What are .exe files?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TB2K spinoff uncensored : One Thread

I installed a McAfee firewall program. Now TGCMD.EXE,WUCRTUPD.EXE,WULOADER.EXE want permission to access, I said no. What is this and what do I do now????

TIA

-- Swampthing (in@the.swamp~), October 27, 2000

Answers

.EXE files are programs. exe means executable. The .exe suffix tells DOS (and windows) that this file can be loaded into memory and the header will contain the offset of a starting point. The OS (DOS, Windows) will use that header information to get the program started properly (set up the environment, place correct values into registers, allocate and create a stack frame, if necessary unpack the file, etc.) After that the program owns the entire computer (DOS) or owns what the OS allocates to it (Windows) and runs. What it actually does when it runs is up to whoever wrote it. Caveat emptor.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), October 27, 2000.

WUCRTUPD.EXE, WULOADER.EXE

These belong to the Windows Critical Update notification utility, which is trying to connect to the Microsoft website to check if any new system updates are available. You can either keep this enabled (as you apparently had it) or say no, or permanently turn it off in your Task Scheduler in the system tray (lower right).

Don't know what TGCMD.EXE is though.

-- Debbie (dbspence@usa.net), October 27, 2000.


Jesus! Wish the Hell, you could all get together and share your limited knowledge. You know, the general public, will not put up, much longer, your limited amount of expertise. Not much different than the auto mechanic, whom we entrust, to fix a thing. How come? you all have only a limited amount of expertise? Had one prima-donna say, "because it is too big". Horse Hockey! Get off your duff, and learn.

-- Confusing the Language (choices@uponus.com), October 27, 2000.

The EXE files is that program on FOX with the big boobed redhead and the aliens

-- fan (mulder@red.head), October 27, 2000.

Say there, "Confusing the Language" - you wouldn't happen to be inviting a RANT about corporate downsizing and the death of quality workmanship, and the rise of HR geniuses who look like heros to the higher ups for saving a few bucks on the salary by hiring the guy with no experience who'll work for peanuts, with the result that the IT people get blamed because the new guy takes 5 times longer to accomplish nothing, thus making fertile ground for the myth of a desperate IT labor shortage so companies can bribe Congress and get a unanimous (minus one) vote by both the House and the Senate to sell out half a million U.S. jobs by granting 600,000 new H1B visas to import cheap foreign labor, WOULD YOU?

Well that's ok, I needed an excuse to sound off about it!

Folks, do not miss this chance to get out there and exercise your right to vote, for either way you vote, you have the best government money can buy.

-- Debbie (dbspence@usa.net), October 27, 2000.



TGCMD.EXE is some program that is installed when you get a cable modem from @HOME network. I don't know what it does. In fact I found this message thread by searching for TGCMD.EXE (on Google) to try to find out what TGCMD.EXE and TGSHELL.EXE do. On my computer they are both located in C:\@HOME\tioga\bin. TGSHELL.EXE crashes frequently. Guess it's time to call @HOME tech support. -John

-- John Alvarado (alvarado@biggrub.com), February 04, 2001.

OK. I found out a little more. The TG programs (TGCMD.EXE, TGSHELL.EXE, etc.) in the @home\tioga\bin directory are part of a suite of tools from Tioga Systems Inc.. They are tools that help solve configuration problems on your computer, part of Tioga's "Healing System help desk software". I believe @Home licenses Titoga's system for use by its customers to help them solve problems with your @Home setup.

I don't believe these programs are necessary for your system to work. They are only there to help you on your own or with the help of an @Home tech support person to correct corruption or problems that may arise.

So, to solve my problem of TGSHELL.EXE crashing and in so doing sometimes causing other programs I'm running to screw up (like EverQuest :-) I'm going to uninstall the whole Tioga suite. Worst case is I have problems later and the tech guys at home ask me to reinstall it.

-John Alvarado.

-- John Alvarado (alvarado@biggrub.com), February 04, 2001.


Tioga...is simply a legal trojan on your computer.... yes its for @home to run a diagnostics from there servers..... still You will never need this program.... read any firewall discussion board and you will learn the truth on tioga.

-- billy bob (bb@home.com), February 10, 2001.

. tioga is not a trojan. it takes a snapshot of your registry with respect to certain programs, being outlook express, netscape, and tcpip stack. it connectes to the internet to look for any updated scripts for preforming backup and also to download a test page to check that you are actually connected and evrything is working fine before makeing a "dna" which you can restore to if you stuff something up later. press ctrl+shift+alt+h and you should see a window to play with.

-- john bulchi (senergy@optusnet.com.au), July 03, 2001.

i can't fully understand whether i may delete tioga (tgcmd)and my computer will still work as well. or is it better to keep it for backup. is it much harder to fix the prob without tioga? jea

-- jea (janatallinn@yahoo.com), July 09, 2001.


I am on DSL with Telocity and they too use a similar program for system checks. It installs automaticaly from the modem setup CD. It's nothing to worry about and is useful for both you and your cable/dsl company. I would advise you to leave tioga alone and not delete it.

-- (telocity@user..), July 09, 2001.

The Stasi was the East German intelligence agency for the entire cold war. They had a file on one out of every 10 Germans in their country in addition to an impressive folio collection of West Germans. To say that Microsoft and other companies in conjuction with the US government are not trying to keep tabs on every person on the earth is entirely wrong. They just don't use the intimdation that the East Germans used. "We have the technology. We can do it." Wasn't that the theme motto for the six million dollar man? So, what about the Tgcmd.exe? It is "spy gear." Are you really neive enough to think a company is just getting configuration information from you whether you want them to or not? Think of the possibilities! Haven't you heard the new dot com cry: "We want your cookies." What to say about mine!

-- Big "Boobed" Redhead from EXE (fake@fake.com), November 30, 2001.

I have neither #home nor macaffe. This file was caught by my firewall. I have Earthlink as an ISP and Symantec for virus checking, if this helps anyone/

-- kip (kip@kip-cheri.com), January 06, 2002.

My new firewall also found tgcmd.exe. I located the file in my program files/support.com folder. Poking around I see that some things in that directory have the Sony Viao logo of my new PC. I assume that Sony also contracts with Tioga or whoever for support services. Still, I wish I know more about what the program is trying to do everytime I open Internet Explorer. For now, I will leave it around but tell the Firewell to deny its connection to the internet, and we'll see what happens -d

-- Dave (dave.miller@gmacrfc.com), January 11, 2002.

If you guys are interested in spyware you should check out Ad-Aware from Lavasoft. Search on Google for the web site, it's a free download. My buddy scanned his unit and found 41 (That's Forty-One!!) spy programs installed without his knowledge. Mind you, prior to that he had no firewall either. He is now one of the converted. N.

-- Northman (Finito@shaw.ca), January 13, 2002.


I work for a major player in the cable/data industry. I started out taking calls helping people with PC issues that are a lot like the ones I am seeing on this site. I have happily moved up the ladder and now manage the people taking calls. Regarding this issue of Tioga software being "SpyWare" or a trojan horse, I have only one thing I can think of to say to those of you believing this sort of bunk.......pathetic. The people that are selling you that tripe are the same ones who believe Jim Morrison isn't really dead, astronauts never landed on the moon, and NASA is a giant CIA front to subvert the Chinese. WAKE UP. Our government can't even stop some sorry sack with a box knife from commiting horrifying acts of terrorism. Why would you so willingly believe some guy who posts two short sentences advising you to "learn the truth" about Tioga, over a trained technician paid by a company to give you TECHNICAL support?? HELLO?!?!! You wanna look outside and see what color the sky is in your world?? In mine (and most everyone else's) it's BLUE.

To close, TIOGA is a tool developed by TIOGA (and I believe somehow [partially owned by Sony) and sold to companies who provide internet software and support to their customers. The snapshot thing mentioned in an earlier post is absolutely "on the money". Tioga will take a snapshot upon installation and verification of a working connection. This can be restored when your little silly self gets click happy, by running the Tioga restore tool. It doesn't run a "census" on your PC and report back to "headquarters". Gimme a break, really. Paranoia will destroy ya. But, if you still wanna believe a guy named "billy bob", hey thats your choice.free country and all. stupidity and being led by the nose is every mans (or woman's) right. If having Tioga really bugs you that bad, then just have your fire wall deny it access to the internet. That way Big Brother will never get the dossier on you from Little Brother. sheesh. Either way, if your ISP provided it, they most likely did so for one of two reasons. One, so you'd make an attempt to take some freaking ownership and fix your own problem OR because the software is useful in helping them diagnose problems that may occur repeatedly or be hard to pin down. Not all problems are a 1,2,3 fix especially in the IT world. Especially when youve got so many people spying on you all the time. Everywhere you go, everywhere you turn....that guy in the seat nest to me...he could be one of "them"....are YOU one of THEM?????

-- Bringing You All Things Pondo... (drpondo@hotmail.com), January 21, 2002.


Intersting that no one on these threads seems be able to say persuasively what this TIOGA.EXE program really does, who installs it, or what it does.

-aj

-- Action Jackson (zinjanthropus@igc.org), January 23, 2002.


OK,

So I'm a bonehead. I've got problems with my new Sony VIAO computer. Finally got a firewall installed and this stupid TGCMD.EXE wants to access the internet.

NOW, reading above, this has to do with @home? I don't have a cable modem, don't subscribe to @home, and I've got my computer telling me that my 1394 LAN line is disconnected. I don't even KNOW what the hell a 1394 LAN line is. I'm assuming it's a cable modem, which I don't have, which is why my computer is trying to let TGCMD to access the internet. What the hell should I do. Can I disable the damn thing?

- replys would be helpful! Thanks!

-- Leif Tangvald (leif@gregg-jones.com), January 29, 2002.


I have been hunting around for some answers on what TGCMD.EXE does, and why it seems to be installed on several computers in my network. I came across this file when I was doing a port scan on our local network. 5 PC came up as listing on TCP ports 641 & 653.

If you go to IANA's (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) web site: http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers you will find that those ports are listed as follows: repcmd 641/tcp repcmd repcmd 641/udp repcmd # Scott Dale repscmd 653/tcp RepCmd repscmd 653/udp RepCmd # Scott Dale

If you visit www.replicase.com or www.tioga.com they both redirect you to www.support.com.

From what I can ascertain, TGCMD.EXE is listing on those ports for SSL communications. Why would a utility that is "only" designed to restore registry and file setting be listing for network connections? Answer: it wouldn't unless it was also designed to accept incoming connections to YOUR computer on those ports.

I have noticed that if you have a Sony Vaio you can uninstall those files through the "Add / Remove Programs" applet in your control panel. It is listed as Sony Vaio Support.

If I were you, I would delete those files ASAP. Why should then need ANY access to your PC? Answer: they don't!

-Z

-- Zach Malmgren (zmalmgren@hotmail.com), February 15, 2002.


I use COX's new cable service and tgcmd.exe is used for a cconnect.exe that changes DHCP settings after 4 hours. It is just used by COX to spy and see if you're not breaching the service contract.

-- Hannibal Smith (nope@nomail.net), February 18, 2002.

tgshell.exe keeps repeatedly spawning new instances of itself on my computer... then each process pops up a dialog box reporting that I have no more virtual memory with which to spawn new tgshells and dialog boxes! it pisses me off as new processes popup as fast as I can delete the old ones.

plus - concurrently with this problem, my status bar will display an icon that looks like a spinning double-helix of DNA which reports "support.com is protecting" - I don't want any f*ckin' protection man! in my book, this is definately virus-esque behavior.

-- big brother (mpaul@adobe.com), February 19, 2002.


OK Y'all listen up. I ran a "Find" in my start menu for TGSHELL. Up pops two files, one is a lgc file at 8k and the other is an application file. So I right click on it and go to properties. Of course I have Cybermedia Uninstaller and if gives me the relationship TGSHELL has with all the other files it's using or is using it. TGSHELL is being used by 11 that's right ELEVEN other files and TGSHELL is using 9 that's right NINE other files. All have names as long as my arm and some with as many as 6 backslashes. I don't have the time right now to list 'em all. Maybe later. ALL MY BEST! MO~~~~~~~~<"Copperhead

-- Copper Head (mocopperhead@subdimension.com), February 19, 2002.

TGShell, TGCMD is all spyware - it access the internet so therefore it must be exchanging some information with some server. I'm taking it off of my computer. If I need support from comcast they can get it without this software. What is most upsetting is the lie of "Support.com Protecting". What is it protecting? Comcast? Making sure we all stick to our end user agreements? What right do they have to root through my hard drive? What information are they collecting? Are they trying to make sure I have only registered software and reporting their results back to some organization? Well who gave them the right to do an unlawful search? I say take it off and be free! Don't let Comcast/Excite/Cox or WHOEVER tell you that they need it for support of your system.

-- Toxictoy (toxictoy@excite.com), February 20, 2002.

Same as most of you, I read this looking for an answer to what "tgcmd" was. After searching my pc I found more than 20 folders beginning with the letters tg under one directory named simply "tg". In addition to tgcmd and tgshell there were names like tgkill and tgdisco (I've got no idea what this does!)

I'm not doing anything about it except denying access with the firewall, but all the information that I've read here has been very interesting and will hopefully help everyone figure this whole thing out. Thanks

-- Jared Roth (jaredroth21@hotmail.com), February 20, 2002.


I just found something interesting for anyone who is still looking at this

www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist_t.htm

If you want to know about tgcmd, this looks like the place

-- Jared Roth (jaredroth21@hotmail.com), February 20, 2002.


Definately wipe out tgcmd. After reading this forum, its spyware.

-- Jeff Teachworth (jefft@netcomputerguy.com), February 27, 2002.

pls give me the right answer of what is .exe files ?

-- patel sunidhi (shabana0807@yahoo.com), March 11, 2002.

I also became aware of TGCMD.exe when I installed a firewall. After searching for it on the internet and visiting many sites I decided that I don't need it and I don't want it. I am not the paranoid type but I don't like my computer doing things I don't know about and I don't want it accessing the internet without my permission. I uninstalled the "Sony Vaio Support" program from my Sony Vaio and it took over ten minutes to uninstall the "support.com" files! I have been running my computer for over a week with no problems. Another note, Windows Media Player has a menu item called "Work Offline". However, checking it does not "stick". It must be done each time it is run. Thanks to everyone who submitted helpful information!

-- MD (md4567@hotmail.com), March 17, 2002.

all file (i mean ALL FILES) fall under 2 categories: document and program (also known as executables). we tell the difference by looking at it's 3-letter extension.

every file has a 3-letter extension, like report.doc (a microsoft word file) or pictureofsally.jpg (a JPEG picture file). a .exe file is a >> program << that runs (reads) those files.

in essence, for general uses, all files that have a .exe extension is a program. all other files are documents. (there are details, but this is a good general rule of thumb)

Analogy: Many people speak different languages. English, Spanish, French, German, a sorts of Asian dialects, etc etc. Imagine each language is like a document with a *.___ extension that's NOT exe. Let's get a little religious here, for analogy's sake. Imagine that God (analogy: the computer user) is up there, and he wants to understand what people are saying. He hired a bunch of angels to translate people- languages for him. So, each angel is a translator. Similarly, each angel is like a program (exe file) that makes sense of the mumbo- jumbo in the document into a usable form for you (analogously, God).

Ok, if the analogy doesn't make sense... just stick with the technical stuff. hope this stuff helps

-- jojo (skippie123@hotmail.com), March 17, 2002.


I read the agreement microsoft puts out with outlook express. They mention using tgcmd and tgcif.exe to troubleshoot your program and computer automatically. Good so far, they also mention that even though they will never use the information, this also allows them to track every place you've been and every keystroke you've made which they will save in a file. This program was made in bBritain for software support but... Assuming that microsoft is not on the best of terms with the gov. so would not be interested in sharing what they find to get onto better terms and assuming ms doesn't see any commercial value in collecting and selling personal net habits and assuming that ms has never been successfully hacked or cracked leaving all my info open to the world, it would still feel creepy. But there is something to be said for the arguement that they can't even stop terrorists so why would they be able to find anything useful about you in this.

-- recently paranoid (lemesurierb@msn.com), March 22, 2002.

I tried to delete Tioga files. All disappeared save libeay32 which resists deletion. Any ideas?

-- rick nelson (rnnelso@netscape.net), April 13, 2002.

I deleted tioga from my Toshiba laptop (it appeared to be a Toshiba updater program) and now can get online using dialup but not RoadRunner. Internet Options Connection settings are unchanged and same as my RR-functioning desktop. Networking drivers appear unchanged. Any ideas?

-- nils nilssen (nilsnilssen@yahoo.com), April 13, 2002.

Be very careful, friends. I uninstalled TGCMD.EXE from my machine and the very next night the FBI, DEA, CIA, and Microsoft kicked in my door and confiscated my computer and family.

Be afraid, be very afraid.

-- Average Joe (theyreoutthere@cia.com), April 25, 2002.


If the tg programs are ok, why is everyone finding out all of this conspiracy crap. I really want to know if my computer should have this or not. thats all. The cable co. employee says its perfectly fine. The others say its spy ware and to disable. Is there a way that I can access my computer itself and find out if it is gonna hurt anything, like the trojan did?

-- Stephanie Caughell (ibtrinity77@aol.com), December 23, 2002.

Anyone with a DSL connection from SBCGLOBAL.NET, etc., etc., will have the TGSHELL running from their registry in addition to the Connection Manager pieces.

Zone Alarm will trap any outgoing attempt from your PC and this will trigger the alarm popup unless you have shut that down.

If you agree to the software license when you installed the dialup or DSL connection you get the software. If you don't agree to the software license when you install dialup or DSL software you won't get this stuff on your hard drive.

If you think the stuff is a trojan then uninstall it one by one if you can find a way to keep your internet connection working without it.

-- dgp (dgp@nothing.net), January 05, 2003.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ