wmplayer keeps trying to run

I'm running Vista Home Premium, have been doing so without problem for six months or so. Today it started pausing every few seconds and making a "boop-boop" sound and, looking at task manager, wmplayer keeps popping into the list and disappearing. It never actually runs, just appears in the task list for a split second and is gone. I seldom use media player, use a different video player instead, and have not used it in quite a while, so I have no idea what started this, but I really need to get rid of it. Any ideas?

What happens if you uninstall Windows Media Player?

How do I do that? It's not on the program list in Control Panel for Uninstall.

Actually, two things are trying to run. The one that makes the sound is mobsynch.exe, which is described as "Microsoft Synch Center." While that is running the wmplayer.exe runs very briefly and frequently. Even when mobsynch.exe is not running the wmplayer.exe sometimes pops into the task list. Mobsynch.exe is running very frequently, freezing the computer often enough to render it pretty much useless for any significant task.

I have a firewall and antivirus. Latter is up-to-date and today's scan caught nothing but some "warnings" for tracking cookies.

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Originally Posted by Bill Heffner

Actually, two things are trying to run. The one that makes the sound is mobsynch.exe, which is described as "Microsoft Synch Center."

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Please verify the exact spelling of that app? Thanks.

That filename is correct. I found it in a Google search. It's actually a Microsoft app doing some sort of syncro with offline files and is a quirk with Vista. I fouind a patch to disable it, which did so but which did not solve the problem.

AVG has found no problems, but Kapersky has found OSSService.exe which looks like an issue. It's dated 11/4/2008, but maybe it was a sleeper and just woke up?

I'm still researching further, and maybe this should be moved to the Virus thread?

If it's spelled exactly that way, it's malware not Microsoft. (It seems like a small distinction sometimes!) The M$ app is mobsync.exe. You need to disinfect that computer.

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Originally Posted by SpywareDr

What happens if you uninstall Windows Media Player?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bill Heffner

How do I do that? It's not on the program list in Control Panel for Uninstall.

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Here in XP Pro (SP3) it's listed as "Windows Media Player 11".

My bad, I think the spelling is the Microsoft one. I downloaded a tool from the following site which disabled it.
http://reliancepc.com/menu/tips/mobsync/

I do have another problem, unrelated, and started a new thread in the Virus forum.

Continued here:
http://discussions.virtualdr.com/sho...d.php?t=239800