.  Clicking on the icon opens the Toshiba Notebook Maximizer program which is a program which displays a hardware summary of your laptop, much like the  Hardware  tab of TUT.  That program also provides quick shortcuts to Windows functions such as the Control Panel, the Printers Panel, System Information, Windows Explorer, etc...

Recommendation :
Down to end-user preference.  All of this program’s functionality is within TUT already, and you can run  Notebook Maximizer  through the Programs menu.

Mbsrm32

Mbsrm32.exe

(???)

MBS Spyware.  Nightmarish program which pops up a screen from a company called MBS and which demands money for  “services”.  This program may be picked up on adult websites, but not necessarily so, and it just cannot be stopped by conventional means.  Any attempt to stop it results in its sister programs, MBSSM32.EXE, RMVALID.EXE, or SMVALID.EXE, restarting it immediately and demanding money.  As your Windows session progresses in time, the more you close the annoying popup, the more often it comes back with further demands for payment, the idea being that non‑savvy and, above all,  embarrassed users  will pay just to get the popup disappear so that it does not pop up at an embarrassing moment or when another user is using the PC.  The PC often becomes unworkable when this occurs..

Recommendation :
Remove as follows :

1)   Make sure your antivirus software is up to date – do a manual update to be 100% sure.

2)   Restart your PC into Safe Mode by choosing the following option from the  TOOLS  menu of TUT,  “Boot PC into Safe Mode at Next Boot”,  and then reboot.

3)   When in Safe Mode, start TUT.  TUT will immediately tell you that you are in Safe Mode and ask you if you want to reboot into Normal Mode at your next boot, answer  Yes.  Do not reboot at this stage – simply answer that you do want to reboot into Normal Mode at the next boot.

4)   Go over to the  Startups   tab and locate the following startups if they exist :
       MBSRM32.EXE
       MBSSM32.EXE
       RMVALID.EXE
       SMVALID.EXE

      You can’t miss them – TUT will be showing them with a RED status.

5)   For each of those startup items, right-click on the item and choose  “Delete from the hard disk the file that this startup points to” .

6)   Next, for each of these startup items, right-click on the item again and this time choose  Delete this startup entry.

7)   Click the big green  APPLY  button to make your changes stick.

8)   Restart your PC into Normal Mode and then immediately run a full virus scan.

Mcafe32

Windows Media Player

Mcafe32.exe

(???)

You have a Trojan virus which you picked up probably through the use of file sharing software like KaZaA, or through downloading and installing something from a malicious web page.  At the time of writing, 16‑Jan‑2005, this Trojan is not picked up by the majority of antivirus programs.

Recommendation :  
Get rid of this immediately :

1)   Restart your PC into Safe Mode by pressing  F8  continually after turning your PC ON till you get a menu where  “Safe Mode”  is one of the options  (if you are unable to start your PC into Safe Mode, then try the following in Normal Mode).

2)   Start  The Ultimate Troubleshooter  and go to the  Services  tab if you have Windows 2000/XP/2003, otherwise continue from point (4) below.

3)   If you find a service which starts this task, right-click on it and change the  Startup Mode  to  Disabled.

4)   Go to the  Startups  tab and for each instance of this task (there are sometimes two or three entries for this malicious task) do the following :  right-click on it and choose  Delete from the hard disk the file that this Startup points to;  next, right-click on this entry again and this time choose  Delete this Startup entry.

5)   Click the big green  APPLY  button to make your changes stick.

6)   Reboot your PC into Normal Mode.

7)   Download  Ad-Aware  or  SpyBot  from our  Downloads  library and run it to eliminate all possible adware and spyware.

8)   Make sure you have an up-to-date reputable antivirus program and run a full virus scan on your PC.
 

Mcagent

McAgent.exe

(McAfee)

McAfee Security Center Agent.  If you have the desktop/home version of a McAfee security product such as VirusScan, this task communicates with the McAfee servers over the Internet and checks that your PC has the latest virus signatures and software updates.  It also picks up the latest virus alerts.  If you do not have the latest virus signatures then this task instructs the update engine (MCUPDATE) to download the updates.

If this PC is on a corporate network and it is running the network versions of McAfee AntiVirus, then this task communicates with the central network fileserver and ensures that the end-user PC has the latest McAfee virus signatures and software updates which the fileserver has to offer – it also downloads the latest alerts if there are any.  If you do not have the latest virus signatures then this task instructs the update engine (MCUPDATE) to download the updates.

Recommendation :
Absolutely essential for the proper real‑time protection of your PC with up‑to‑date virus definitions – Leave alone.

Mcmnhdlr

VSOCheckTask

Mcmnhdlr.exe

(McAfee)

This is the McAfee  VirusScan virus scanning  program which you either currently have open, or currently scanning your hard disk(s) for viruses.  This program is also usually set up as a startup item on the  Startups  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter – as a startup item its main function is to check, at Windows boot‑up, whether it should run a virus scan of your PC straightaway before you do anything with your PC.  Typically this would happen if you specifically set VirusScan to scan your PC at boot-up, or if a virus scan of your PC was run, viruses were found, and VirusScan decided that, for completeness, a virus scan of your PC should be run at the next Windows boot-up.

Recommendation :
Leave alone.

mcmscsvc

mcmscsvc.exe

(McAfee)

McAfee Integrated Security Program User Manager (MISP User Manager).  We do not currently know what this program does although we think that its only purpose is to ensure that McAfee works properly if you logoff from your PC and log back in as a different user without completely shutting down and rebooting.  The above notwithstanding, at the time of writing, 5‑Apr‑2007, this program is, put simply, a disaster on too many PCs, whether it is 50% to 99% CPU utilization, complete freezes of the PC for a minute or so, or, occasionally, permanent freezing.  Put simply :  it is antivirus software behaving like a virus !

Recommendation :
As we do not currently know what this task does, we cannot recommend outright that you disable this service.  That said, whenever we have ourselves had a user experiencing this problem, we have stopped the service on the  Services  tab of TUT and, so far, this has not prevented McAfee from running properly till the end of that particular Windows session.  We are still testing but, in the meantime, you may want to experiment with this method if you are experiencing problems with this task.

Quite separately regularly update your McAfee software with manual updates so that you can pick up program updates and not just virus definition updates – McAfee is bound to be working on the problem !

McRegWiz

McRegWiz.exe

(McAfee)

You have the  McAfee Registration Wizard   currently running prompting you to register your McAfee product, or this item is still set up on the  Startups  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter  despite the fact that you have already registered your McAfee product.

Recommendation :
If you have already registered your McAfee product(s), then you can disable this entry on the  Startups  tab of The Ultimate Troubleshooter.

Mcshield

McShield.exe

(McAfee – Network Associates)

McAfee On-Access Scanner for Windows NT4/2000/XP/2003, present in McAfee VirusScan 4.x, McAfee NetShield 4.x, in the Business Management McAfee Protection Suite for networks, in VirusScan Enterprise Edition, and many other McAfee antivirus products.  This task virus scans files in the background as and when you access them.

Recommendation :
Essential for the proper protection of your PC against viruses – leave alone.

Mctskshd

McAfee Task Scheduler

McTskshd.exe

(McAfee)

McAfee Security Center’s  Task Scheduler   service installed on Windows 2000/XP by McAfee products such as VirusScan, the Internet Suite, Personal Firewall, etc...  The Security Center task scheduler is used by McAfee to set up scheduled tasks such as the automatic download of updates, regular virus scans, etc...

Recommendation :
In the unlikely case that you have automatic updates disabled, no scheduled tasks, and a few other McAfee settings turned off, you can actually set the  Startup Mode  of this service to  Disabled  or  Manual  on the  Services  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter  without affecting the operation of your McAfee product.  However, as this process uses very little resources we recommend that you leave it alone as per its default configuration.

Mcupdate

McUpdate.exe

(McAfee – Network Associates)

AutoUpdate & AutoUpgrade background utility task which comes with McAfee VirusScan 4.x/5.x.  From version 6 onward this is called the  McAfee Security Center Update Engine.   Its role is to automatically update your McAfee software with the latest virus signatures and software updates whenever you connect to the Internet.

Recommendation :
If you are still on the old versions 4.x/5.x of VirusScan, disable the AutoUpdate feature within McAfee VirusScan as it is too buggy and problematic in our experience, and make a point of regularly updating VirusScan manually.

If you are on VirusScan 6 or later (which you will definitely be if you use Windows 2000/XP), then leave this task enabled to ensure that your McAfee antivirus software is continually kept up-to-date.

Mcvsescn

MCVSEscn.exe

(McAfee)

McAfee VirusScan Email Scan Module.  Task which has appeared with the latest updates to version 7 of McAfee VirusScan  (late August 2003).

Recommendation :
Oh Dear Oh Dear Oh Dear !   Since its initial incarnation in late August 2003 / early‑mid September 2003, this process has been a nightmarish task and in our opinion  this is totally inexcusable.  AntiVirus software is an absolute necessity – it is not a choice, it is a necessity these days.  Thus the last thing you want is your antivirus software to behave...... like a virus (!!), which is exactly what this task has done in its original incarnation, and at the time of writing, 24‑Aug‑2004, it is still causing havoc to many AnswersThatWork users.  From the creation of huge never‑erased temporary files (TMP files), gobbling up the user’s entire disk space in some cases, constant hard disk access, high CPU utilization resulting in other tasks  “not responding”, to the inability to send or receive emails, this task has shown, in our view, what software at its worst can do.  Shocking, shocking, shocking.   If you are experiencing any of the above problems, download the latest updates from McAfee as they will probably have fixed the problem by the time you read this.  If, even after updates, you still experience problems, disable  ScriptStopper  and  WormStopper  within McAfee and then disable this task on the  Startups  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter.

Mcvsftsn

MCVSFTSN.exe

(McAfee)

Part of McAfee VirusScan Online.  We do not yet know what its role is.

Recommendation :  
As we do not yet know what it does, we can only recommend that you leave it alone, particularly since it is part of antivirus software.

Mdm

MDM.exe

(Microsoft)

Machine Debug Manager.  Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista.  This is used purely by Technically Advanced Users and Developers, and in very specific cases at that.  It is not needed in most normal day-to-day uses of a PC.  Microsoft’s own description of MDM reads as follows :  “The Machine Debug Manager, Mdm.exe, is a program that is installed with the Microsoft Script Editor to provide support for program debugging. The Microsoft Script Editor is included with Microsoft Office 2000, and also can be obtained from the Microsoft Windows Update Web site.  The Machine Debug Manager runs as a service and is loaded when your computer starts. If you do not use your computer for debugging purposes, you can safely turn off the Machine Debug Manager.”.

Recommendation :
While there can be a temptation to disable this service completely, it is our experience that in 2008 a number of Windows Updates have modified Windows in such a way that, occasionally, a Windows program absolutely needs to have MDM running regardless of what you, the user, want to do.  For this reason, therefore, we recommend only changing the  Startup Mode  of MDM from its automatic startup to  Manual  on the  Services  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter.  In this way MDM will not start if it is not needed, but if a program needs it then Windows will start it.

Mdmsetpe

MDMSetPe.exe

(Aztech)

System Tray configuration icon for Aztech modems.  The icon enables you to set up the country for the modem, and the modem audio mode.  Through an oversight the modem drivers installation utility installs this configuration icon in the System Tray but does not install an alternative way of starting it up in the Aztech program group that it creates.

Recommendation : 
Harmless. Once you have configured your modem you can choose to keep the icon in the System Tray, or you can choose to disable it with  The Ultimate Troubleshooter.

MemCard

MemCard.exe

(Lexmark)

Lexmark \ Dell Memory Card Manager.  This background task, which shows as an icon in the System Tray, gets installed by the Drivers CD of Lexmark and Dell Photo or All-in-One printers (the Dell printers are actually made by Lexmark and rebadged as Dell).  It is a monitoring task – as soon as it detects that you have inserted a memory card in the your photo printer’s memory card slot, it fires up the Lexmark\Dell Imaging Studio Photo software to enable you to transfer, organize, photo edit, or print the photos held on the memory card.

Recommendation :
Down to end-user preference.  This task uses between 1Mb to 7Mb of memory.  Windows XP users :  the features implemented by this task are already built into Windows XP and work better (as in “it always works!”) and more smoothly in Windows XP.  Therefore, should you, like us, decide not to have this task running, you can disable it on the  Startups  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter.

Memcheck

MemCheck.exe

(V Communications)

Background task which is part of the Mijenix Fix-it utilities.  Fix-it was later bought by Ontrack, and then later by VCOM (V Communications) in October 2002.  MEMCHECK is a startup program of the Fix-it AntiVirus module which, on startup, checks the PC for memory resident viruses and throws up an alert if any are found.

Recommendation :
This is an essential part of your Fix-it Antivirus protection – leave it alone.

Memory32

001PowerSupply

Memory32.exe

(iJEN Software)

Part of iJEN Software’s  PassMan  password manager software.  Why is this program called such, why is it installed into  C:\Windows,   why is it maskerading itself as 001PowerSupply, and what does it do ?   We do not know yet and we are awaiting confirmation from iJEN Software.

Recommendation :  
At the moment the only assumption we can make is that it is essential to the PassMan program.  Despite this, we in-house do not like the feel of this task and would as a result recommend against using PassMan.  Additionally, for those who may have once evaluated PassMan, this task gets left behind as a startup item even after the de‑installation of PassMan – Not good.

Mgui

MGUI.exe

(Bullguard Ltd)

Console component of the BullGuard antivirus software.  It shows up as an icon in the System Tray – clicking on it enables the user to see the status of their BullGuard antivirus and to open the product.  However, MGUI is also at the same time the on-access part of BullGuard antivirus :  it scans files for viruses as and when you access them, or whenever you create and save new files to your hard disk.

Recommendation :
Essential for the protection of your PC by your BullGuard antivirus product – Leave alone.

Mhotkey

MHOTKEY

(??)

This utility seems to get installed with the software that comes with the type of keyboards called "Internet keyboards",  and in most cases is associated with an icon in the System Tray.  It would seem that its purpose is to enable the end-user to program certain key combinations or function keys to do specific tasks,  or access specific sites,  while browsing the Internet.  We do not know much more than that,  except that in many instances a bug in the software prevents the use of the keyboard in DOS session windows !!

Recommendation : 
Either uninstall the keyboard software which installed this program (via the "Add/Remove Programs" icon in the Control Panel),  or disable it with  The Ultimate Troubleshooter.  It is better to use the Netscape Bookmarks or Toolbar Buttons feature,  or Internet Explorer’s Favorites,  than expose yourself to a program which seems quite buggy.

Migrate.dll

Migrate.dll

(Microsoft)

In our experience this is only ever found as a RUNDLL32 startup item, typically in the shape of a command similar to this one :  RUNDLL32.EXE MIGRATE.DLL, ProcessWin9xNetworkPrinters.  This entry is entered as a startup when you upgrade a Windows 95/98/ME PC to Windows 2000 or Windows XP.  The purpose of this line is to run  MIGRATE.DLL  on one of the many reboots that occur during the upgrade process, as  MIGRATE.DLL ensures that your networked printers, if you have any, are properly migrated to Windows 2000/XP.

Recommendation :
This startup entry is only ever needed while you are performing the Windows upgrade of your PC; however, the upgrade process often does not properly take care of removing it once the upgrade has completed successfully.  Therefore, if you find this entry on your PC, initially disable it on the  Startups  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter, then make sure for a day or two that your printing is working properly, and then eventually delete it altogether from the Startups tab.

Minilog

Minilog.exe

(Zone Labs)

Alert logger task for the Zone Alarm Internet firewall. This task creates and updates the log of intruder attacks.  This task is only started if you select the "Log alerts to text file" option in Zone Alarm.

Recommendation : 
Deselect "Log alerts to text file" in Zone Alarm if you do not want this task and you have no special need for intruder alerts to be logged.  Do not under any event manage this background task using either  The Ultimate Troubleshooter  or MSConfig, as it can result in interminably slow Internet access if you have "Log alerts to text file" selected but you have at the same time prevented this task from starting using either The Ultimate Troubleshooter or MSConfig.

Mirra.Service

MirraSync Service

Mirra.Service.exe

(Mirra Inc)

MirraSync Service.  This program, installed by your Mirra Personal Server software CD, works in the background and backs up the important files you have selected for continuous backup to your Mirra Personal Server.  This program also comes into service when you restore files from your Mirra Personal Server or when you synchronize files between your Mirra Personal Server and your PC.

Recommendation :
Essential for the safe continuous background backup of your important files – Leave alone if you are connected to your home network and therefore your Mirra Personal Server (by “Home” we mean the network where your Mirra Personal Server is, which may be your physical home or your office).

Note, however :  If you are not connected to your  “home network”, the  Mirra Service  will poll the network many times every minute to try to connect to your Mirra Personal Server.  Depending on your location at the time this may or may not be acceptable as any network monitoring software will pick up the fact that your PC is frequently and constantly trying to connect to a particular network address.  So, you are in the middle of a major presentation at a client and their IT person interrupts your meeting to alert you, in a friendly manner of course, to the fact that your laptop is constantly polling a particular IP address on their network, and he/she is a little concerned (for you of course!).  Needless to say that in such a scenario you may just want to temporarily stop this service, and the Mirra Watchdog service (Mirra.Watchdog.exe), on the  Services  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter.  The same applies to gamers who will find that this service has a significant negative performance impact while in the middle of a game as this service will continually backup any material changes to the games files if those files are included in the sets of files for Mirra to backup, and those gamers may therefore also want to temporarily stop this service before starting a game.

Mixer

Mixer.exe

(C-Media Inc)

This replacement for the default Windows Volume Mixer gets installed when you install the drivers for C-Media onboard sound systems or sound cards.  In our opinion the C-Media mixer is no better than the default Windows mixer and, if anything, it is irritating in the way it will by default mute the CD-in, Line-In, and other volume settings on some PCs, making the end-user lose valuable time working out why the sound is not working.

Recommendation : 
Disable or Delete using  The Ultimate Troubleshooter.

Mm_server

MM_Server.exe

(MusicMatch)

Background task installed by  MusicMatch Jukebox  and which provides support for Universal Plug and Play devices (e.g. Apple’s iPod) so that these devices can access the songs in your music library.

Recommendation :
Essential if you have a Universal Plug and Play device such as an Apple iPod, otherwise you can disable it on the  Startups  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter.

Mm_tray

Mm_Tray.exe

(MusicMatch)

This program is installed by MusicMatch Jukebox and enables you to access MusicMatch from the System Tray.

Recommendation :
If you like the feature, keep it.  Otherwise disable the Tray feature in MusicMatch Jukebox.

Mmc

MMC.exe

(Microsoft)

Microsoft Management Console.  A massively irritating piece of software that you have no choice but to use to manage most of Microsoft’s latter system products (SQL Server, Exchange server, and more …).  At the time of writing, 25-Mar-2005, there is nothing we like about Microsoft’s Management Console.  First it’s slow.  Second, it’s slow.  Third, it’s slow.  You can’t have it open in Maximised mode, you always have to maximise it manually.  It won’t remember your column widths.  It won’t remember your column rearrangements, it won’t remember your sort order, etc.., etc..  It is an incredible time waster, yet you are stuck with having to use it, and more often than you realise – when you are in any Administrative Tool in Windows 2000/XP/2003, such as  “Computer Management”,  that is what you are using and that is why it appears in your Task List.  Can you ever remember wasting soooo much time managing system stuff in Windows 95/98/ME ?   Of course not.  Who wrote this MMC rubbish ??!!

Recommendation :  
As explained above, it is an integral part of Windows 2000/XP/2003 and opens up when you are using any Administrative Tool, that is why it shows in the Task List.  However sometimes, because of bugs, it remains in the Task List even though you have no management window open anywhere.  When it does it consumes memory (but not CPU time) – you can  terminate  it.

Mmtask  (1)

MMTask.exe

(MusicMatch)

Background task installed by  MusicMatch Jukebox  and which detects the insertion or removal of a CD so that MusicMatch Jukebox can update its display accordingly.

Recommendation :
This task is provided purely to allow MusicMatch Jukebox to still be able to detect the insertion or removal of a CD on PCs where the CD‑ROM drives are  not  set to Auto-Play ( “Auto-insert notification”  not turned ON in Win9x/ME, or  “Autorun”  registry key set to Zero in WinNT4/2000/XP).  If you know that your PC automatically plays or opens CDs, then, as part of streamlining your PC’s environment, you may try disabling this task on the  Startups  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter.  If you find that MusicMatch Jukebox is still able to detect the insertion or removal of a CD, then all is well, otherwise simply re‑enable this task.

Mmtask  (2)

MMTask.tsk

(Microsoft)

Microsoft’s Multimedia Background Task Support Module. This is a hidden task in Windows 9x/ME which shows up only in the Processes List in Starter.  MMTASK is a Microsoft background task which provides simulated multitasking for multimedia applications, so that, for example, you could be playing more than one AVI movie at the same time.  This task does not exist in Windows NT4/2000/XP/2003 which are true multitasking operating systems.

Recommendation :
Leave it alone.  If you experience error messages which mention  MMTASK, and quite a few users do, then the problem is in most cases elsewhere, very often driver problems.

Mnmsrvc

Fpx

MNMSrvc.exe

(Microsoft)

Microsoft’s NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing task.  Microsoft’s NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing (RDS) is software which enables an end-user to take control of another PC (also running NetMeeting) over an internal network or over the Internet.  Typical applications might be for an end-user to be able to login from his home PC onto his work PC and check his work email, work on some documents and spreadsheets, etc...  MNMSRVC is the task that must be running for a remote computer to take over your PC.  It shows as an icon in the System Tray which allows you to enable or disable Remote Desktop Sharing.

Recommendation :
This task is essential if you want to be able to take over your PC from a remote PC using Remote Desktop Sharing.  Otherwise you can disable it with  The Ultimate Troubleshooter  in Win98/ME.  In Windows NT4/2000/XP/ 2003 you need to set the  NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing  service to  Manual  or  Disabled  in  “Control Panel \ Services”  in Windows NT4  or  “Control Panel \ Administrative Tools \ Services”  in Windows 2000/XP/2003.  If you are a Windows 2000 user and are experiencing intractable problems with getting NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing to work, ensure you have at least both Service Pack 4 for Windows 2000 and Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 installed.

Mobsync

MobSync.exe

(Microsoft)

Microsoft Synchronization Manager.  This program, which is part of Internet Explorer 5.x/6, runs in the background when you are using the "View pages offline" feature of Internet Explorer, and you have set parameters for when your pages should be automatically synchronised, or you decide to manually synchronise your offline content with the web through the "Start \ Programs \ Accessories \ Synchronize" function.  This program will also run if you are doing development using Microsoft SQL 7 and using SQL 7 replication.

Recommendation : 
Harmless. If you never use the "Synchronize" function, then disable it with  The Ultimate Troubleshooter.

Monwow

Monwow.exe

(Symantec)

Part of Norton CleanSweep. This program monitors the installation of new software on your PC – without it running in the background Smart Sweep is "toothless" and cannot be used.

Recommendation : 
If you actively use Norton CleanSweep on your PC, you will need to leave this process alone.  Only disable it if you are troubleshooting conflicts between CleanSweep and other software (disable it by turning "off" Smart Sweep in the configuration of CleanSweep, and then rebooting).

Motivesb

MotiveSB.exe

(Motive Communications)

Motive SmartBridge background task which appears as an  Online Support  icon in the System Tray.  We believe it to be part of the  Motive Broadband Manager  stable of products from Motive Communications, although we are not 100% certain yet.  Some descriptions of Motive Broadband Manager from the Motive website on 20‑Feb‑2004 :  “Self-management software that automates the residential subscriber service and support experience” – “Performs automated troubleshooting and problem resolution” – “Proactively detects problems and guides subscribers through the resolution process.” – “Offers an escalation mechanism and process for resolving problems that require help from service providers.  When self‑configuration or self-repair cannot resolve the issue, Motive Broadband Manager automatically escalates a support request electronically to the provider's customer service center, providing the information gathered during the self-service experience as a starting point to speed problem resolution.”.  In our experience Motive Smartbridge is installed by the installation CD provided by a number of broadband ISPs, most notably, at the time of writing, Verizon, Adelphia.

Recommendation :
We simply cannot understand why ISPs insist on installing software like this on users PCs without thorough, thorough, thorough, and also....., thorough testing !  Frequent  “Kernel32 invalid page faults”  on boot-up is the most common complaint.  But that’s not all :  we have seen PC hangs and spontaneous reboots also being caused by this task.  Add to this that this task regularly communicates information back to the ISP without, in most cases, the user ever having been informed clearly and unambiguously about what is being communicated, and you have a task which we recommend unequivocally that you eliminate.  As we state consistently in these pages, ISPs have the technology to monitor the quality of their service to you the customer without any software from them running on your PC.  They possess a range of diagnostic hardware and tests which can help them pinpoint problems with remarkable accuracy, so do not ever believe any statement which infers that you need software like Motive Smartbridge running for your ISP to be able to support you !  We have frequent contacts with our own ISP and the range of tests they can perform, and their ability to home in on the exact problem, is absolutely stunning.  You have two choices :  the quick and easy solution if you do not want to “mess around” too much with your PC is simply to disable this task on the  Startups  tab of  The Ultimate Troubleshooter  – this has the advantage of allowing you to re-enable the task should you experience a problem with your broadband connection and your ISP insist on you having this task running before they can provide you with support.  Alternatively, if you are technically advanced, in addition to disabling this task you could decide to de-install anything  “Motive”  or which has your ISP’s name and something akin to  “support”  in the  “Add\Remove Programs”  icon in the Control Panel.

Motmon