Greetings . I had encountered the same incident when I just reformatted my Windows XP Home. I was downloading all the critical updates for SP1 on the first run when I started TaskManager. I found a process name "wow.exe" just like artsalfa said but the process had a tabbed space on its left. By this I mean like it is not in the same column as the other processes. I ran a look on Google and it told me that wow.exe was something related to Windows 16-bit. I cannot remember quite clearly, but I am definitely sure it is not World of Warcraft. The next reboot, wow.exe was gone from the TaskManager. Artsalfa: you should definitely run a spyware and malware scan, because it is abnormal for wow.exe to boot up with your PC each time you start. In addition, spyware leech off your CPU.

Cheers.