Black window flashing up every hour

Forums › Microsoft Windows › Black window flashing up every hour

Behodar

11099 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6082

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#214851 31-May-2017 14:05

Hi all,

I'm running Win 7 on my work machine and since Monday I've noticed a black window (probably a command-line app) flashing up for a fraction of a second every hour (technically it seems to be about every 60:00:00.5 as it's drifted by ~20 seconds over the last couple of days). I don't see anything relevant in Task Scheduler and Google isn't finding much of use - one suggestion was to check "BITS" via PowerShell and there were four failed jobs in there, but deleting them had no effect. The window disappears so quickly that I don't get a chance to read its title.

Interestingly a friend has reported the same issue to me, apparently also starting a few days ago. Has anyone else run into this? It looks like it could be a side effect of a Windows update (KB4019990?).

Any suggestions on what could be causing this?

rb99

3505 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1830

Lifetime subscriber

#1792356 31-May-2017 14:12

Have also seen the occasional flash of a window, but don't think its every hour and am on the latest Windows 10. No sign of that update in my updates list, unless there's a related Win 10 update in there somewhere. No idea what it is.

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

geocom

597 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 143

Subscriber

#1792359 31-May-2017 14:14

Interestingly having the same sort of thing happening on my windows 10 laptop only started happening only a few days ago not sure if it is every hour as I have not timed it but that sounds about right.

Have not had time to go digging into it would be interested to know if anyone else has before I go spending hours doing so.

Geoff E

Behodar

11099 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6082

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1792364 31-May-2017 14:23

rb99: No sign of that update in my updates list, unless there's a related Win 10 update in there somewhere. No idea what it is.

I just looked at MS' site and 4019990 isn't available for Win 10. There may, of course, be a similar update with a different number!

MikeB4

MikeB4
18775 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 12766

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#1792366 31-May-2017 14:24

Try this

https://mspoweruser.com/heres-how-to-fix-that-annoying-command-prompt-popup-window-in-windows/

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

rb99

3505 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1830

Lifetime subscriber

#1792371 31-May-2017 14:30

Looks rather interesting...

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

bairdo

16 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#1792377 31-May-2017 14:46

I've had a similar problem on windows 10 and have tracked it down to the Microsoft Office Background updater.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_officeinsider-mso_win10/officebackgroundtaskhandlerregistration-flashes-a/2600497e-78e4-41a1-9040-461cd2c3ea13

Looks like there is a fix in the Slow Insiders program

Dell

Shop now for Dell laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

Behodar

11099 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6082

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1792382 31-May-2017 14:55

MikeB4:

Try this

https://mspoweruser.com/heres-how-to-fix-that-annoying-command-prompt-popup-window-in-windows/

Thanks for that; I forgot that Task Scheduler had a folder hierarchy so I missed that one. It's due to happen again in 6 minutes' time, so let's see what happens :)

MikeAqua

8026 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3818

#1792383 31-May-2017 14:57

I see this occasionally in W8.1.

Mike

michaelmurfy

meow
13580 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10912

Moderator

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1792384 31-May-2017 14:59

I was seeing this - making the updater task run as "system" instead of "local user" gets rid of the annoying popup window and still allows for the task to run successfully.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
Referral Links: Quic Broadband (use R122101E7CV7Q for free setup)

Are you happy with what you get from Geekzone? Please consider supporting us by subscribing.
Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

Behodar

11099 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6082

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1792387 31-May-2017 15:01

Behodar:

MikeB4:

Try this

https://mspoweruser.com/heres-how-to-fix-that-annoying-command-prompt-popup-window-in-windows/

Thanks for that; I forgot that Task Scheduler had a folder hierarchy so I missed that one. It's due to happen again in 6 minutes' time, so let's see what happens :)

Success! Thanks again :)

nzkiwiman

2585 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 390

Subscriber

#1792402 31-May-2017 15:30

Thanks for posting this.

I've been seeing this on my home system (W10 1607), very noticeable when watching a full screen VLC "movie". Last time it happened I took note of the time and when I saw it again an hour later I said to myself I must investigate .. and then promptly forgot

I must look at the above links at home and see if my issue is related (I have Office 2016 installed)

Apple TV

Stream your favourite shows now on Apple TV (affiliate link).

nzkiwiman

2585 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 390

Subscriber

#1793173 1-Jun-2017 15:11

^ Found the offending task and disabled it

Was set to run every hour at 20 minutes past the hour

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10018

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1794990 5-Jun-2017 17:54

Behodar:
I'm running Win 7 on my work machine and since Monday I've noticed a black window (probably a command-line app) flashing up for a fraction of a second every hour (technically it seems to be about every 60:00:00.5 as it's drifted by ~20 seconds over the last couple of days).

It's MsMpEng. It's a bug in one of the recent updates, more recent ones from within the last day or two seem to fix it. You may need to restart the machine where it's happening to clear it.