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General discussion

ending processes

Mar 4, 2004 2:52AM PST

I use a system Monitor program that displays how hard the CPU is running, RAM usage etc. Recently, for no apparent reason the CPU will start running at 100% and not stop. When I do ctrl+alt+del, the program using the CPU is called gt.exe. When I try to end the program, access is denied. How can I find out just what this file is doing? When I restart my computer, it's not loaded automatically. Have done a search, all of the references to this file seem to be related to a virus, however I have updated my virus definitions, and scanned my entire system and also the file individually, no viruses detected. I'm tempted to delete the file, but afraid it's a necessary file. Can anybody tell me what this file does? "gt.exe"

Running Windows 2000, 512MB of RAM, AMD Athlon 2000+

Discussion is locked

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GT.EXE at Google identifies it.
Mar 4, 2004 3:12AM PST

PLEASE GOOGLE such things so you can get help faster.

http://www.google.com/search?&q=GT.EXE

In short, it's not part of the OS. It is however a sign that the OS isn't being protected, up todate, running "extra" services or more...

Read and take steps to remove it as well as follow the OS update guidelines.

Bob

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Re:GT.EXE at Google identifies it.
Mar 4, 2004 5:12AM PST

I researched it on Google before posting the message, but couldn't find anything definitive, just that it could be "planted" by a virus, but I figured surely if it was dangers, Norton antivirus would have identified it. I do run Windows update once a week. Deleted the file, no adverse side effects yet.

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A danger lurks for those that rely on their "antivirus."
Mar 4, 2004 5:18AM PST

One of the ongoing lessons is that "second opinions" count when it comes to PESTS and PARASITES. GT.EXE found items that would have me get a second opinion scan from a web-based virus scan like HOUSECALL.

Certainly it's not a part of the OS and you need to examine what the user is doing that may open the door to this and other trojans. IRC was indicated, but KAZAA and other P2P are also suspect.

In closing, I'll copy in my usual note about the pests that antivirus programs do nothing about. "It's not a virus."

Parasite removal programs.

http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-6132-0.html?forumID=32&threadID=1313&start=0 notes the five scanning tools and removal tools that are fairly safe. If one does encounter an issue, its always been damage done by the MALWARE. The most common issue being Layered Service Provider replacement which you can use LSPFIX (Hint: use http://www.google.com to find).

The thread has follow on discussions about new links if you don't want to use Google to find an item.

Bob

PS. All the tools are free.