Identifying window that closes as soon as it appears


  1. Posts : 3
    Windows 7
       #1

    Identifying window that closes as soon as it appears


    For a couple of weeks, a mystery window has been appearing on my screen, and immediately closing again before I can identify it. I haven't been able to discern a pattern to it yet.

    I've scanned my computer with MS Security Essentials and MalwareBytes, and it's come up clean - doesn't look like malware. But I'd like to identify the program and deal with whatever it's trying to tell me. Any idea how to go about this?

    I'm using an up-to-date copy of Win7 Pro.

    Thanks!
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 53,365
    Windows 10 Home x64
       #2

    Welcome to Seven Forums rschaefe. Does this window flash reliably? That is, can you expect it to flash within a certain time period, or when performing certain steps? It's possible you may be able to capture it using the Problem Steps recorder.

    Problem Steps Recorder

    The only other thing I can think of is a scheduled scanner task perhaps. Like an end to a Windows Defender scan for instance, which might conceivably flash a window quickly, but would create a log file with a time stamp that would correspond to the time period of the flash I believe. Another possibility would be event viewer event at the time the flash occurred.

    A Guy
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 3
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       #3

    I think I've got it. It appears to be Outlook's automatic send/receive dialog.

    I recently added an IMAP account to Outlook for a website I manage. Since my own email is on an Exchange account, there's no send/receive dialog or interval. And since essential zero mail actually comes to the new account I added, it was one of those add-and-forget things. By the time I noticed the window popping open for a fraction of a second, I had already forgotten about that change in my setup.

    Once I established that the window was appearing on a precise 30-minute schedule, email seemed the most likely culprit. Shutting down Outlook prior to the next scheduled interval confirmed it.

    Thanks to A Guy for taking the time to consider the causes and reply.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 53,365
    Windows 10 Home x64
       #4

    Good catch rschaefe That could have been a difficult one to figure out. A Guy
      My Computer


 

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