Start-up problems

Sometimes at start-up, I get messages that certain
programs aren't responding, such as "agtsrv", "nav?"
and "msgr32". Eventually, it says Explorer is not
responding. After a series of hitting Control/Alt/Delete,
it will sometimes come back and I can proceed. Sometimes,
it just freezes. I've run windoctor. Didn't help. Any
suggestions would be really appreciated. Thanks

Leslie -

None of those "programs" as you've typed them are anything that I can find
that appear to be normal. Google shows nothing on such items, except for
agtsrv; something in an Asian (appears Japanese) Bulletin Board. If you've
posted these names correctly, I have doubts that they are legitimate Windows
programs. On the other hand, if you mean Agtserv - that is legit, and is
indicated as "Background task for the Atomica online reference software
(Atomica Personal, Atomica Pro, Atomica Slingshot)". Same for Msg32 (instead
of msgr32), that is also legit. If it is Msgsrv32, that can be legitimate or
not depending on other factors. Nav? I don't know if it is related to a
Norton Antivirus or other Norton application, and I've not seen it before.

The behavior of your PC may indicate the presence of some kind of Spyware or
Malware. I don't know anything about Windoctor (a Norton product?), but any
one program simply cannot scan and check for all things. It cannot hurt to
run or have these programs, even if it does not offer any immediate answer
to your issues. If you haven't any of these programs, have been surfing
freeling about the web for any period of time, are taken to downloading a
lot of general programs (of potential dubious nature) the there is a chance
you might have something unwanted on your PC. It can happen to anyone, and
I've had my share of stuff too.

Before you do that which follows, you might wish to take a look here at
programs which start-up just for an idea.
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Taskl...s/tasklist.htm
http://aumha.org/a/loads.htm
http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.p...t=100&offset=0
http://www2.whidbey.com/djdenham/Uncheck.htm
http://www.greyknight17.com/startup1.htm
http://www.windowsstartup.com/wso/search.php
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php

I'd suggest you try other scans of your PC for possible unwanted pests.
A long post follows: Start at the top and work through these on-line and
freeware programs one at a time. Some are simple on-line scanners which
check for the presence of undesirable pests. While not the most thorough,
they may be of some use. Active Scripting must be permitted at the time of
using these on-line scans. Other than that, I recommend to not allow Active
Scripting when web surfing at any sites other than sites you know and trust.
The next are the freeware programs most folks rely upon for such
circumstances, and most wouldn't go web surfing without them.

You needn't install nor run everything at this time, but the programs such
as CWShredder, Ad-Aware (now updated to the SE version), Spybot S&D,
SpywareBlaster, and lastly HijackThis are the standard basic arsenal that
one should use. I've listed them by order of recommended installation.

Quick and basic scans from any one of the following sites:
Doxdesk parasite scan
http://doxdesk.com/parasite/
Jim Eshelmans WSC on-line quick scan
http://www.aumha.org/a/noads.htm
Bugs Glitches and Stuff-ups
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/Darnit.htm

More In-Depth on-line scanners for parasites and Trojans:
GFI free on-line Trojan scanner
http://www.windowsecurity.com/trojanscan/
Sygate Technologies Trojanscan
http://scan.sygatetech.com/pretrojanscan.html
PestPatrol on-line scan
http://www.pestscan.com/home.asp
SpywareChecker on-line scan
http://www.spywareguide.com/txt_onlinescan.html

Parasites, spyware malware basics:
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Check for Spyware - How-to

*Most important* - Before you try to remove spyware using any of the
following programs, realize that the process of cleaning and removing
certain spyware and malware may possibly interrupt and kill your internet
connection. Therefore, you should obtain a copy of LSPFIX, and Winsockfix
which will then make it possible for you to re-establish your internet
connection if it gets terminated.

Download LSPFIX from either of the following sites:

http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm
http://www.spychecker.com/program/winsockxpfix.html (For Win2k or XP)

Download Winsockfix here
http://members.shaw.ca/installations/WinsockFix.zip

First, install the respective programs and then update them immediately, so
that they have the current versions, and definitions. **Read the Help Files
and Tutorials**.

After you've Updated Spybot S&D, and SpywareBlaster, you *must* ENABLE the
protections as well. These two programs do not automatically enable
protections obtained from the newest definitions and updates, therefore this
process must be done manually. Without having enabled protections, the
current definitions obtained from updates will be *useless*.

Run the programs one at a time. With Ad-Aware you may have it generally
clean whatever it finds. The same applies for CWShredder. Spybot S&D
requires special attention, as does HijackThis (Only more so. Details listed
below) The programs are listed in order of their general strength, safety,
and purpose. It is perhaps best to install and run these in this order of
appearance. All are freeware programs, but if you are pleased with the
results and quality of the utilities, donations to the respective Authors
will be cheerfully accepted.

Another thing to consider doing is to run a program (only run one program at
a time) a few times consecutively. The reason for this is that the first
pass may kill certain Spyware programs, but may not be able to terminate and
kill all files and programs which may be running at the time. That is why a
second pass may be necessary to be thoroughly effective.

Under the most stubborn cases, running the programs in Safe-Mode will allow
for the best cleaning conditions, as there will be a minimum of interference
from processes running in the background.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CWShredder (cleans all Cool Web Search malware)
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
If the Authors site is unable to be accessed, then the following two sites
offer his programs as well.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4086.html
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/coolwebshredder.html
CWShredder Tutorial
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/foru...howtutorial=47

Coolwebsearch Smartkiller
http://www.safer-networking.org/files/delcwssk.zip
http://www.spychecker.com/program/miniremovalcw.html

The above item is sometimes necessary if CWShredder detects a SmartSearch2
variant on your PC.

Ad -Aware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/
Ad-Aware Tutorial (might help if you look through this)
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/foru...howtutorial=48
Ad-Aware VX2 Cleaner Plug-In
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/...2cleaner.shtml

Spybot S&D
http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download
Spybot Tutorial (Must Read)
http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=tutorial
Other tutorials for Spybot S&D (Also must read)
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/foru...howtutorial=43
http://tomcoyote.com/SPYBOT/index1.php
http://tomcoyote.com/SPYBOT/index2.php

This item below is designed to *prevent* installation of malware and the
like by comparing known CLSID's of these "bad guys" with what is in its
definitions. By enabling a *Kill Bit* it prevents known malignant ActiveX
from being installed or run on your machine. It doesn't remove anything, nor
will it fix anything that is already in your PC. Rather, it will prevent
installation or re-installation of the item once it has been removed
manually, or by the use of another program which will perform the duty of
removing the spyware.

SpywareBlaster (prevents installation of Spyware, Trojans, etc.)
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html
SpywareBlaster Tutorial
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/foru...howtutorial=49

SpywareGuard (companion program to SWB, above)
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html
SpywareGuard Tutorial
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/foru...howtutorial=50

If you use Spybot S&D, be sure to clean *ONLY* the items displayed in *RED*.
DO NOT clean any items displayed in Black or Green at this time.

Lastly there is HijackThis. Hijack this is a very powerful, last resort type
of program which is generally best used in conjunction with help from those
who deal with the findings of the log created by the HijackThis scan. It
does nothing in the scan itself; it merely says what is present and/or
running on your PC. The items must be checked-marked to be "cleaned". You
must know *exactly* what you are checking-off before you proceed. If you
don't, you can quite possibly disable many useful and vital functions of
your PC. Remember; read the Tutorials, and seek help at SpywareInfo Forums,
Net-Integration, or TomCoyote forums for safety's sake.

HijackThis
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html
If the preceding site is down, you may get HijackThis from other sites
Hijack This (from Major Geeks)
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3155.html
http://www.spychecker.com/program/hijackthis.html
http://computercops.biz/downloads-cat-14.html

HijackThis Tutorials **(MUST READ)**
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/htlogtutorial.html
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/foru...howtutorial=42
http://hjt.wizardsofwebsites.com/
http://s89223352.onlinehome.us/mirror/hjt/

Where to seek help with your HijackThis scan log
SpywareInfo Forums
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/
other help forums for HijackThis:
Net-Integration
http://forums.net-integration.net/index.php?c=19
TomCoyote
http://forums.tomcoyote.com/index.php?showforum=27
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anti-Virus Tools:

AVG Anti-virus by Grisoft
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5

avast! Virus Cleaner - free virus & worm removal tool
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_cleaner.html

McAfee AVERT Stinger
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/

NOTE: With the above tools, particularly Avast Virus cleaner, be sure to
disable your background PC Anti-virus utility.

F-Prot for DOS
http://www.f-prot.com/products/home_use/dos/
http://www.f-prot.com/products/home_use/
http://www.claymania.com/f-prot.html

If you can use this program, be sure to make certain the most recent Updates
are obtained for it.
http://www.f-secure.com/download-pur..._updates.shtml
F-Secure Anti-Virus for DOS (F-PROT edition)

Update Macro.def to your system to get up-to-date macro virus protection.
The other Anti-Virus databases, Sign.def and Sign2.def are updated weekly.
They have definitions for all other kinds of viruses except macro-viruses.
MACRO.DEF definition file
SIGN.DEF definition file
SIGN2.DEF definition file
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On-Line Virus scanners:

RAV Antivirus Online Virus Scan
http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/
Command on Demand
http://www.authentium.com/solutions/cod/index.cfm
Freedom on-line virus check
http://www.freedom.net/viruscenter/o...iruscheck.html
TrendMicro Housecall (also detects some Trojans)
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
BitDefender Scan Online
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php

Kapersky Online Virus Scanner
http://www.kaspersky.com/remoteviruschk.html
The above scanner works differently from most; it is a server based scanner,
and will only scan individual files, or directories which are limited to 1
MB in total size. It will not do a full system scan.

Hauri LiveCall Online virus scanning
http://www.globalhauri.com/html/products/livecall.html
The above is also server based if I remember correctly

Panda on-line virus scan
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/activescan.asp

McAfee FreeScan
http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp

Symantec Security Check (page offers security and/or virus scan)
http://snipurl.com/7gz1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More general info you should be aware of:
The Parasite Fight; Quick Fix Protocol
http://www.aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
How to surf the Internet more safely with Internet Explorer
http://www.infinisource.com/techfiles/surf-safe.html
So how did I get infected in the first place?
http://boards.cexx.org/viewtopic.php?t=957
Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware Products & Web Sites
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

Other vulnerability tests:
Jason's Toolbox Browser Security Tests
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/
Qualys' Free Browser Checkup
http://browsercheck.qualys.com/
MyNe****chman - WinPopUP Tester
http://www.myne****chman.com/winpopuptester.asp

Firewall tests: (YMMV :-)
Sygate Technologies Stealthscan
http://scan.sygatetech.com/prestealthscan.html
PortScan from Hackerwatch.org
http://www.hackerwatch.org/probe/
ShieldsUp ports and security tests
http://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

Site which links to various tests
Security-Ops
http://www.security-ops.tk/

How to disable Windows Messenger Service or WinPopup
http://www.opentechsupport.net/forum...c/11211-1.html

HTH -
--
LuckyStrike


How to make a good newsgroup post:
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
-------------------------------------------------

"leslie" wrote in message
...
Sometimes at start-up, I get messages that certain
programs aren't responding, such as "agtsrv", "nav?"
and "msgr32". Eventually, it says Explorer is not
responding. After a series of hitting Control/Alt/Delete,
it will sometimes come back and I can proceed. Sometimes,
it just freezes. I've run windoctor. Didn't help. Any
suggestions would be really appreciated. Thanks

Remove witchdoctor and see if the messages vanish.
If not, post exact details of the errors.

....Alan

--
Alan Edwards, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/index.html

In microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion, "leslie"
wrote:

Sometimes at start-up, I get messages that certain
programs aren't responding, such as "agtsrv", "nav?"
and "msgr32". Eventually, it says Explorer is not
responding. After a series of hitting Control/Alt/Delete,
it will sometimes come back and I can proceed. Sometimes,
it just freezes. I've run windoctor. Didn't help. Any
suggestions would be really appreciated. Thanks