All desktop icons blinking

[billm5]

This suddenly started (in the last 24 hours). I have 2 Windows 7 laptops (same make/model); the *newer* one has started to exhibit this problem.

The older one, which I essentially "froze in place" a few years ago (and which I'm using to post this) does not have this problem.

What's a useful diagnostic path?

Seems plausible that some recent Windows Update introduced the issue...??

 

[billm5]

(by the way, I'm not a new member - have participated here for years, but there's been no need to post, until today!)

 

[Paul Black]

Hi billm5,

Some questions!

[1] You could try running Malwarebytes [FREE] to see if that picks anything up?
[2] Have you run a full AV system scan?
[3] Have you got a system restore point prior to this happening?

I hope this helps!

 

[billm5]

I have MSE and Malwarebytes (free version, which is on-demand scan-and-report only) and I've not tried to run it yet, because there's so little I *can* do with everything on the desktop flashing randomly.

The "everything flashing" essentially makes the newer machine unusable ... including the handful of Notepads I had opened as virtual-sticky-notes (not using the StickyNotes 'product' at the moment)

Since essentially everything on the screen is flashing, there's little I can think of to try, other than ctrl-alt-del or power-down/up. What would you do in this situation?

Obviously I don't want to lose those notepad (.txt) files... some of which haven't even been given filenames yet

 

[Paul Black]

Hi billm5,

Since essentially everything on the screen is flashing, there's little I can think of to try, other than ctrl-alt-del or power-down/up. What would you do in this situation?

Obviously I don't want to lose those notepad (.txt) files... some of which haven't even been given filenames yet.

I see what you mean!

Something you could try is putting the laptop to sleep for a few minutes and then waking it up again to see if that helps. You can do this through CTRL+ALT+DEL!

I hope this helps!

 

[billm5]

Was logged-in as a non-priv'd user; was able to "switch user" successfully (to Admin) ... hoping all my normal-user stuff (including the flashing icons?!?) stays intact until I either log-out that user or reboot. Yes??

McAfee Security Scan Plus (free product) started on its own, and appears to be doing something (though I've never found it to be particularly useful).

 

[Paul Black]

Hi billm5,

Was logged-in as a non-priv'd user; was able to "switch user" successfully (to Admin) ... hoping all my normal-user stuff stays intact until I either log-out that user or reboot. Yes??

It sounds like it could be a failing graphics card, a corrupted display driver or corrupted graphics driver!

[1] Does it work correctly now if you log back in?
[2] Do you have the same isssue with the Administrative user?

I hope this helps!

EDIT:

[3] Your F5 [refresh] key isn't stuck is it?
[4] Have you installed any new hardware, software or updates prior to this happening [in the last 24 hours as you mentioned], and if so, what?

 

[billm5]

Hmm. Left it alone for 30 min. or so, now both machines seem to be functional... but the newer one is saying "Firefox is being updated by another instance" (a message I've not seen before today, though I've seen it on both laptops) ... and mozilla's website hasn't enlightened me.

I *assume* "another instance" would mean another running copy of Firefox, i.e. another firefox.exe process. Task manager reports there are 10 firefox.exe processes on that machine (which seems excessive with only only one Firefox browser window alive).

 

[wither 2]

Have you rebooted since you saw that Firefox message?

 

[Paul Black]

Hi billm5,

I *assume* "another instance" would mean another running copy of Firefox, i.e. another firefox.exe process. Task manager reports there are 10 firefox.exe processes on that machine (which seems excessive with only only one Firefox browser window alive).

I don't use Forefox.

What I would do is to close Firefox.

Go into Task Manager and make sure there are NO instances of Firefox running. If there are, then right-click them and click End Process. Restart the computer.

I hope this helps!

 

[Jeyneko]

Delete updater.exe in the C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox directory to prevent it updating and also, reinstall your graphics card drivers. I've seen this happen before on XP and that was the cause

 

[billm5]

It's clearly a Firefox issue; took it to their forum (support.mozilla.org if I recall correctly) and didn't get a clear answer, but it's clear that current releases of Firefox use multiple processes. I'll pursue it as time allows; not a priority.

 

[wither 2]

I'm running Firefox right now but there's only one instance shown as running in Task Manager. Normally, I don't use it everyday. However, I started running it every day for the last few weeks. Since then, I periodically get a problem where the graphics driver quits responding for maybe 10 seconds and then restarts. When that happens, Firefox quits responding and I have to close it from Task Manager. I'll be interested in what you find out in regards to your problem.

 

[wither 2]

Did you get this resolved?

 

[billm5]

Not really. Confirmed that Firefox does now use a multi-process architecture. I can live with that (though it's hard on a 3GB laptop). Other, newer issues have taken precedence, sorry!

Have not had to kill any processes in a long while. Currently using v65.0.


Have not seen a problem with the graphics driver hanging (at least not for a long while).

(Did not follow-up on Jeyneko's November post either.)


For what it's worth, my laptop's a low-end Celeron, not a high-performer.

 

[torchwood]

Hi Bill,
MS uses a couple of tools to repair W7
KB976932 (SURT)
sfc /scannow
and to check disk integrety chkdsk /r

With 3Gb Ram your better of using the 32bit version of W7

As for FF its becoming a bit of a resourse hugging browser, try either of these offshoots
Palemoon or Waterfox.

Roy