Numerous taskeng.exe processes

I'm on Vista Ultimate and I've just noticed I have about 30-40 taskeng.exe
processes in the Processes list in Task Manager!

Restarting doesn't remove them, yet the PC seems stable and normal. Why are
there so many and how can I fix this? It's making my total processes to 124!
I have no viruses or spyware. The majority of the taskeng.exe processes are
around "896 K" in size.

Hello,

taskeng.exe is a running scheduled task. You should open up task scheduler:

- click start
- type: task scheduler
- press enter

And see what tasks you have running.


--
- JB
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

"nLinked" <nLinked@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:6911CBDD-8A24-4024-8275-38F94D18486A@microsoft.com...
> I'm on Vista Ultimate and I've just noticed I have about 30-40 taskeng.exe
> processes in the Processes list in Task Manager!
>
> Restarting doesn't remove them, yet the PC seems stable and normal. Why
> are there so many and how can I fix this? It's making my total processes
> to 124! I have no viruses or spyware. The majority of the taskeng.exe
> processes are around "896 K" in size.

Hello,

In Task Scheduler, in the Active Tasks section, it has 21 tasks. Each one is
different and they seem to be system-created (I didn't create any). They
seem legitimate.

In my Task Manager, I've just counted 73 instances of taskeng.exe! I don't
think this is normal and I don't know how to identify the 73 of them in Task
Scheduler.

"Jimmy Brush" <jb@mvps.org> wrote in message
news:688F0299-618D-48EC-842E-682A39BFEA4D@microsoft.com...
> Hello,
>
> taskeng.exe is a running scheduled task. You should open up task
> scheduler:
>
> - click start
> - type: task scheduler
> - press enter
>
> And see what tasks you have running.
>
>
> --
> - JB
> Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
>
> "nLinked" <nLinked@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:6911CBDD-8A24-4024-8275-38F94D18486A@microsoft.com...
>> I'm on Vista Ultimate and I've just noticed I have about 30-40
>> taskeng.exe processes in the Processes list in Task Manager!
>>
>> Restarting doesn't remove them, yet the PC seems stable and normal. Why
>> are there so many and how can I fix this? It's making my total processes
>> to 124! I have no viruses or spyware. The majority of the taskeng.exe
>> processes are around "896 K" in size.
>

This does not sound like a normal situation.

Here's what I suggest:

- Download process explorer from the microsoft website here:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../bb896653.aspx

- Once downloaded, extract process explorer some place
- Right-click on procexp.exe, and click run as administrator
- When it loads, click the view menu, and then select columns
- Put a check mark next to command line, and click OK
- Enlarge the command line column so you can read it
- Look for your taskeng.exe's. Look under the command line column, and see
if you can see a pattern (for example, they all contain a certain number)
- Reply back with your findings. You can copy the command line for a
taskeng.exe if you right-click on it and click properties.

"nLinked" <nLinked@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:067C2DA2-0691-4B72-88FE-D6A1B3739458@microsoft.com...
> Hello,
>
> In Task Scheduler, in the Active Tasks section, it has 21 tasks. Each one
> is different and they seem to be system-created (I didn't create any).
> They seem legitimate.
>
> In my Task Manager, I've just counted 73 instances of taskeng.exe! I don't
> think this is normal and I don't know how to identify the 73 of them in
> Task Scheduler.
>
> "Jimmy Brush" <jb@mvps.org> wrote in message
> news:688F0299-618D-48EC-842E-682A39BFEA4D@microsoft.com...
>> Hello,
>>
>> taskeng.exe is a running scheduled task. You should open up task
>> scheduler:
>>
>> - click start
>> - type: task scheduler
>> - press enter
>>
>> And see what tasks you have running.
>>
>>
>> --
>> - JB
>> Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
>>
>> "nLinked" <nLinked@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:6911CBDD-8A24-4024-8275-38F94D18486A@microsoft.com...
>>> I'm on Vista Ultimate and I've just noticed I have about 30-40
>>> taskeng.exe processes in the Processes list in Task Manager!
>>>
>>> Restarting doesn't remove them, yet the PC seems stable and normal. Why
>>> are there so many and how can I fix this? It's making my total processes
>>> to 124! I have no viruses or spyware. The majority of the taskeng.exe
>>> processes are around "896 K" in size.
>>

Thank you for your reply.

I have followed your instructions but can't see much of a pattern in the
command lines.

I have uploaded a screenshot of it here:
http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/5093/capturefq5.png

All of them don't take up any CPU but there is pattern in their size,
they're nearly all around 895 K.

My other Vista PC only has two instances of taskeng.exe. But on this
computer, they start off around 5, and continue increasing in number from
the moment I logon.

"Jimmy Brush" <jb@mvps.org> wrote in message
news:26570D31-881E-41D1-B264-EE2FDA4DD3C9@microsoft.com...
> This does not sound like a normal situation.
>
> Here's what I suggest:
>
> - Download process explorer from the microsoft website here:
>
> http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../bb896653.aspx
>
> - Once downloaded, extract process explorer some place
> - Right-click on procexp.exe, and click run as administrator
> - When it loads, click the view menu, and then select columns
> - Put a check mark next to command line, and click OK
> - Enlarge the command line column so you can read it
> - Look for your taskeng.exe's. Look under the command line column, and
> see if you can see a pattern (for example, they all contain a certain
> number)
> - Reply back with your findings. You can copy the command line for a
> taskeng.exe if you right-click on it and click properties.
>
> "nLinked" <nLinked@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:067C2DA2-0691-4B72-88FE-D6A1B3739458@microsoft.com...
>> Hello,
>>
>> In Task Scheduler, in the Active Tasks section, it has 21 tasks. Each one
>> is different and they seem to be system-created (I didn't create any).
>> They seem legitimate.
>>
>> In my Task Manager, I've just counted 73 instances of taskeng.exe! I
>> don't think this is normal and I don't know how to identify the 73 of
>> them in Task Scheduler.
>>
>> "Jimmy Brush" <jb@mvps.org> wrote in message
>> news:688F0299-618D-48EC-842E-682A39BFEA4D@microsoft.com...
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> taskeng.exe is a running scheduled task. You should open up task
>>> scheduler:
>>>
>>> - click start
>>> - type: task scheduler
>>> - press enter
>>>
>>> And see what tasks you have running.
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> - JB
>>> Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
>>>
>>> "nLinked" <nLinked@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>> news:6911CBDD-8A24-4024-8275-38F94D18486A@microsoft.com...
>>>> I'm on Vista Ultimate and I've just noticed I have about 30-40
>>>> taskeng.exe processes in the Processes list in Task Manager!
>>>>
>>>> Restarting doesn't remove them, yet the PC seems stable and normal. Why
>>>> are there so many and how can I fix this? It's making my total
>>>> processes to 124! I have no viruses or spyware. The majority of the
>>>> taskeng.exe processes are around "896 K" in size.
>>>
>

I am also having this problem and its driving me nuts. Every few
minutes another taskeng.exe appears.

If I go into services and try to stop Task Scheduler "stop" is greyed
out. I also cannot change the startup from Automatic, its also greyed
out.

If I run msconfig and uncheck task scheduler it re-checks itself as
soon as I press Apply!?!

I feel hijacked, any ideas?


--
psychoholica

[NickDownUnder]

Did you ever find a solution to this problem? Every few minutes, another taskeng.exe starts up, with a command line like this:

taskeng.exe {77524FE1-5C75-41D4-8123-A889891B3C94}

Every time the parameter is different, but I haven't been able to find any of the values in the curly braces in the registry or anywhere as a file on the computer.

I definitely feel hijacked as well. I have Vista SP1 RC1 Refresh installed, so I'm not sure if that is causing the problem.

One thing I did notice: if you run Vista in safe mode, the problem does NOT occur. So I've been using the process of elimination to try to figure out which service/driver/etc is the the guilty party, but it takes a while...

Anyone else out there with the same problem?

Thanks,
Nick

[NickDownUnder]

OK, after working on it for a few hours, I figured it out myself. It has to do with a failing IE feed reader scheduled task, which as it happens runs every 5 minutes!

I have Vista RC1 SP1 Refresh installed, so I'm not sure if that was a related cause....

Anyway, here's the solution:

1. Go to the start menu.
2. Type task scheduler and press enter.
3. Press continue on the UAC popup.
4. In the left pane of task scheduler, underneath Task Scheduler Local, right-click on Task Scheduler Library.
5. In the View submenu, make sure the Show Hidden Tasks option is checked.
6. Widen the Name column in the center pane. The hidden task that is likely at fault has a name that starts with User_Feed_Synchronization, followed by a dash and a bunch of digits inside a curly brace.
7. Select that task in the middle pane by clicking on its name.
8. To verify that this scheduled task is creating all those taskeng.exe processes, select the History tab in the middle pane near the middle of the screen. If you expand out the Level and Date and Time Columns, you should see a bunch of errors and date and times that are 5 minutes apart. If that's the case, then this task is the problem.
9. On the rightmost pane, select Disable.
10. There may be more than one scheduled task like this, so you'd need to disable any or all that were causing problems.

That should do it! It worked for me, anyway. Let me know how that goes...hope it helps!

Nick Hain
Melbourne, Australia

[baryh]

I have been having the same problem as described in this thread, but I was having trouble finding a User_Feed_Synchronization in the Task Scheduler, so at first I thought there must be something else causing it.

I have a PC running Vista Premium Home edition, with multiple users. The problem only occured for one user, and not the others. A new taskeng.exe process pops up every 5 minutes for that user, and they never go away.

Anyway, miraculously, after looking through the Task Scheduler many times, the User_Feed_Synchronization task finally showed up for me in the Task Scheduler, so I am now able to delete that. Looking at it now, it is a Hidden Task, so make sure and select View -> Show Hidden Tasks. Also, it is in the top level Task Scheduler Library folder, not in one of the Microsoft or other subfolders.

Interestingly, the triggers for this were set to only run for the user that was having the problem, so that explained it but I don't understand how this got set in the first place.

Many thanks to NickDownUnder for posting the solution!

Does anyone know what created this "malware"? I think I read somewhere else that it might be an IE7 issue.

[Erbid]

I was getting out of memory alerts and being asked to close whatever the large memory consumption task I had recently opened.

I found the same thing happening to me. Thanks to the info about showing hidden tasks in task scheduler, I found the same thing. It was running regularly, but never succeeding, so I disabled it. It was set to run at midnight and every 5 minutes thereafter, and on request and every 5 minutes thereafter.

Was very concerned about having had my machine hijacked!

Erbid