Unidentified System Tray Icon

I wasn't sure which area this question might belong in. I have noticed, on only two occasions, a transiently appearing icon in my system tray. It appears for two to three seconds, and disappears, so I have not been able to identify it via hovertext. It looks much like a DNA double helix, one side red, the other blue, with a rotation-like motion around a long axis. It does not correspond to any software I have on my computer, and scans before and after its apppearance have been negative for viruses, spyware, etc. I am using ZoneLabs Internet Security Suite and thus have a good firewall (which I have tested at grc.com). Has anyone seen this icon? It doesn't seem to be harming my computer thus far, but I am quite curious. Thank you.

docbombay

 

Do you have Google Compute installed? One of the icons for that program is a helix, which notifies you that the program is running during idle processor cycles.
Image on wikipedia

 

Thanks, David, but I am not running Google Compute. The Icon is close in appearance, but my mystery icon has only the colors red and blue, while the Google Compute icon has additional colors.

docbombay

 

docbombay--Some program would seem to be starting on boot.
The simplest way to try to find it is Start|Run|type msconfig|Startup tab. Do you see anything unexpected there? If so determine what the program is and either uncheck the box to the left or try to uninstall the program (assuming you do not want it) from Control Panel|Add/Remove.
More detail can be had by using http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml
If this is malware, then of course, you will have to consider a procedure such as here
http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?t=37074
But it seems like you have done some of this already. Perhaps wait and see if it continues. Another approach would be to be ready to click PrtScn quickly when you see this icon, paste into a graphics editor (such as MSPaint or Irfanview), Save and post the image here.

 

Thanks, Welshjim and TonyT--I couldn't find anything running that corresponded to my mystery icon, nor can I find any malware. I haven't seen it again since my original post, but will try to capture it if it reappears.

docbombay

 

To any that are interested, I found the identity of the icon--I have high-speed cable internet (Road Runner) through Time Warner. Associated with this is a piece of software called "Road Runner Medic," which repairs/maintains connectivity issues. It apparently protects e-mail settings periodically and that is when the icon appears briefly in the system tray (I wasn't quick enough to print the screen, but hovertext allowed me to see its function). Thank you for your help--I now have a few more tools at my disposal for future questions.

docbombay

 

Good to hear it isn't anything nasty.