Start menu popping up all the time
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Failing malware, try [manually] reinstalling the keyboard driver - delete the old one then install a new one. I had a Logitech keyboard driver go funny ... my game did unusual things when it shouldn't. Reinstalling the driver fixed it. Last thought, it could be a connector/chip/circuit issue on the motherboard.
Graeme
"I fear not the man who has practiced ten thousand kicks one time, but I fear the man that has practiced one kick ten thousand times!" - Bruce Lee
I have been thinking the same. BUT: When you reformat the disk and reinstall Windows from scratch, I'd think that you get a new and fresh keyboard driver with the OS reinstallation. I also suspect a connector/chip/circuit issue. That is why I had my friend open Notepad and start typing - I'd think that this kind of noise would appear in Notepad just as much as in the desktop input. But none such was observed. I did tell my friend to grab the PC by its neck and shake it while telling it in a stern voice to start behaving. Of course this was said as a joke, but if there is a bad connection somewhere, a little shaking could both break the connection permanently, or cause it to settle down with better contact. I might try to give it a (not too violent) shake when I get there, to see if it has any effect on the issue. (It is a tiny cigar box thing, so it is perfectly possible to shake it, and it has a solid state M.2 disk - the only movable part is a fan.)
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trønderen wrote:
but why would a malware writer choose to generate this behavior as the only visible indication (and very much so!), no other sign of anything?
Maybe just because they can? Maybe that's the whole point of the virus, to annoyingly launch the start menu, with no other ulterior motive. Just a digital "Kilroy was here" kind of thing?
Keep Calm and Carry On
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This is not a problem of mine, but of a friend who call me every time there is some trouble with his computers. I will visit him next weekend and need some good hints for the problem investigation. His newest PC, a small cigar box thing, is between 1 and 2 years old, and should be quite modern. (Sorry, I don't have the brand or model at hand.) He is running Windows 10. For a couple of days, the Start Menu has been popping up, and then disappearing, at irregular intervals of a few seconds, as if he were randomly hitting Ctrl-Esc every few seconds. Intervals are not fixed, neither between popups nor how long the menu is displayed. When it pops up, it steals the focus, making it impossible to get any work done. If he opens the Start Menu explicitly (by clicking the Windows icon), and it takes him a few seconds to find the right entry, the menu closes. It sounds very much like a faulty keyboard. But the thing is that if he disconnects his wireless keyboard completely, by unplugging the dongle, the problem remains. The mouse uses the same dongle, and is disconnected as well. I strongly suspect a hardware fault within the cigar box, but I think it strange that a hardware fault has this single effect and no other visible signs. He has tried to do a complete reinstall of Windows 10; the problem remains. In between the Start Menu popups and closes, he has managed to start Notepad to do some simple typing. There is no sign of "ghost characters" that he didn't type himself. There doesn't appear to be noise on the keyboard input line, unless there is some filtering of keyboard input to Notepad that isn't applied to the opening of the Start Menu. When I visit him next weekend, what should I do to try to identify and isolate the problem? (I am not a hardware man, so I have no fancy electronic test equipment!)
You could try running a Linux from a thumb drive. You could then use xev (in an X environment) or showkey (from the command line) to see if any bogus keystrokes were being generated. <°}}}>«<
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This is not a problem of mine, but of a friend who call me every time there is some trouble with his computers. I will visit him next weekend and need some good hints for the problem investigation. His newest PC, a small cigar box thing, is between 1 and 2 years old, and should be quite modern. (Sorry, I don't have the brand or model at hand.) He is running Windows 10. For a couple of days, the Start Menu has been popping up, and then disappearing, at irregular intervals of a few seconds, as if he were randomly hitting Ctrl-Esc every few seconds. Intervals are not fixed, neither between popups nor how long the menu is displayed. When it pops up, it steals the focus, making it impossible to get any work done. If he opens the Start Menu explicitly (by clicking the Windows icon), and it takes him a few seconds to find the right entry, the menu closes. It sounds very much like a faulty keyboard. But the thing is that if he disconnects his wireless keyboard completely, by unplugging the dongle, the problem remains. The mouse uses the same dongle, and is disconnected as well. I strongly suspect a hardware fault within the cigar box, but I think it strange that a hardware fault has this single effect and no other visible signs. He has tried to do a complete reinstall of Windows 10; the problem remains. In between the Start Menu popups and closes, he has managed to start Notepad to do some simple typing. There is no sign of "ghost characters" that he didn't type himself. There doesn't appear to be noise on the keyboard input line, unless there is some filtering of keyboard input to Notepad that isn't applied to the opening of the Start Menu. When I visit him next weekend, what should I do to try to identify and isolate the problem? (I am not a hardware man, so I have no fancy electronic test equipment!)
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This is not a problem of mine, but of a friend who call me every time there is some trouble with his computers. I will visit him next weekend and need some good hints for the problem investigation. His newest PC, a small cigar box thing, is between 1 and 2 years old, and should be quite modern. (Sorry, I don't have the brand or model at hand.) He is running Windows 10. For a couple of days, the Start Menu has been popping up, and then disappearing, at irregular intervals of a few seconds, as if he were randomly hitting Ctrl-Esc every few seconds. Intervals are not fixed, neither between popups nor how long the menu is displayed. When it pops up, it steals the focus, making it impossible to get any work done. If he opens the Start Menu explicitly (by clicking the Windows icon), and it takes him a few seconds to find the right entry, the menu closes. It sounds very much like a faulty keyboard. But the thing is that if he disconnects his wireless keyboard completely, by unplugging the dongle, the problem remains. The mouse uses the same dongle, and is disconnected as well. I strongly suspect a hardware fault within the cigar box, but I think it strange that a hardware fault has this single effect and no other visible signs. He has tried to do a complete reinstall of Windows 10; the problem remains. In between the Start Menu popups and closes, he has managed to start Notepad to do some simple typing. There is no sign of "ghost characters" that he didn't type himself. There doesn't appear to be noise on the keyboard input line, unless there is some filtering of keyboard input to Notepad that isn't applied to the opening of the Start Menu. When I visit him next weekend, what should I do to try to identify and isolate the problem? (I am not a hardware man, so I have no fancy electronic test equipment!)
You might also try: 1. running the DISM and SFC /scannow commands. 2. Sign in under a different username (or create a new user profile/account) and see if it happens with that account. 3. If the wireless keyboard and mouse use any software/special drivers, try uninstalling that.
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This is not a problem of mine, but of a friend who call me every time there is some trouble with his computers. I will visit him next weekend and need some good hints for the problem investigation. His newest PC, a small cigar box thing, is between 1 and 2 years old, and should be quite modern. (Sorry, I don't have the brand or model at hand.) He is running Windows 10. For a couple of days, the Start Menu has been popping up, and then disappearing, at irregular intervals of a few seconds, as if he were randomly hitting Ctrl-Esc every few seconds. Intervals are not fixed, neither between popups nor how long the menu is displayed. When it pops up, it steals the focus, making it impossible to get any work done. If he opens the Start Menu explicitly (by clicking the Windows icon), and it takes him a few seconds to find the right entry, the menu closes. It sounds very much like a faulty keyboard. But the thing is that if he disconnects his wireless keyboard completely, by unplugging the dongle, the problem remains. The mouse uses the same dongle, and is disconnected as well. I strongly suspect a hardware fault within the cigar box, but I think it strange that a hardware fault has this single effect and no other visible signs. He has tried to do a complete reinstall of Windows 10; the problem remains. In between the Start Menu popups and closes, he has managed to start Notepad to do some simple typing. There is no sign of "ghost characters" that he didn't type himself. There doesn't appear to be noise on the keyboard input line, unless there is some filtering of keyboard input to Notepad that isn't applied to the opening of the Start Menu. When I visit him next weekend, what should I do to try to identify and isolate the problem? (I am not a hardware man, so I have no fancy electronic test equipment!)
Another way to check whether it is a fake/broken keyboard problem can be use a "key logger" application. A few (many) years ago I made an application that caught all keys pressed. It was an application to program a programmable keyboard. All pressed keys (with the exception of Ctrl+Alt+Del) were redirected to the application to allow programming of any key. The application was of course reported by security application as keylogger. A Windows keyboard hook was used to remove the pressed key from processing and storing it in the sequence for programming. It was (I think) in the time of Windows XP and it requested to allow the hook. (Needed for this purpose.) I do not know whether it will work on Windows 10 (with the hook). Application[^], product support page[^] Another way is to use Workrave[^] -> System tray: right click -> Statistics -> Activity. This will report only key presses.
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This is not a problem of mine, but of a friend who call me every time there is some trouble with his computers. I will visit him next weekend and need some good hints for the problem investigation. His newest PC, a small cigar box thing, is between 1 and 2 years old, and should be quite modern. (Sorry, I don't have the brand or model at hand.) He is running Windows 10. For a couple of days, the Start Menu has been popping up, and then disappearing, at irregular intervals of a few seconds, as if he were randomly hitting Ctrl-Esc every few seconds. Intervals are not fixed, neither between popups nor how long the menu is displayed. When it pops up, it steals the focus, making it impossible to get any work done. If he opens the Start Menu explicitly (by clicking the Windows icon), and it takes him a few seconds to find the right entry, the menu closes. It sounds very much like a faulty keyboard. But the thing is that if he disconnects his wireless keyboard completely, by unplugging the dongle, the problem remains. The mouse uses the same dongle, and is disconnected as well. I strongly suspect a hardware fault within the cigar box, but I think it strange that a hardware fault has this single effect and no other visible signs. He has tried to do a complete reinstall of Windows 10; the problem remains. In between the Start Menu popups and closes, he has managed to start Notepad to do some simple typing. There is no sign of "ghost characters" that he didn't type himself. There doesn't appear to be noise on the keyboard input line, unless there is some filtering of keyboard input to Notepad that isn't applied to the opening of the Start Menu. When I visit him next weekend, what should I do to try to identify and isolate the problem? (I am not a hardware man, so I have no fancy electronic test equipment!)
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I have been thinking the same. BUT: When you reformat the disk and reinstall Windows from scratch, I'd think that you get a new and fresh keyboard driver with the OS reinstallation. I also suspect a connector/chip/circuit issue. That is why I had my friend open Notepad and start typing - I'd think that this kind of noise would appear in Notepad just as much as in the desktop input. But none such was observed. I did tell my friend to grab the PC by its neck and shake it while telling it in a stern voice to start behaving. Of course this was said as a joke, but if there is a bad connection somewhere, a little shaking could both break the connection permanently, or cause it to settle down with better contact. I might try to give it a (not too violent) shake when I get there, to see if it has any effect on the issue. (It is a tiny cigar box thing, so it is perfectly possible to shake it, and it has a solid state M.2 disk - the only movable part is a fan.)
All good analysis of the problem. I remember way back in the day (building 386 systems) we installed a mainboard into a case. Booted it up and it went crazy in Windows 3.0 and would then crash. We took the mainboard out of the case, and placed it on the workdesk and booted up. No problems. Hmm... Examine the mainboard. Oh, one of the circuits crossed into the standoff hole. When the screw was tightened into the standoff on the mainboard it closed the circuit and caused undefined behavior. Maybe something similar here. Especially since it is a cigar box. Good luck. Hope to hear what you find.
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This is not a problem of mine, but of a friend who call me every time there is some trouble with his computers. I will visit him next weekend and need some good hints for the problem investigation. His newest PC, a small cigar box thing, is between 1 and 2 years old, and should be quite modern. (Sorry, I don't have the brand or model at hand.) He is running Windows 10. For a couple of days, the Start Menu has been popping up, and then disappearing, at irregular intervals of a few seconds, as if he were randomly hitting Ctrl-Esc every few seconds. Intervals are not fixed, neither between popups nor how long the menu is displayed. When it pops up, it steals the focus, making it impossible to get any work done. If he opens the Start Menu explicitly (by clicking the Windows icon), and it takes him a few seconds to find the right entry, the menu closes. It sounds very much like a faulty keyboard. But the thing is that if he disconnects his wireless keyboard completely, by unplugging the dongle, the problem remains. The mouse uses the same dongle, and is disconnected as well. I strongly suspect a hardware fault within the cigar box, but I think it strange that a hardware fault has this single effect and no other visible signs. He has tried to do a complete reinstall of Windows 10; the problem remains. In between the Start Menu popups and closes, he has managed to start Notepad to do some simple typing. There is no sign of "ghost characters" that he didn't type himself. There doesn't appear to be noise on the keyboard input line, unless there is some filtering of keyboard input to Notepad that isn't applied to the opening of the Start Menu. When I visit him next weekend, what should I do to try to identify and isolate the problem? (I am not a hardware man, so I have no fancy electronic test equipment!)
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This is not a problem of mine, but of a friend who call me every time there is some trouble with his computers. I will visit him next weekend and need some good hints for the problem investigation. His newest PC, a small cigar box thing, is between 1 and 2 years old, and should be quite modern. (Sorry, I don't have the brand or model at hand.) He is running Windows 10. For a couple of days, the Start Menu has been popping up, and then disappearing, at irregular intervals of a few seconds, as if he were randomly hitting Ctrl-Esc every few seconds. Intervals are not fixed, neither between popups nor how long the menu is displayed. When it pops up, it steals the focus, making it impossible to get any work done. If he opens the Start Menu explicitly (by clicking the Windows icon), and it takes him a few seconds to find the right entry, the menu closes. It sounds very much like a faulty keyboard. But the thing is that if he disconnects his wireless keyboard completely, by unplugging the dongle, the problem remains. The mouse uses the same dongle, and is disconnected as well. I strongly suspect a hardware fault within the cigar box, but I think it strange that a hardware fault has this single effect and no other visible signs. He has tried to do a complete reinstall of Windows 10; the problem remains. In between the Start Menu popups and closes, he has managed to start Notepad to do some simple typing. There is no sign of "ghost characters" that he didn't type himself. There doesn't appear to be noise on the keyboard input line, unless there is some filtering of keyboard input to Notepad that isn't applied to the opening of the Start Menu. When I visit him next weekend, what should I do to try to identify and isolate the problem? (I am not a hardware man, so I have no fancy electronic test equipment!)
If all else fails, try to disable Cortana, or Cortana's access to the microphone.
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
