pyotr filipivich wrote:

Built the batchfile:

Echo "should kill a stuck mailwasher"
Echo "good bye world"

C:\Windows\System32\taskkill.exe /IM "C:\Program Files
(x86)\FireTrust\MailWasher\MailWasher.exe" /F /T

C:\Windows\System32\taskkill.exe /IM "mailwasher.exe *32" /T /F

echo "done"
EOF

Should have put a pause at the end "Next time"

The first invocation - makes with the "access denied" message. I
really wasn't expecting much.

taskkill.exe requires admin privileges. Either you define a shortcut to
run the .bat file and configure the shortcut with elevated privileges or
you disable UAC. I do the former with my shortcuts so I can leave UAC
enabled.

Batch files are not shortcuts. Shortcuts let you configure them to run
the target program with elevated privileges. Else, you have to load a
command shell (cmd.exe) *with elevated privileges* and then run the .bat
file inside that command shell.

You could add a pause at the end of the .bat file but you can also look
in Task Manager as a check that the process is absent. Before running
the .bat file, use Task Manager to verify the mailwasher.exe process is
actually present. No point in trying to kill a process that doesn't
exist because you think that's the faulting process. After running the
..bat file, use Task Manager again if you want to verify mailwasher.exe
is absent.

Oh, by the way, the " *32" is *NOT part of the process name* so you
entered the wrong process name to the taskkill command. In 64-bit
Windows, the "*32" postfix substring is appended to a process name shown
in Task Manager's listing to let you know it is not a native bitwidth
(64-bit) process but instead a 32-bit process. The absence of the
postfix (which is just part of Task Manager's display, NOT of the
process' name) means it is a native process (64-bit process running
under 64-bit Windows). You can also use the tasklist.exe command to
list processes. Run "tasklist.exe /?" in a command shell (cmd.exe) with
elevated privileges to see how to use tasklist. If you didn't configure
the shortcut for cmd.exe to increase the buffer for display or you don't
want to scroll around the possibly long output, run "tasklist | more"
(i.e., pipe tasklist's output into the more command to pause the output
at every screenful). EnterKey moves one line forward while SpacebarKey
moves one screenful forward. You'll notice NONE of the processes have
been identified as 32-bit by postfixing a "*32" string onto the process
names.

Is mailwasher.exe the ONLY process used by Mailwasher? If it has 2, or
more, processes then it is possible for one to monitor for the presence
of the other and restart the other process if found absent. It will
take you a lot longer using Task Manager to select a process, kill it,
and then select the other process for the remaining one to see you
killed the other process and restart it. Then you kill the 2nd process
but it already restarted the 1st process and the 1st process restarts
the 2nd process.

Mailwasher sometimes hangs at the splash screen. Is there an option to
not show a splash screen (to advertize themself)? Since a splash screen
is showing, likely you have Mailwasher loading as a startup program.
Well, disable it loading on Windows startup or upon login, [re]start
Windows, login, and then yourself load Mailwasher. Try that for awhile
to see if the freeze goes away.

Is Mailwasher loading as a startup program? If so, by what means does
it get loaded? As a service (which loads when Windows starts and before
you've even logged in)? As a shortcut in your Programs - Startup
folder (which loads after you've logged in)? As an entry in a Run key
in the registry (which could for all Windows accounts or only for
yours)? As a scheduled task in Task Scheduler? Could be you have a
conflict with Mailwasher loading when some other startup program loads.
You could try disabling all startup programs leaving only Mailwasher to
load on Windows startup and user login. Or you could move Mailwasher to
Task Scheduler (deleting it wherever else it got started) and delay
startup of Mailwasher. They default delay choices a 30 seconds, 1
minute, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 8 hours, or 1 day. You can enter something
else, like 90 seconds or 2 minutes.