A pop-up window repeatedly appears and quickly disappears.

Question

Every few seconds a window begins to open but closes before I can identify what the window is. I've tried reviewing the Event Viewer and watching Task Manager, but I cannot determine what the problem is. The window steals focus so it interrupts typing and feedback sounds. This has been going on for about a week or more. I've not installed any new programs except for Windows updates.

There are many information events about Event ID 5379, running as many as 153 times a second, every second.

Answer 1

Hello there,

The repetitive pop-up window and the frequent occurrence of Event ID 5379 in the Event Viewer suggest that there might be a background process or application causing this behavior. Event ID 5379 is related to the "Task Category (14336)" - which indicates a WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) event provider registration error. This error might be related to the repeated pop-up issue.

To troubleshoot and resolve this problem, you can try the following steps:

Check Task Scheduler: The issue might be caused by a scheduled task that is running frequently and causing the pop-up window. Open Task Scheduler (you can search for it in the Start menu) and review the tasks to identify any unusual or frequent triggers. Look for tasks that might be running every few seconds.

Disable Startup Applications: Some applications might be starting up with Windows and causing the pop-up window. Try disabling startup applications one by one to see if the issue goes away. To do this, right-click on the taskbar, select "Task Manager," go to the "Startup" tab, and disable applications one by one.

Check for Malware: Run a full system scan with a reliable antivirus or antimalware software to ensure that there are no malicious programs causing the issue.

Use Process Monitor: Download and use Microsoft's Process Monitor tool to capture detailed information about the processes running on your system. Filter the events to focus on events related to the pop-up window. This might help identify the process responsible for the window.

Check Services: Some services running in the background might be causing the pop-up window. Open the "Services" application (search for "Services" in the Start menu) and check if any services are frequently starting and stopping.

Review Recent Updates: You mentioned that you installed Windows updates recently. It's possible that one of these updates is causing the issue. Try uninstalling the most recent updates one by one and check if the problem goes away after each uninstallation. If the issue is resolved, you can then try reinstalling the updates one at a time to pinpoint the problematic update.

Restore to Previous State: If the issue started after the installation of specific updates or software, you can try performing a System Restore to a point before the problem occurred.

If none of the above steps resolve the issue, you might need to seek help from technical support or an IT professional who can perform a more in-depth analysis of your system. Additionally, providing more details about the specific content of the pop-up window or any error messages that briefly appear could help in narrowing down the potential causes.

I used AI provided by ChatGPT to formulate part of this response. I have verified that the information is accurate before sharing it with you.

--If the reply is helpful, please Upvote and Accept as answer--

Answer 2

I think I found the problem. One of my email accounts in Outlook was not working properly. I eventually deleted the account from Outlook, then added it back in. The email account is working properly, and I have not seen any pop-up attempts.

Thank those who commented on my question.

Answer 3

The problem was Outlook 365. One of the email accounts had a corrupted server link. Once I removed the email account from my PC, then added it back into Outlook, the connection was fixed, Outlook restored my data for the account, and the pop-ups stopped.

Answer 4

I cannot sit there disable programs one at a time and restarting. There must be fifty. I am thinking of wiping the whole thing and starting over. I will not rest until this popup is gone. I had something like it before and I somehow resolved it. I think it may very well have had some to do with outlook, but that was on a different machine and I have since upgraded that one to Windows 11.

Every few days I am forced to devote weeks and hours to things like this. I wish I could just ignore it but I can't thinking that it may be some sort of virus. Even if it is not, I want my machine to run perfectlly. I cannot live with these annoying popups.

The problem is I tried to get a screenshot, but the screenshot will not work until it has fully started up and the popup always happens before I am able to do it. I press the button about fifteen times hoping to catch and nothing happens. It is going to drive me to the absolute brink of madness and it is wasting all of my time. And the annoykng thing is, I will get this fixed and I will then have to move to another problem on another machine.

I have a nice brand s[anking new machine which is already ruined because of Macafee popups. I don';t even know if these are legit or some sort of virus. TO BE CLEAR, I DID NOT WANT THIS EFFING THING. I HATE MACAFEE WITH THE INTENSITY OF TEN THOUSAND SUNS, BUT I HAD NO CHOICE. I wanted to let it expire so I can then delte it from my machine. And when I clicked on "renew" just to see what it would say, NOTHING HAPPENS. I am now convinced I have a virus because there is no way this thing expired. I WISH TO GOD IT WOULD EXPIRE. MACAFEE HOW I HATE THEE.

I never click on weird sites, so how did this fake spammy Macafee even infiltrate my machine. Amnd please provide extreley detailed instructions how to deal with all this $#!+. And I mean detailed, not vague where I have to be a mind reader to know what is meant."

The screen recorder will not help. NOTHING HELPS. MY MACHINE DOES NOT EVEN MATCH 99% of the instructions I find online. I am wondering if just downloading Windows 11 will get rid of this damn popup. I would have done it much earlier except I am afraid my printer will stop working. I am in no mood to throw out a piece of hardware for this. That will jsut make me even more agitated.

Answer 5

I get it the same problem with the quick disappearing message but i got a pic, can someone help out pls

thanks