I’m running Windows 10.
I have absolutely no idea what is going on. Task Manager doesn’t show anything useful, I killed processes that might be it with no effect. Is there any way whatsoever for me to learn what is causing this and remove it? I ran a Windows Defender scan and nothing showed up.
You might also want to check if there’s anything set to periodically do something in Task Scheduler, search for it in windows start menu
This is most likely the culprit. On my work computer I have regular powershell scripts set by IT that run regularly to manage profile settings, push updates, etc.
First place I’d look.
Run MSConfig and see what’s running on startup.
Turn off any services you don’t want and any programs you don’t need. I suggest hiding Microsoft services unless you’re confident, it’s easy to break something and they’re unlikely to be causing that.
Pretty sure since 10 or 8.1 msconfig doesn’t show startup programs anymore. Easier to use task manager these days for this too since you can just Ctrl shift esc.
Yeah that’s true. There’s a link in MSConfig to the right screen in task manger.
Guys, thank you so much for all the great ideas. Given that everyone made a big effort to help me, I’m a bit embarrassed to report that it looks like it went away? I tried rebooting before and that didn’t help. I rebooted a second time for an unrelated reason and that “fixed” it. I have no idea why. I feel like an idiot now. I will report if it comes back, but, for now, I think that was solved.
Thanks!
Wait for the next update cycle. Lol. I’ve tracked these kinds of things down in the past. It’s tough. Look into procmon and taskmon if it bugs you again, and godspeed my friend.
Most likely an app updater written by someone who is too lazy to make their updater hidden.
As others suggested, look in task scheduler, but make sure you run it elevated. Focus on any updater that’s calling an app from a bat file, and move out from there.
Most likely an app updater written by someone who is too lazy to make their updater hidden.
I feel seen!!
Honestly it can be really tricky to keep that crap from popping up and if the guy that wrote the install did it all dirty and didn’t hide his windows, calling a boatload of processes, it can be truly difficult for the guy that writes the updater to keep everything hidden.
I’ve been there.
Guilty as charged. At least in my case the updater is always started by the app, and when it’s done it starts the app again
You could try recording your screen with screencasting software, to see if there’s some text in the terminal window to provide clues.
I had a similar issue and in my case it ended up being some AMD crap (I think an updater or something) that probably didn’t install properly or something.
IIRC I just ended up disabling the scheduled task that was running it and that was the end of it.
I’m confused by the it in your last sentence.
Using a screen recorder (there’s a built in one in the Xbox games app depending on version of Microsoft, or if not, people always seem to use FRAPS) to capture whatever is in the window to get more information could help.
Someone else will likely be along shortly with more helpful info.
I haven’t heard of anyone using FRAPS in like a decade! Last I checked (which admittedly is a couple of years ago now) OBS seemed to be the screen recording tool of choice.
Sorry, I forgot top add a negative. It should read as “I ran a Windows Defender scan and nothing showed up.”.
how long has it been happening? have you installed any new sw that might be causing it? it could be some licence check for some program or even a failed windows update but just to be sure you don’t have something malicious running there, i would do a reinstall just to get peace of mind. it’ll probably be faster than trying to troubleshoot.
I’d second the one about work laptops having powershell scripts for whatever the IT wants them for. However if it’s your personal property then it could be just about anything, maybe something innocuous you’ve installed that you wnat but maybe something malicious…
Personally, I’d take this as a sign to do a fresh install of the entire OS. That can feel like a chore, sometimes, but it’s the best way to be nearly absolutely sure your computer is clean.
