Or, if it??™s a service,
double-click the service and look at the Path to executable line
under the General tab.
2. Once you have the program filename, open Windows Explorer and navigate
to the file??™s location. (If the pathname wasn??™t included, type the
filename into Explorer??™s Search box, and be sure to look beyond the
index (see Chapter 2).
Right-click the program executable, select Properties, and choose the Version
tab. The manufacturer name, and sometimes the product name, will
be listed here. If there??™s no Version tab, it means the file has no version
information, a symptom typically indicative of a virus or some form of
malware (see ???Viruses, Malware, and Spyware,??? earlier in this chapter).
3. If the file itself doesn??™t explain its own purpose, fire up a web browser
and search Google for the filename. In nearly all cases, you??™ll find a web
site that describes what it??™s for, and in the case of malware, how to
remove it.
4. Still stumped? Some malware installers create new, random filenames for
their startup programs specifically so you can??™t easily identify them. If you
have a hunch that an entry doesn??™t belong, try temporarily relocating it.
If it??™s a shortcut in your Startup folder, move the shortcut to a temporary
folder rather than deleting it, which allows for easy retrieval if it
turns out to be necessary.
For entries in your Registry, create a Registry patch (see
Chapter 3) to back up the key, and then simply delete the
offending entry.
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