Answer Line: Identify Mystery Apps Running in the Shadows

I close every window and every icon in the system tray, then press Ctrl-Alt-Delete, but I still see that programs are running in the background. What are they?

Chris Madaio, Baltimore

They could be anything; many programs have modules that lurk in your PC's shadows. To find out what a particular unidentified program is, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to open the Close Program dialog box, then write the program's name down on paper. After you've closed the box, select Start, Find, Files or Folders. In the Named field, enter the name of the program followed by .exe, such as dbserver.exe. In the Look In field, select Local hard drives, then click Find Now.

Chances are you'll find the file. When you do, the folder it's in should tell you what program put it there. For instance, if the file's in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office, chances are it's part of Office.

If a file search doesn't turn up a program, or if it's in a common dumping-ground folder like C:\Windows\System, turn programs on and off. Select Start, Run, type msconfig, and press Enter. Click the Startup tab for a list of all programs that load at boot-up. Find out what's loading a particular program by unchecking options and rebooting until you can identify the malefactor.

Programs you're likely to find in the Close Program dialog box include:

Explorer and systray: Basic parts of Windows that should always be up.

Findfast and osa: Parts of Microsoft Office 97 (but not of Office 2000). If you don't want them, you can get rid of them by removing Microsoft Find Fast and Office Startup from the Start, Programs, Startup menu.

Rnaap: Part of Windows. It loads when you use dial-up networking, and then stays in memory until you close Windows.