What is 'WinAlign Report.txt ?? What makes it?

While on line posting an email through the google group, a small
"notice" screen popped up declaring Win98 was optimizing something with
little colored symbols moving, as though activity was occurring.

In my 10 years of using Win98 I have never seen this pop up!

Since I was online, at first I thought this was a hacker attack, and
they had cleverly hidden it using Windows type symbols to "raid" the
computer. I immediately ctrl-alt-del stopped the specific program.
Put away programs and shut down, but Windows did not shut down just
green screen with rundll32 left running. ctrl-alt-del twice did cause
a reboot.

Upon searching for any effects in the computer from the event, I could
only find WinAlign Report.txt with the exact date/time stamp. It
contained a list of .dll saying if they'd been aligned, or written, or
something.

Search of setup found nothing like what I saw running.

So the questions:

What was running? Would it improve performance?

What is WinAlign Report.txt

Should I run some kind of "alignment" program?

- Robert -

That could be it, then...
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;q191655
Description of the Walign.exe and Winalign.exe Tools

I've been running quite a while now without that. It was the last thing in Task Scheduler I let go, & finally I turned off the Scheduler itself.

| SchedulingAgent Registry (Machine Service) mstask.exe

Do you really use that Task Scheduler? I think you needn't worry over "Tune-up Application Start-- Walign" in there. And definitely run Scandisk/Defrag on your own. I don't know whether NAV or any other of your stuff uses the Task Scheduler. If not, use it's menu to turn off it's start at boot. You may still start it occasionally by "START button, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Scheduled Tasks", if you ever have a need to. HOWEVER, it will put itself back into the Startup Group, unless you uninstall the Microsoft Windows Critical Update Notification tool.

| CriticalUpdate Registry (Machine Run) C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\wucrtupd.exe
| -startup

That is the Microsoft Windows Critical Update Notification tool. I've uninstalled mine, as it went batty & began accessing my HDD every five minutes-- whether on OR off-line! I suspect it caused restarts of my Scandisk & Defrag! I don't know whether the newer version cured that. It can be uninstalled in "Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs". Then, occasionally, "START button, Windows Update" on your own. Unless this is uninstalled, you won't be able to disable the next...


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

"Robert A. Macy" wrote in message ups.com...
| While on line posting an email through the google group, a small
| "notice" screen popped up declaring Win98 was optimizing something with
| little colored symbols moving, as though activity was occurring.
|
| In my 10 years of using Win98 I have never seen this pop up!
|
| Since I was online, at first I thought this was a hacker attack, and
| they had cleverly hidden it using Windows type symbols to "raid" the
| computer. I immediately ctrl-alt-del stopped the specific program.
| Put away programs and shut down, but Windows did not shut down just
| green screen with rundll32 left running. ctrl-alt-del twice did cause
| a reboot.
|
| Upon searching for any effects in the computer from the event, I could
| only find WinAlign Report.txt with the exact date/time stamp. It
| contained a list of .dll saying if they'd been aligned, or written, or
| something.
|
| Search of setup found nothing like what I saw running.
|
| So the questions:
|
| What was running? Would it improve performance?
|
| What is WinAlign Report.txt
|
| Should I run some kind of "alignment" program?
|
| - Robert -
|

PCR wrote:
That could be it, then...
http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;q191655
Description of the Walign.exe and Winalign.exe Tools

I've been running quite a while now without that. It was the last thing in Task Scheduler I let go, & finally I turned off the Scheduler itself.

| SchedulingAgent Registry (Machine Service) mstask.exe

Do you really use that Task Scheduler? I think you needn't worry over "Tune-up Application Start-- Walign" in there. And definitely run Scandisk/Defrag on your own. I don't know whether NAV or any other of your stuff uses the Task Scheduler. If not, use it's menu to turn off it's start at boot. You may still start it occasionally by "START button, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Scheduled Tasks", if you ever have a need to. HOWEVER, it will put itself back into the Startup Group, unless you uninstall the Microsoft Windows Critical Update Notification tool.

| CriticalUpdate Registry (Machine Run) C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\wucrtupd.exe
| -startup

That is the Microsoft Windows Critical Update Notification tool. I've uninstalled mine, as it went batty & began accessing my HDD every five minutes-- whether on OR off-line! I suspect it caused restarts of my Scandisk & Defrag! I don't know whether the newer version cured that. It can be uninstalled in "Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs". Then, occasionally, "START button, Windows Update" on your own. Unless this is uninstalled, you won't be able to disable the next...



Yeah, that critical update notification is problematic. I uninstalled
mine a while back for the same reason that it was constantly checking
the Internet for updates every few minutes.

Dan wrote:
Yeah, that critical update notification is problematic. I uninstalled
mine a while back for the same reason that it was constantly checking
the Internet for updates every few minutes.

I have not installed *any* updates yet after this recent install of
Win98.

Installing updates, and time, got me to this state, where I had to
reformat the drive and reinstall Win98 from zero. So you can
understand my reluctance to retrace that path.

I did download a lot of the updates, but am waiting to find which ones
really are critical. Now the one I was most likely to install appears
to cause too many problems to be worth installing.

I don't use task scheduler. I think during the installation I
disabled, or whatever, the auto update feature in Windows, too.

I just ran defrag [the new fast version] and rebooted several times.

I do have parts of Office 97 installed. Did something there prompt the
activity?
I don't even have the Office toolbar installed.

- Robert -

"Robert A. Macy" wrote in message ps.com...
| Dan wrote:
| Yeah, that critical update notification is problematic. I uninstalled
| mine a while back for the same reason that it was constantly checking
| the Internet for updates every few minutes.
|
| I have not installed *any* updates yet after this recent install of
| Win98.
|
| Installing updates, and time, got me to this state, where I had to
| reformat the drive and reinstall Win98 from zero. So you can
| understand my reluctance to retrace that path.

I understand. After you get this fresh install stabilized, do a full system backup. Then, gingerly go try the critical updates one more time. If it fails, restore the backup, & become a blood brother of Colorado. But I've got them all & seem to be well enough!

| I did download a lot of the updates, but am waiting to find which ones
| really are critical. Now the one I was most likely to install appears
| to cause too many problems to be worth installing.
|
| I don't use task scheduler. I think during the installation I
| disabled, or whatever, the auto update feature in Windows, too.

Yea. As Dan confirms, that tool is an annoyance! After all, very few criticals have been offered there, anyhow, since support of Win98 has been cancelled.

| I just ran defrag [the new fast version] and rebooted several times.
|
| I do have parts of Office 97 installed. Did something there prompt the
| activity?
| I don't even have the Office toolbar installed.

It could be Office will activate that Walign.exe or Winalign.exe independently of the Task Scheduler. Do you use Office often? Under that circumstance, maybe keep it. Does it crash often? I believe there is an Office 97 section at...
http://search.support.microsoft.com/...dv=1&spid=1139 MSKB

from http://www.winmag.com/windows/win98/alignfaq.htm

quote
Walign.exe is included as part of Windows 98, and is a very limited version of the
WinAlign.exe Resource Kit utility. It will only align a file if that file is located
in the Windows System directory, and it will only run if it detects a copy of
Microsoft Office installed on the PC. (It does this by checking some registry keys.)
If Office is detected, Walign will attempt to align the list of files that are
contained in the file winali.ini. In the May 1998 release of Windows 98, winali.ini
lists 176 files.

When does Walign run?

If you do an upgrade install of Windows 98 over Windows 95 and are using Micrsoft
Office, the first time Walign runs is when you install Windows 98 and the system
boots for the final time during setup. For a short period you may see a small window
on the screen titled "Tuning up Application Start" The text in the window says
"Setup is modifying your programs so they start faster. This might take several
minutes." Inside the window you'll also see an animation of colored blocks falling
into place. That's not really setup, that's Walign.

If you don't have Microsoft Office installed, Windows 98 creates a Task Scheduler
item to run Walign at setup time. Each time the task runs, Walign checks to see if
you have now installed Office. If so, it will run and align the files named in
winali.ini, then delete its task from the list.

/quote
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"PCR" wrote in message
...
"Robert A. Macy" wrote in message
ps.com...
| Dan wrote:
| Yeah, that critical update notification is problematic. I uninstalled
| mine a while back for the same reason that it was constantly checking
| the Internet for updates every few minutes.
|
| I have not installed *any* updates yet after this recent install of
| Win98.
|
| Installing updates, and time, got me to this state, where I had to
| reformat the drive and reinstall Win98 from zero. So you can
| understand my reluctance to retrace that path.

I understand. After you get this fresh install stabilized, do a full system backup.
Then, gingerly go try the critical updates one more time. If it fails, restore the
backup, & become a blood brother of Colorado. But I've got them all & seem to be
well enough!

| I did download a lot of the updates, but am waiting to find which ones
| really are critical. Now the one I was most likely to install appears
| to cause too many problems to be worth installing.
|
| I don't use task scheduler. I think during the installation I
| disabled, or whatever, the auto update feature in Windows, too.

Yea. As Dan confirms, that tool is an annoyance! After all, very few criticals have
been offered there, anyhow, since support of Win98 has been cancelled.

| I just ran defrag [the new fast version] and rebooted several times.
|
| I do have parts of Office 97 installed. Did something there prompt the
| activity?
| I don't even have the Office toolbar installed.

It could be Office will activate that Walign.exe or Winalign.exe independently of
the Task Scheduler. Do you use Office often? Under that circumstance, maybe keep it.
Does it crash often? I believe there is an Office 97 section at...
http://search.support.microsoft.com/...dv=1&spid=1139 MSKB

Yeah, that critical update notification is problematic. I uninstalled
mine a while back for the same reason that it was constantly checking
the Internet for updates every few minutes.

Do you/did use IE for a browser? Could the pesky update scenario be
related to IE if you (& pcr) were using it at the said time.
Gekko

That's more than I knew. Thanks, Glee. Do you suggest one who has Office installed let Walign.exe run? (I guess I might.)

I have no Office installed (only MSWorks). Had I know it was tied exclusively to Office, I'd have deactivated it in Task Scheduler long before I did, though I see now it does little/nothing anyhow w/o Office installed.

| When does Walign run?

I see it's current setting in Scheduled Tasks (deactivated) says-- "Multiple Schedule Times"-- 4 times on the 1st Wed of each month & 4 times on the 1st Sat of each month. Hmm, I guess that wasn't really bad-- even if it ever DID find Office was installed!

When I try to run Walign.exe now, it appears to do nothing at all. I guess it was always like that, in a millisecond finding out Office isn't installed. It's too quick to even show up in Ctrl-Alt-Del. (But it did create a WALIGN.LGC in APPLOG, looks like.)


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

"glee" wrote in message ...
| from http://www.winmag.com/windows/win98/alignfaq.htm
|
| quote
| Walign.exe is included as part of Windows 98, and is a very limited version of the
| WinAlign.exe Resource Kit utility. It will only align a file if that file is located
| in the Windows System directory, and it will only run if it detects a copy of
| Microsoft Office installed on the PC. (It does this by checking some registry keys.)
| If Office is detected, Walign will attempt to align the list of files that are
| contained in the file winali.ini. In the May 1998 release of Windows 98, winali.ini
| lists 176 files.
|
| When does Walign run?
|
| If you do an upgrade install of Windows 98 over Windows 95 and are using Micrsoft
| Office, the first time Walign runs is when you install Windows 98 and the system
| boots for the final time during setup. For a short period you may see a small window
| on the screen titled "Tuning up Application Start" The text in the window says
| "Setup is modifying your programs so they start faster. This might take several
| minutes." Inside the window you'll also see an animation of colored blocks falling
| into place. That's not really setup, that's Walign.
|
| If you don't have Microsoft Office installed, Windows 98 creates a Task Scheduler
| item to run Walign at setup time. Each time the task runs, Walign checks to see if
| you have now installed Office. If so, it will run and align the files named in
| winali.ini, then delete its task from the list.
|
| /quote
| --
| Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
| http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
|
|
| "PCR" wrote in message
| ...
| "Robert A. Macy" wrote in message
| ps.com...
| | Dan wrote:
| | Yeah, that critical update notification is problematic. I uninstalled
| | mine a while back for the same reason that it was constantly checking
| | the Internet for updates every few minutes.
| |
| | I have not installed *any* updates yet after this recent install of
| | Win98.
| |
| | Installing updates, and time, got me to this state, where I had to
| | reformat the drive and reinstall Win98 from zero. So you can
| | understand my reluctance to retrace that path.
|
| I understand. After you get this fresh install stabilized, do a full system backup.
| Then, gingerly go try the critical updates one more time. If it fails, restore the
| backup, & become a blood brother of Colorado. But I've got them all & seem to be
| well enough!
|
| | I did download a lot of the updates, but am waiting to find which ones
| | really are critical. Now the one I was most likely to install appears
| | to cause too many problems to be worth installing.
| |
| | I don't use task scheduler. I think during the installation I
| | disabled, or whatever, the auto update feature in Windows, too.
|
| Yea. As Dan confirms, that tool is an annoyance! After all, very few criticals have
| been offered there, anyhow, since support of Win98 has been cancelled.
|
| | I just ran defrag [the new fast version] and rebooted several times.
| |
| | I do have parts of Office 97 installed. Did something there prompt the
| | activity?
| | I don't even have the Office toolbar installed.
|
| It could be Office will activate that Walign.exe or Winalign.exe independently of
| the Task Scheduler. Do you use Office often? Under that circumstance, maybe keep it.
| Does it crash often? I believe there is an Office 97 section at...
| http://search.support.microsoft.com/...dv=1&spid=1139 MSKB
|
|

Well, it's up to you whether you want to run it. It seems to be a plus, though it
may not be as noticeable on newer hardware. When the utility was written, RAM was
at a bit more of a premium than it is now, and processors were a lot slower.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"PCR" wrote in message
...
That's more than I knew. Thanks, Glee. Do you suggest one who has Office installed
let Walign.exe run? (I guess I might.)

I have no Office installed (only MSWorks). Had I know it was tied exclusively to
Office, I'd have deactivated it in Task Scheduler long before I did, though I see
now it does little/nothing anyhow w/o Office installed.

| When does Walign run?

I see it's current setting in Scheduled Tasks (deactivated) says-- "Multiple
Schedule Times"-- 4 times on the 1st Wed of each month & 4 times on the 1st Sat of
each month. Hmm, I guess that wasn't really bad-- even if it ever DID find Office
was installed!

When I try to run Walign.exe now, it appears to do nothing at all. I guess it was
always like that, in a millisecond finding out Office isn't installed. It's too
quick to even show up in Ctrl-Alt-Del. (But it did create a WALIGN.LGC in APPLOG,
looks like.)


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

"glee" wrote in message
...
| from http://www.winmag.com/windows/win98/alignfaq.htm
|
| quote
| Walign.exe is included as part of Windows 98, and is a very limited version of the
| WinAlign.exe Resource Kit utility. It will only align a file if that file is
located
| in the Windows System directory, and it will only run if it detects a copy of
| Microsoft Office installed on the PC. (It does this by checking some registry
keys.)
| If Office is detected, Walign will attempt to align the list of files that are
| contained in the file winali.ini. In the May 1998 release of Windows 98,
winali.ini
| lists 176 files.
|
| When does Walign run?
|
| If you do an upgrade install of Windows 98 over Windows 95 and are using Micrsoft
| Office, the first time Walign runs is when you install Windows 98 and the system
| boots for the final time during setup. For a short period you may see a small
window
| on the screen titled "Tuning up Application Start" The text in the window says
| "Setup is modifying your programs so they start faster. This might take several
| minutes." Inside the window you'll also see an animation of colored blocks falling
| into place. That's not really setup, that's Walign.
|
| If you don't have Microsoft Office installed, Windows 98 creates a Task Scheduler
| item to run Walign at setup time. Each time the task runs, Walign checks to see if
| you have now installed Office. If so, it will run and align the files named in
| winali.ini, then delete its task from the list.
|
| /quote
| --
| Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
| http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
|
|
| "PCR" wrote in message
| ...
| "Robert A. Macy" wrote in message
| ps.com...
| | Dan wrote:
| | Yeah, that critical update notification is problematic. I uninstalled
| | mine a while back for the same reason that it was constantly checking
| | the Internet for updates every few minutes.
| |
| | I have not installed *any* updates yet after this recent install of
| | Win98.
| |
| | Installing updates, and time, got me to this state, where I had to
| | reformat the drive and reinstall Win98 from zero. So you can
| | understand my reluctance to retrace that path.
|
| I understand. After you get this fresh install stabilized, do a full system
backup.
| Then, gingerly go try the critical updates one more time. If it fails, restore the
| backup, & become a blood brother of Colorado. But I've got them all & seem to be
| well enough!
|
| | I did download a lot of the updates, but am waiting to find which ones
| | really are critical. Now the one I was most likely to install appears
| | to cause too many problems to be worth installing.
| |
| | I don't use task scheduler. I think during the installation I
| | disabled, or whatever, the auto update feature in Windows, too.
|
| Yea. As Dan confirms, that tool is an annoyance! After all, very few criticals
have
| been offered there, anyhow, since support of Win98 has been cancelled.
|
| | I just ran defrag [the new fast version] and rebooted several times.
| |
| | I do have parts of Office 97 installed. Did something there prompt the
| | activity?
| | I don't even have the Office toolbar installed.
|
| It could be Office will activate that Walign.exe or Winalign.exe independently of
| the Task Scheduler. Do you use Office often? Under that circumstance, maybe keep
it.
| Does it crash often? I believe there is an Office 97 section at...
| http://search.support.microsoft.com/...dv=1&spid=1139 MSKB
|
|

OK. I guess I'd run it, then, if I had Office installed & often running especially on an older machine-- but I'd regret I had to leave Scheduled Tasks active. Thanks.


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

"glee" wrote in message ...
| Well, it's up to you whether you want to run it. It seems to be a plus, though it
| may not be as noticeable on newer hardware. When the utility was written, RAM was
| at a bit more of a premium than it is now, and processors were a lot slower.
| --
| Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
| http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
|
|
| "PCR" wrote in message
| ...
| That's more than I knew. Thanks, Glee. Do you suggest one who has Office installed
| let Walign.exe run? (I guess I might.)
|
| I have no Office installed (only MSWorks). Had I know it was tied exclusively to
| Office, I'd have deactivated it in Task Scheduler long before I did, though I see
| now it does little/nothing anyhow w/o Office installed.
|
| | When does Walign run?
|
| I see it's current setting in Scheduled Tasks (deactivated) says-- "Multiple
| Schedule Times"-- 4 times on the 1st Wed of each month & 4 times on the 1st Sat of
| each month. Hmm, I guess that wasn't really bad-- even if it ever DID find Office
| was installed!
|
| When I try to run Walign.exe now, it appears to do nothing at all. I guess it was
| always like that, in a millisecond finding out Office isn't installed. It's too
| quick to even show up in Ctrl-Alt-Del. (But it did create a WALIGN.LGC in APPLOG,
| looks like.)
|
|
| --
| Thanks or Good Luck,
| There may be humor in this post, and,
| Naturally, you will not sue,
| should things get worse after this,
| PCR
|
| "glee" wrote in message
| ...
| | from http://www.winmag.com/windows/win98/alignfaq.htm
| |
| | quote
| | Walign.exe is included as part of Windows 98, and is a very limited version of the
| | WinAlign.exe Resource Kit utility. It will only align a file if that file is
| located
| | in the Windows System directory, and it will only run if it detects a copy of
| | Microsoft Office installed on the PC. (It does this by checking some registry
| keys.)
| | If Office is detected, Walign will attempt to align the list of files that are
| | contained in the file winali.ini. In the May 1998 release of Windows 98,
| winali.ini
| | lists 176 files.
| |
| | When does Walign run?
| |
| | If you do an upgrade install of Windows 98 over Windows 95 and are using Micrsoft
| | Office, the first time Walign runs is when you install Windows 98 and the system
| | boots for the final time during setup. For a short period you may see a small
| window
| | on the screen titled "Tuning up Application Start" The text in the window says
| | "Setup is modifying your programs so they start faster. This might take several
| | minutes." Inside the window you'll also see an animation of colored blocks falling
| | into place. That's not really setup, that's Walign.
| |
| | If you don't have Microsoft Office installed, Windows 98 creates a Task Scheduler
| | item to run Walign at setup time. Each time the task runs, Walign checks to see if
| | you have now installed Office. If so, it will run and align the files named in
| | winali.ini, then delete its task from the list.
| |
| | /quote
| | --
| | Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
| | http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
| |
| |
| | "PCR" wrote in message
| | ...
| | "Robert A. Macy" wrote in message
| | ps.com...
| | | Dan wrote:
| | | Yeah, that critical update notification is problematic. I uninstalled
| | | mine a while back for the same reason that it was constantly checking
| | | the Internet for updates every few minutes.
| | |
| | | I have not installed *any* updates yet after this recent install of
| | | Win98.
| | |
| | | Installing updates, and time, got me to this state, where I had to
| | | reformat the drive and reinstall Win98 from zero. So you can
| | | understand my reluctance to retrace that path.
| |
| | I understand. After you get this fresh install stabilized, do a full system
| backup.
| | Then, gingerly go try the critical updates one more time. If it fails, restore the
| | backup, & become a blood brother of Colorado. But I've got them all & seem to be
| | well enough!
| |
| | | I did download a lot of the updates, but am waiting to find which ones
| | | really are critical. Now the one I was most likely to install appears
| | | to cause too many problems to be worth installing.
| | |
| | | I don't use task scheduler. I think during the installation I
| | | disabled, or whatever, the auto update feature in Windows, too.
| |
| | Yea. As Dan confirms, that tool is an annoyance! After all, very few criticals
| have
| | been offered there, anyhow, since support of Win98 has been cancelled.
| |
| | | I just ran defrag [the new fast version] and rebooted several times.
| | |
| | | I do have parts of Office 97 installed. Did something there prompt the
| | | activity?
| | | I don't even have the Office toolbar installed.
| |
| | It could be Office will activate that Walign.exe or Winalign.exe independently of
| | the Task Scheduler. Do you use Office often? Under that circumstance, maybe keep
| it.
| | Does it crash often? I believe there is an Office 97 section at...
| | http://search.support.microsoft.com/...dv=1&spid=1139 MSKB
| |
| |
|