Active Process List - dilemma

Comodo Internet Security - CIS Defense+ / Sandbox Help - CIS
1

You know on the main page for the firewall (Summary tab), under the Proactive Defense section, how it says “x application(s) are active and running in the memory”?.. and you can click on the number (x) to see these applications, taking you to the “Active Process List”? Okay, most of these processes are listed under “System”. Under the column to the right with the heading “User Name” it lists everything under System as “NT AUTHORITY/SYSTEM”. Down the list further are some things under listed under C:\Windows Explorer\explorer.exe. They are the 3 things I have on automatic startup, I’m sure not coincidentally. My browser “firefox.exe” is also listed there right now as I look. There is something different listed under the “User Name” column for these… the name of my network.

So here is where the dilemma kicks in… after awhile those things listed under explorer.exe vanish. They just aren’t there anymore. When this happens I notice 1-2 more processes listed as running than are normally, but when I look at that list it shows nothing that wasn’t running previously. I’m going to list everything running in the Task Manager as soon as I boot up my PC, then compare it to later to see if there’s a difference there. As for now can anybody tell me exactly why the things listed under explorer.exe on that list vanish after awhile? Is there a connection between this and why afterward there are more processes listed as “active and running in the memory”?

Thanks for your time and the help.

2

I restarted my PC and make a list of running processes through Task Manager. It just did it again (the things listed under “explorer.exe” in the “Active Process List” of the Comodo Firewall vanished). After this happened the amount of things listed as “active and running in the memory” went from 18 to 20, even though it was actually listing less things on that list (considering the stuff listed under explorer.exe are now gone). The thing is though when I looked at Task Manager again to compare it to when I first booted up my PC, it’s identical there. Nothing changed.

So I’m guessing that nothing really in changing in reality, it’s just for some reason, after a seemingly random amount of time those things vanish off the list in the firewall. Does anybody have any insight into this?

3

Don’t worry, the active process item is said to be a real waste.

Use procexp, autoruns, or whatever equivalent if you don’t use xp.