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Finding a Disappearing Application in Windows?
siuengr asks: "I have a computer that has a window that pops up every few minutes, but disappears before I can figure out what it is. I have run every virus program and spybot cleaner I have, but they do not find any problems. How can I figure what is causing this window to pop-up all the time, when it doesn't stick around long enough to see anything about it? Is there any software that tracks what applications have ran over a period of time, even if they are not currently running?"
Spy++ (comes with Visual Studio and probably other packages) should be able to list the window, even after it disappears and trace it to the owning process. Used it many times to find information about "rogue" dialogs.
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Since when did Slashdot become Experts Exchange?
At least we don't need to login to see the solution. That site is annoying.
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After doing that and then downloading Process explorer to make sure it isn't replaced is to look in your startup with either MSconfig or startup control panel.o rer.html
http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ProcessExpl
http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml
buy a new computer? It really irks me when people cite this as a solution. You most definitely did NOT fix the problem, you are just avoiding it. At the very least, you can install another OS. This isn't a hard process, you just have to download an image, burn it to a CD, boot off the CD, and follow simple instructions.
buy a new computer? It really irks me when people cite this as a solution.
It is a solution!
Just because it's not the techiest, or generally lowest-cost, or whatever, doesn't disqualify it from being a solution. It solved his problem. Therefore, by definition it is a solution.
A binary search would be better. Split the search space (the set of startup programs) in half. Enable or disable one half. If the problem appears, adjust your search space to that half. If the problem does not appear, adjust your search space to the other half. Repeat.
It's like "hey, my brakes squeal, how do I solve this?" And instead of really solving the squealing brakes by replacing them you just buy a new car. Do the brakes still squeal? Yes, but since you're not driving it anymore you no longer care.
Yes. It is like that. But it is still a solution !
Just because you find it a bit silly to replace a whole computer because of spyware, or replace a whole car because of squeaky brakes, doesn't disqualify it as a solution. No matter how silly you find it, it's still a solution to the problem of the user experiencing spyware on his computer, or squeaky brakes on his car.
In the case of the computer, as a techie, I would actually recommend this to non-techies. A new dell costs about the same as you could expect to pay if you would pay someone to fix the problem. In addition you get a new and better computer. If you were to pay someone to fix it, you would still solve the problem, and still part with your money, but you would not have a new and spiffy computer. If you invested the time into learning enough about computers to fix it yourself, by the time you were finished fixing the probem, if you'd been working overtime instead, you could have bought at least 50 dells.
As for the car, the same logic applies. If it's an old car, which you know sooner or later will need a major (costly) overhaul, you can just as well ditch it when a problem shows up, such as squeaky brakes. You don't need to fix it yourself, or pay someone to do it, when you are going to need a new car soon enough anyway.