Solved Very brief pop-up window on startup

ElizabethW · Dec 20, 2022

Hello:

Since the last update to Windows 11, every time that I start up the PC, about ten seconds later a very brief pop-up window appears and disappears.

This happens so quickly that I am unable read the title bar in the window.

I have tried disabling all my non-Microsoft start-up items one at a time but the pop-persists in all cases.

I recall something similar happening with Win10, but I have forgotten the fix.

Hope you can help

barman58 · Dec 20, 2022

One suggestion I have is to use a Mobile phone to record the startup sequence and play it back in Slow motion which should allow you to at least know what the pop-up is related too, Once we have that Information it will hopefully be possible to solve the issue

ElizabethW · Dec 21, 2022

I tried this several times Nigel but could not get a decent recording by photographing the screen using a borrowed phone as I restarted. Can you think of any other possible way to do this?

I don't have my own smartphone.

Berton · Dec 21, 2022

In Win10 and Win11 I usually get 2 instances of what looks like a Command Prompt windows come on the screen then go away quickly. It's no problem, most likely involve program/s loading in the background.

barman58 · Dec 21, 2022

There are ways to stop control the boot sequence and get access to the setups for boot

A selection of options to control and edit the boot sequence are explained in this YouTube Video, this should guide you to discover the fault and hopefully solve the issue

As always I would recommend that you create a backup of any important data before you start the procedures and also don't try anything that you are not confident to do

Try3 · Dec 21, 2022

I have seen suggestions that this might well be a OneDrive window.
Sorry, I didn't keep any links to the thread discussing this.

Best of luck,
Denis

ElizabethW · Dec 21, 2022

I think I have found out what this is.

I subscribe to Microsoft 365 (the re-branded Office 365).

Someone suggested to me that I install the most recent Microsoft 365 component called Microsoft Defender. FYI Here re is the support site for Microsoft Defender.

This app is entirely different from Windows Security and runs alongside it.

To track down the mystery popup I decided to disable my startup apps in Task Manager one at a time and restart after each one. It turned out that as soon as I disabled Microsoft Defender the popup did not pop up when restarting.

So that appears to be the issue.

I will keep MD disabled for now since I really do not need any of the additional (to WS) features in it.

I trust that I am not being premature in labelling this as solved.

barman58 · Dec 21, 2022

Glad to hear you are making progress, If you consider this is probably solved you can go ahead and mark it solved, this can help others with similar issues to progress in their own search for solutions.

We do not physically close threads so you can add additional comments at any future time and thus retain the flow of the thread

Haydon · Dec 21, 2022

ElizabethW said:
I will keep MD disabled for now

Berton said:
It's no problem, most likely involve program/s loading in the background.

Disabling MD to avoid the harmless and quickly disappearing pop ups sounds like a bad deal to me.

wimorrison · Dec 21, 2022

Do you use Google Drive? I have similar windows appearing, and I managed to read one the other day It was something for the Google Drive - disappeared too quickly to read and record it though

glb · Jan 27, 2023

Finally traced down the problem of terminal windows always opening. In terminal - settings - advanced - changed Profile termination behaviour to 'Never close automatically' the next time a terminal opened it remained open and I saw jabswitch.exe was terminating with an error. Uninstalled java and no more unwanted pop-ups. Hope this info is useful to others.

Ed Tittel · Jan 27, 2023

Great troubleshooting trick. I went poking around in Settings and figured out how to do what you described. Here's a screencap for others who, like me, have to see it before they really "get" it.

Click the entry that reads "Never close automatically" and the window(s) will stay open for future inspection. Great trick!

Thanks,
--Ed--

Solved Very brief pop-up window on startup

Active member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computers

Active member

My Computer

Ret. ATC

My Computers

Well-known member

My Computers

Well-known member

My Computer

Active member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computers

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computer

Active member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computer

Similar threads