NTVDM....??? What's going on??!

[Biz]

Hi Prooners.
I have a problem with my current laptop.
Every ten minutes or so, I kep getting two dialogue boxes open up - one is headed 16-bit MS-Dos subsystem, and informs me that NTVDM cpu encountered an illegal construction (Close or ignore), the other is headed C:\Windows\temp\win110~1.exe and is one of those big black windows asociated with dos I presume.
What the hell does it mean?? A friend tried to assist by saying it could be a recently installed programme not installing properly, and that when it appears again, to track it in processes. The thing is, I have tried, but whatever it is doesn't seem to be using any cpu usage under processes. So, I have gone back through and begun uninstaling the recent programmes until I have reached a point where it is still appearing, but there aren't any more programmes to uninstall!
Anyone able to assist please? I'm guessing I could do a recovery or reformat, but would like to try and avoid such action if at all possible.
Thank you! :confused:

[Saab Dastard]

NTVDM stands for "NT Virtual DOS Machine". It is the Win16-bit subsystem that runs under Windows NT, 2000, and XP to allow you to run 16-bit apps on a 32-bit operating system. Also known as WOW - Windows on Windows.

NTVDM itself is a legitimate part of the Windows O/S - but it is possible that whatever is invoking it on your PC is not.

Most likely the culprit is not an installed program but an executable that loads itself (or tries to) at startup, so will be in your Startup folder (remember, there can be several startup folders...) or in the registry under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current_version\Run.

Could be a virus, trojan or other malware.

SD

[frostbite]

Also worth a look Start>Run, type msconfig, then click on startup tab.

[BOAC]

Biz - have a look at the 'hijack this' sticky.