What is 'ntoskrnl.exe'?

In my Running Applications window for Sygate (Firewall) it has five entries:

PROTOCOL / STATUS / LOCAL PORT / LOCATION

UDP / LISTEN / 445 / C:\WINNT\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
TCP / LISTEN / 445 / C:\WINNT\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
UDP / LISTEN / 138 / C:\WINNT\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
UDP / LISTEN / 137 / C:\WINNT\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
UDP / LISTEN / 139 / C:\WINNT\system32\ntoskrnl.exe

I keep getting notifications that it is trying to access various sites (Im currently blocking it).

A few other 'Windows Services Applications' I would appreciate some info on are :

Isass.exe, svchost.exe and MSTask.exe.

And finally (phew!) a running application called 'MotiveSB.exe'.

Hi Navarre,

You can check those and any other programs at one of the following:

http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php

Hope this helps!
Lorry

All those are legitime Windows programs (euh, 'MotiveSB.exe' is from AT&T). Even if you find them several times in your system - except for the Isass.exe.
Just note that Isass.exe (uppercase I) is not the same as lsass.exe (lowercase L). Which do you have? L is legitime, I is not (yes, the isass.exe is a malware).

sysinfo.org
that site is great and also a good Google search is all right so this is what I found

ntoskrnl.exe = is a ligit Windows program called "NT OS Kernal" get it, need is say more.

lsass - lsass.exe - Process Information see. : http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/lsass/

svchost.exe = check here http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php?filter=svchost.exe9

MSTask.exe = that's your sceduling agent.

It looks to me that your system is OK all of these look like ligit programs anyway, always check with http://www.sysinfo.org
and do your Google search.

MagikPOO OUT!