a dos window keeps appearing and disappearing every five minutes

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Guest

Recently this behavior started:
Every five minutes a window whose contents are black appears and disappears.
This happens too fast for me to see the window title. i thought i could see
~DOCUMENTS../~ALL/.... in the title window. when the window appears the
cursor disappears even if i am tying something.
I ran latest Norton antivirus and it found nothing.

can someone help me fix this annoyance? is there a way to check what jobs
are on a timer (like the cron file in unix). if i look at the list of running
processes is there a way to find out whats causing it?

many thanks
Sriram
(e-mail address removed)
 
It sounds like spyware/adware to me. Have you run Ad-Aware or Spybot
or Microsoft AntiSpyware? All are good (and free). In fact I would
recommend running all three.
 
Just wanted to add that I installed and ran microsoft's antisyware and it
found nothing.
thanks for any help
sriram
 
It's possible that those popup windows are caused by the
automatic update feature of Norton Antivirus. NAV has a default
setting to check for updates every 5 minutes.

Try the following:
Over at least a 15 minute period, make a note of the time that
these windows appear. Make sure you use the time that is shown on
your computer.
Go to Start -> Control Panel -> Scheduled Tasks.
On the toolbar, click on Advanced.
From the menu that pops up select "View log".
Scroll down to this point in the log:
[ ***** Most recent entry is above this line ***** ]
Look for entries for NetDetect.job that match the times you
recorded earlier.

Another test would be to go back to Scheduled Tasks and right
click on the icon for NetDetect and select Properties. Click on
the Schedule page. Click on Advanced. Where you see "Repeat task"
change the time from 5 to 10 minutes. See if this changes the
command prompt windows now pop up every 10 minutes.

If it turns out that NAV is the source of these pop ups then you
might want to contact their technical support. They're probably
going to tell you to uninstall and reinstall the product.
 
A good thought. I too was thinking that it sounded a lot like when a batch
file runs and a dos window appears and disappears in the blink of an eye. I
have never seen it on a regular basis, though. Usually during an
installation if at all.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
Nepatsfan said:
It's possible that those popup windows are caused by the automatic update
feature of Norton Antivirus. NAV has a default setting to check for
updates every 5 minutes.

Try the following:
Over at least a 15 minute period, make a note of the time that these
windows appear. Make sure you use the time that is shown on your computer.
Go to Start -> Control Panel -> Scheduled Tasks.
On the toolbar, click on Advanced.
From the menu that pops up select "View log".
Scroll down to this point in the log:
[ ***** Most recent entry is above this line ***** ]
Look for entries for NetDetect.job that match the times you recorded
earlier.

Another test would be to go back to Scheduled Tasks and right click on the
icon for NetDetect and select Properties. Click on the Schedule page.
Click on Advanced. Where you see "Repeat task" change the time from 5 to
10 minutes. See if this changes the command prompt windows now pop up
every 10 minutes.

If it turns out that NAV is the source of these pop ups then you might
want to contact their technical support. They're probably going to tell
you to uninstall and reinstall the product.

--
Nepatsfan
Sriram_SF said:
Recently this behavior started:
Every five minutes a window whose contents are black appears and
disappears.
This happens too fast for me to see the window title. i thought i could
see
~DOCUMENTS../~ALL/.... in the title window. when the window appears the
cursor disappears even if i am tying something.
I ran latest Norton antivirus and it found nothing.

can someone help me fix this annoyance? is there a way to check what jobs
are on a timer (like the cron file in unix). if i look at the list of
running
processes is there a way to find out whats causing it?

many thanks
Sriram
(e-mail address removed)
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Sriram_SF said:
Recently this behavior started:
Every five minutes a window whose contents are black appears and
disappears.
This happens too fast for me to see the window title. i thought i could
see
~DOCUMENTS../~ALL/.... in the title window. when the window appears the
cursor disappears even if i am tying something.
I ran latest Norton antivirus and it found nothing.

can someone help me fix this annoyance? is there a way to check what jobs
are on a timer (like the cron file in unix). if i look at the list of
running
processes is there a way to find out whats causing it?

many thanks
Sriram
(e-mail address removed)
Click to expand...

If you have an unused network card disable it in Device Manager.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup only. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com./athome/security/protect/default.aspx
http://defendingyourmachine.blogspot.com/
 
Saw this about a month ago on a Windows 98 machine after running
a manual update of McAfee VirusScan. Also, helped a user recently
in the windowsxp.general group who experienced the same thing
even though she was using NAV. Both times making changes to the
jobs in Scheduled tasks stopped the popups.

--
Nepatsfan
Colin Barnhorst said:
A good thought. I too was thinking that it sounded a lot like
when a batch file runs and a dos window appears and disappears
in the blink of an eye. I have never seen it on a regular
basis, though. Usually during an installation if at all.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
Nepatsfan said:
It's possible that those popup windows are caused by the
automatic update feature of Norton Antivirus. NAV has a
default setting to check for updates every 5 minutes.

Try the following:
Over at least a 15 minute period, make a note of the time that
these windows appear. Make sure you use the time that is shown
on your computer.
Go to Start -> Control Panel -> Scheduled Tasks.
On the toolbar, click on Advanced.
From the menu that pops up select "View log".
Scroll down to this point in the log:
[ ***** Most recent entry is above this line ***** ]
Look for entries for NetDetect.job that match the times you
recorded earlier.

Another test would be to go back to Scheduled Tasks and right
click on the icon for NetDetect and select Properties. Click
on the Schedule page. Click on Advanced. Where you see "Repeat
task" change the time from 5 to 10 minutes. See if this
changes the command prompt windows now pop up every 10
minutes.

If it turns out that NAV is the source of these pop ups then
you might want to contact their technical support. They're
probably going to tell you to uninstall and reinstall the
product.

--
Nepatsfan
message
Recently this behavior started:
Every five minutes a window whose contents are black appears
and disappears.
This happens too fast for me to see the window title. i
thought i could see
~DOCUMENTS../~ALL/.... in the title window. when the window
appears the
cursor disappears even if i am tying something.
I ran latest Norton antivirus and it found nothing.

can someone help me fix this annoyance? is there a way to
check what jobs
are on a timer (like the cron file in unix). if i look at the
list of running
processes is there a way to find out whats causing it?

many thanks
Sriram
(e-mail address removed)
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Wow, this is genius! you were exactly right. it was symantec netdetect waking
up every five minutes. A BIG THANK YOU!!! not only for telling me what it was
but also for showing me how to find scheduled tasks.

it seems to have stopped today, BTW.

best regards
sriram

Nepatsfan said:
It's possible that those popup windows are caused by the
automatic update feature of Norton Antivirus. NAV has a default
setting to check for updates every 5 minutes.

Try the following:
Over at least a 15 minute period, make a note of the time that
these windows appear. Make sure you use the time that is shown on
your computer.
Go to Start -> Control Panel -> Scheduled Tasks.
On the toolbar, click on Advanced.
From the menu that pops up select "View log".
Scroll down to this point in the log:
[ ***** Most recent entry is above this line ***** ]
Look for entries for NetDetect.job that match the times you
recorded earlier.

Another test would be to go back to Scheduled Tasks and right
click on the icon for NetDetect and select Properties. Click on
the Schedule page. Click on Advanced. Where you see "Repeat task"
change the time from 5 to 10 minutes. See if this changes the
command prompt windows now pop up every 10 minutes.

If it turns out that NAV is the source of these pop ups then you
might want to contact their technical support. They're probably
going to tell you to uninstall and reinstall the product.

--
Nepatsfan
message
Recently this behavior started:
Every five minutes a window whose contents are black appears
and disappears.
This happens too fast for me to see the window title. i thought
i could see
~DOCUMENTS../~ALL/.... in the title window. when the window
appears the
cursor disappears even if i am tying something.
I ran latest Norton antivirus and it found nothing.

can someone help me fix this annoyance? is there a way to check
what jobs
are on a timer (like the cron file in unix). if i look at the
list of running
processes is there a way to find out whats causing it?

many thanks
Sriram
(e-mail address removed)
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Glad to see you got it fixed.

--
Nepatsfan
Sriram_SF said:
Wow, this is genius! you were exactly right. it was symantec
netdetect waking
up every five minutes. A BIG THANK YOU!!! not only for telling
me what it was
but also for showing me how to find scheduled tasks.

it seems to have stopped today, BTW.

best regards
sriram

Nepatsfan said:
It's possible that those popup windows are caused by the
automatic update feature of Norton Antivirus. NAV has a
default
setting to check for updates every 5 minutes.

Try the following:
Over at least a 15 minute period, make a note of the time that
these windows appear. Make sure you use the time that is shown
on
your computer.
Go to Start -> Control Panel -> Scheduled Tasks.
On the toolbar, click on Advanced.
From the menu that pops up select "View log".
Scroll down to this point in the log:
[ ***** Most recent entry is above this line ***** ]
Look for entries for NetDetect.job that match the times you
recorded earlier.

Another test would be to go back to Scheduled Tasks and right
click on the icon for NetDetect and select Properties. Click
on
the Schedule page. Click on Advanced. Where you see "Repeat
task"
change the time from 5 to 10 minutes. See if this changes the
command prompt windows now pop up every 10 minutes.

If it turns out that NAV is the source of these pop ups then
you
might want to contact their technical support. They're
probably
going to tell you to uninstall and reinstall the product.

--
Nepatsfan
message
Recently this behavior started:
Every five minutes a window whose contents are black appears
and disappears.
This happens too fast for me to see the window title. i
thought
i could see
~DOCUMENTS../~ALL/.... in the title window. when the window
appears the
cursor disappears even if i am tying something.
I ran latest Norton antivirus and it found nothing.

can someone help me fix this annoyance? is there a way to
check
what jobs
are on a timer (like the cron file in unix). if i look at
the
list of running
processes is there a way to find out whats causing it?

many thanks
Sriram
(e-mail address removed)
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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