Desktop flashes

Win XP Pro laptop all updates installed.

When I close any app the desktop blinks several times rapidly.

Does not do this on my other Win XP Pro laptop.

What cases this ?
How do I stop it ?


How do I check if some virus scanner was inadvertently installed with
other app like CCleaner does. I always miss the tiny checkbox with tiny
print at the bottom left of the installer. Damn it, CCleaner make the
default UNCHECKED !

freenoose wrote:

Win XP Pro laptop all updates installed.

When I close any app the desktop blinks several times rapidly.

Does not do this on my other Win XP Pro laptop.

Is your other laptop the same make and model with the same Windows
edition (Pro) and software configuration as this one?

What cases this ?
How do I stop it ?

Does it happen when you boot Windows XP into its safe mode with
networking (since I don't if the apps that blink on exit are
non-networked or network-capable apps)?

If the blinking ceases in safe mode, use msconfig to disable all startup
programs and reboot into Windows normal mode and retest.

How do I check if some virus scanner was inadvertently installed with
other app like CCleaner does. I always miss the tiny checkbox with
tiny print at the bottom left of the installer. Damn it, CCleaner
make the default UNCHECKED !

Avast acquired Piriform and has adapted some programs, like CCleaner, to
add a tracking cookie (recreated on starting CCleaner if not present,
like you deleted it before) along with adding the adware platform code
(to popup ads when using CCleaner). CCleaner always had ads but only
within the GUI of the program and unobtrusively at the bottom. Avast
likes to use the freeware as an adware platform. I stuck with CCleaner
5.40 which was before Avast started adding their tracking cookie that
gets auto-generated when starting CCleaner. I've not had the installer
or updater present the Avast AV bundleware probably because I already
have Avast Free installed (but configured for silent mode to eliminate
their popup ads when they decide to push a marketing campaign but that
also means not seeing alerts for program updates or alerts on why Avast
blocked a web page).

Look in the Add/Remove Programs applet to see if you inadvertently
installed some anti-virus scanner (you should have one, or if more than
only one should have its on-access scanner active and all others are
used on-demand as manually-instigated scanners). By now, you should be
accustomed to ALWAYS planning on a custom installation which means
looking at the installer screens. Be aware that some options are
negatively phrased, so you have to be careful which way to set an
installation option.

You could also look in the Windows taskbar's system notification area
(tray icons) and expand it to check if there is an icon for an AV
program currently loaded.

You should also review the running programs in Task Manager's Processes
tab.

On Tue, 4 Sep 2018 11:33:15 -0700, freenoose "freenoose
wrote:

When I close any app the desktop blinks several times rapidly.

It's probably your medication, or alcohol consumption, but you might
want to get your eye glasses checked too. LOL

freenoose,

When I close any app the desktop blinks several times rapidly.

Try setting the "hardware accelleration" to none (rightclick desktop -
settings - advanced - troubleshoot), and see if it persists.

How do I check if some virus scanner was inadvertently installed with
other app like CCleaner does.

I suggest you ditch CCleaner, as the company is untrustworthy.

It abuses your trust in them to make a quick buck (while inconveniencing
with unwanted junk which, undoubtibly, is hard to remove), and could as
easily step further down that rabbit hole (on purpose, or by per accident
including crapware that does a bit more nefarious stuff than doing a bad
impersonation of a virus scanner)

And pardon me, but when looking here
https://nl.ccm.net/download/downloaden-168-ccleaner that CCleaner strikes me
as a rather dangrous product : "maakt schijfruimte vrij door tijdelijke
bestanden te verwijderen, *evenals herstelpunten van het systeem*"

Also, I've got an istallation of XP running for a decade or so, and have
never used anything like it. Regardless, the the 'puter still runs
beautifully.

Bottom line: CCleaner offers you to do stuff you do not really need to do*.
Its like using a broom to get rid of a bit of sand in your garden shed, when
that sand does not actually bother anyone.

*Or, in the case of "biedt CCleaner de mogelijkheid om programma's en
toepassingen die tijdens het opstarten worden gelanceerd te beheren en te
activeren of deactiveren", offers you a duplicate of what the system already
has build-in (msconfig).

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

In message , freenoose "freenoose
writes:
Win XP Pro laptop all updates installed.

When I close any app the desktop blinks several times rapidly.

Does not do this on my other Win XP Pro laptop.

What cases this ?
How do I stop it ?

Just a thought: it _might_ be a setting in the disability area. There's
a setting which makes things flash instead of (or as well as?) making
the sound, for people with hearing difficulties; I'm not on XP now, but
when I look at it in 7 (they've changed the name to "Ease of Access
Center" - I think it was called "Accessibility" in XP. It's in Control
Panel, anyway). I thought it only flashed the active title bar, but I
see - in 7 at least (it's under "Use text or visual alternatives for
sounds", in 7 anyway) - that that's just the default, one of the others
being "Flash desktop". If you have a system sound associated with Close
Program, this could well explain it (I've never tried that setting so I
don't know if it flashes "several times" or just once).

In some ways, it's a pity these are hidden under the wheelchair symbol,
as they might be of use to other people too (though I suppose having
those all together is useful); this one, for example, might be useful in
a shared environment (office _or_ home!) where sounds might irritate.
The one I use ("Toggle Keys") is the one that causes a high or low beep
when one of the locks is turned on - very useful for anyone who often
accidentally hits Caps Lock, but doesn't want to disable it altogether
(the option usually suggested - but requires a lot more effort,
including the loading of some third party keystroke-intercepting
software).

How do I check if some virus scanner was inadvertently installed with
other app like CCleaner does. I always miss the tiny checkbox with
tiny print at the bottom left of the installer. Damn it, CCleaner make
the default UNCHECKED !

I'll leave discussion of that to the VanguardLH rant department (-:
[Personally, I've never had any problems with CCleaner, but haven't
played with it for years - don't think I've even put it on this machine,
which suggests it doesn't do anything I am not already doing by other
means, most of which are probably provided with the OS anyway. (Which
supports some of what VLH says about it.)]
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"If even one person" arguments allow the perfect to become the enemy of the
good, and thus they tend to cause more harm than good.
- Jimmy Akins quoted by Scott Adams, 2015-5-5