Troubleshoot Random command prompt pop up

ElectricDream

New Member
Thread author
May 30, 2017
2
Posting this here as per "CMD pop-up topics not to be posted in Malware Removal Assistance"

There is I think usually quite a while between the command prompt popups (more than 10 minutes at least), they pop up and disappear so fast that sometimes I'm not sure if I've imagined it; just seeing them out the corner of my eye on Monitor 1 while focusing on Monitor 2.

I think this may have started happening after the "Feature update to Windows 10, version 1703", but in the same week I also installed Thunderbird and TeamViewer and started using Outlook.

Note that I don't actually use Thunderbird or Outlook for my emails so anything there can be safely disabled.

Same goes for Internet Explorer/Edge and Firefox (I use Chrome).

Unfortunately I have to have them installed and occasionally use them to test things as part of my job (Web Developer).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

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honeyandthemoon

Level 1
May 30, 2017
3
Hi! I had the same problem- apparently it is something to do with the latest update because a lot of people are having it.

I fixed it by doing the following:
Search PC for/open Task Scheduler -> Task Scheduler Library -> Microsoft -> Office
You'll get a list of tasks that are scheduled to run every X minutes/hours on your computer.
One of them will have just triggered a minute ago around the time you noticed the popup ("Last Run Time")
The culprit is most likely OfficeBackgroundTaskHandlerRegistration
Right click this and select "disable".

Hope this helps!
 

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ElectricDream

New Member
Thread author
May 30, 2017
2
Thanks for the hint honeyandthemoon.

It definitely was OfficeBackgroundTaskHandlerRegistration as described here: OfficeBackgroundTaskHandlerRegistration flashes a window every hour

Gregory Jensen (Microsoft Employee) replies on page 10 to say the issue is fixed starting with build 16.0.8201.2025 which is currently on the 'Slow' track of the Office Insiders program. It will be released to everyone in a future update.

In the meantime disabling the task has fixed the popup (hopefully there isn't any sidebar effects - haven't notice anything so far).

(Is there a way to mark this thread "solved"?)
 
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Mercstar

New Member
May 31, 2017
1
Hi! I had the same problem- apparently it is something to do with the latest update because a lot of people are having it.

I fixed it by doing the following:
Search PC for/open Task Scheduler -> Task Scheduler Library -> Microsoft -> Office
You'll get a list of tasks that are scheduled to run every X minutes/hours on your computer.
One of them will have just triggered a minute ago around the time you noticed the popup ("Last Run Time")
The culprit is most likely OfficeBackgroundTaskHandlerRegistration
Right click this and select "disable".

Hope this helps!


I made an account just to say thank you. Had the same issue on 2 of my desktops, you and this thread explained it and solved the issue, can't explain how frustrating is was to have cmd pop ups in my stream videos, and it's nice to know it's a windows issue not some malware, thank you very much!
 
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Peter Smith

New Member
May 31, 2017
1
Hi! I had the same problem- apparently it is something to do with the latest update because a lot of people are having it.

I fixed it by doing the following:
Search PC for/open Task Scheduler -> Task Scheduler Library -> Microsoft -> Office
You'll get a list of tasks that are scheduled to run every X minutes/hours on your computer.
One of them will have just triggered a minute ago around the time you noticed the popup ("Last Run Time")
The culprit is most likely OfficeBackgroundTaskHandlerRegistration
Right click this and select "disable".

Hope this helps!

THANKS - None of the 'help' staff on microsoft forums acknowledge their bug or have any helpful fix, except "run an antivirus and update windows".
Of course, it's their poorly tested windows update that is the actual culprit!
I did notice that this is a recurring bug that has complaints in forums from 2012, 2014, and 2015. Sheesh!
 
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orthonovum

Level 3
Verified
Jun 17, 2017
106
Hi! I had the same problem- apparently it is something to do with the latest update because a lot of people are having it.

I fixed it by doing the following:
Search PC for/open Task Scheduler -> Task Scheduler Library -> Microsoft -> Office
You'll get a list of tasks that are scheduled to run every X minutes/hours on your computer.
One of them will have just triggered a minute ago around the time you noticed the popup ("Last Run Time")
The culprit is most likely OfficeBackgroundTaskHandlerRegistration
Right click this and select "disable".

Hope this helps!

Yes! thank you. This started on my two win10 machines after installing office365 that makes sense.. MS should know better than to make something that messy. Of course all of us paranoid types are going to notice it but 98% of the rest of the world will not think twice about it *sigh*
 
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Lou-Mae

New Member
Jul 23, 2017
1
this should not be a tab but a grou / collection of tasks....if there are no tasks for office i would think that it is not installed and therefore the cmd popup should not be there...

I have the same issue as above. I don't own office and there is nothing office related in the list - regardless I AM still getting this command prompt and every single forum and post explaining the fix points back to office - which I don't have. How is this the case? Is there another fix?
 
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5

509322

I have the same issue as above. I don't own office and there is nothing office related in the list - regardless I AM still getting this command prompt and every single forum and post explaining the fix points back to office - which I don't have. How is this the case? Is there another fix?

If it is happening once after a system restart, then that suggests a startup item or task.

If it is happening multiple times during system use, then that suggests a background task.

To check startup items or tasks, use CCleaner > Tools > Startup > Windows & Scheduled Tasks. Disable\Enable one by one sometimes can result in identifying which one is causing conhost.exe to flash across the screen. Sometimes uninstalled programs with startup item left behind will result in conhost.exe flashing on the screen.

Checking all scheduled tasks will be a challenge, but it can be done using Task Scheduler; WIN + X > Computer Management. It's trial-and-error.
 
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