blank application appears in taskbar

[davidh]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

a blank application appears at random times in the taskbar. The application
has no name and just a plain window icon. It appears for only a second in
the taskbar then disappears. the only time I can consistently see it is
after rebooting the machine it always appears. when it appears at random
times I cannot identify it. I have recently completely formatted hard drive
and reinstalled XP. Tried Spy Sweeper and Spybot with no problems reported.
What is this mystery application and how can I log computers booting up to
see what it is.

 

[Malke]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

davidh wrote:

> a blank application appears at random times in the taskbar. The
> application
> has no name and just a plain window icon. It appears for only a
> second in
> the taskbar then disappears. the only time I can consistently see it
> is
> after rebooting the machine it always appears. when it appears at
> random
> times I cannot identify it. I have recently completely formatted hard
> drive
> and reinstalled XP. Tried Spy Sweeper and Spybot with no problems
> reported. What is this mystery application and how can I log computers
> booting up to see what it is.

Try clean-boot troubleshooting:

Clean Boot - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=310353
and How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310560

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

=?Utf-8?B?ZGF2aWRo?= wrote:
>
> a blank application appears at random times in the taskbar. The application
> has no name and just a plain window icon. It appears for only a second in
> the taskbar then disappears. the only time I can consistently see it is
> after rebooting the machine it always appears. when it appears at random
> times I cannot identify it. I have recently completely formatted hard drive
> and reinstalled XP. Tried Spy Sweeper and Spybot with no problems reported.
> What is this mystery application and how can I log computers booting up to
> see what it is.

My guess is that when you reinstalled XP you also reinstalled the
program that is creating the blanks. Generally, this is not
spyware/malware, but some free utility or small free application that
just has some bugs. I test lots of software, and that happens with some
programs. I'ts basically just an annoyance. You just have to find the
app you have running 24/7 that is causing it.



--
http://www.bootdisk.com/

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

I recently had a similar experience. I found out in my case that the
annoyance was caused by an application that is part of my HP multi-function
printer, specifically the program "hptskmgr.exe". I simply disabled it from
starting up on msconfig and problem solved. I have not noticed any changes in
the functionality of my printer, either. I hope this helps and good luck!

"davidh" wrote:

> a blank application appears at random times in the taskbar. The application
> has no name and just a plain window icon. It appears for only a second in
> the taskbar then disappears. the only time I can consistently see it is
> after rebooting the machine it always appears. when it appears at random
> times I cannot identify it. I have recently completely formatted hard drive
> and reinstalled XP. Tried Spy Sweeper and Spybot with no problems reported.
> What is this mystery application and how can I log computers booting up to
> see what it is.