Starting and stopping a VM leaves leftover VirtualBox.exe processes

[Bill Evans]

Each time I start a VM, a new VirtualBox.exe process is started. However, when the VM is shutdown, the previously created process does not go away. Instead, it seems to become a zombie process. The next time I start the VM, a new VirtualBox.exe process gets created. As a result, these zombie VirtualBox.exe processes accumulate until the computer is rebooted.

Running VirtualBox 3.1.6 on a Windows XP Pro SP3 host with all patches current

The attached file shows a process list with 4 VirtualBox.exe processes active. The first one is an active Ubuntu 10.04 guest VM. The 2nd-4th VirtualBox.exe processes are leftovers from starting and stopping an XP Pro SP3 guest multiple times.

[Bill Evans]

Process List

[Frank Mehnert]

Please attach a VBox.log file of a VM session which you started and which you shut down but which process didn't go away.

[Bill Evans]

See attached files containing requested info.

[Bill Evans]

Screen shots - Part 1.

[Bill Evans]

Screen shots - Part 2.

[Bill Evans]

VBox.log

[Bill Evans]

VBox.log

[Bill Evans]

VBox.log

[Bill Evans]

This may be an issue with the "View Active Process List" utility in Comodo firewall rather than an issue with VirtualBox.

When I run the Process Explorer utility from Sysinternals (​http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx) the "zombie" VirtualBox.exe processes shown by the Comodo "View Active Process List" feature are no longer displayed.

It appears that Comodo's process view utility may be showing information for processes that have already terminated. I have reported this issue to the vendor of Comodo firewall.

Sorry for possibly wasting your time.