i have encounted some files that cause trouble with my task bar. they cause it to be non-responsive for a while until i close the program in the processes section of the taskmanager. the files are: Vxean.exe, IchF83I.exe, Mxj3z.exe, ZkjX57v1.exe, RbyNNI3.exe, IpoaiM8g.exe. only 2 are open at a time, but when you close one either it opens again or one of the others open. i have norton systemworks and zerospyware, but neither of them have picked up anything. i ran a search and the only place they were found were in windows\prefetch file. what are these files and would it hurt to empty it out. any helpful responces would be great. thanx

XP creates and uses prefetch files to reduce the time needed to start applications. But many times these files are left behind and accumulate. Just click Start, Run, and type in prefetch, then OK or cruise over to the Windows\prefetch directory. Select your obsolete files and delete. Do it about once a month. In you case, do it now to get rid of those files.

You may get rid of them, but the question is why did you get them in the first place. You may have a virus or trojan or worm or adware or some other sort of malware. Run an AV scan, and download AdAware and Spybot, install them, update them, and run. Delete anything that looks suspicious. Some advise deleting everything because it's all reversible. Also get Spyblaster which keeps a list of bad stuff on your computer and blocks them from being installed (theoretically). Be sure your independent (not MS’s) firewall is enabled. Spybot AdAware