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Command Prompt Randomly Opens and Closes

Anonymous
2016-06-28T23:53:00+00:00

Hello everyone,

So, for the past month(?), at between midnight and 1:30am, the command prompt pops up for an instance and then disappears almost instantly. I've looked at the event log and can't find anything linked to those times. There aren't any suspicious programs running and I check the task manager everytime this happens. It has me paranoid that there is a virus on my computer but I did a full system scan with Bitdefender 2016, Latest version of Malwarebytes, adwcleaner, Spybot Search and Destroy, etc, all of which pop up nothing. So either this virus is very sneaky or it is a natural process. 

I am not sure what could possibly be causing it as it seems to have started randomly, I've check the task scheduler and these tasks are linked to around that time:

Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser,

RacTask

BackgroundUploadTask

Maintenance Configurator

Those seem to be the only 4 that fit the criteria of running at those times but I don't know what these do nor whether they open the command prompt.

If anyone has any idea what on earth is happening and how to fix it that would be helpful. 

Thanks for your help in advance.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Security and privacy

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-06-30T00:19:47+00:00

    Thanks for the help, I am going to firstly try disabling the tasks that are trying to run especially if it is linked to Windows 10. If that doesn't work I will try and see what the command prompt is saying and post that. I want to avoid doing a clean boot as much as possible.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-06-29T16:30:17+00:00

    Hello,

    From the detailed issue description provided by you, I realize that you have observed a command window opens and closed on its own. This may be due to some task which is running in background. Also the tasks that you have mentioned, Compatibility Appraiser and RAC Agent seems to be Microsoft default task which are initiate Windows 10 upgrade and upgrade notification. This may/might not be the cause for the command prompt to open and close automatically.

    You may follow the steps below to keep the command prompt open.

    • Open an elevated Command Prompt window. To open an elevated Command Prompt, click Start, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt, and then click run as administrator.
    • Type the following command and press ENTER.

    cmd /k netstat

    • Exit the Command Prompt window.

    Also you may perform the clean boot and see if it helps.

    A clean boot is performed to start Windows by using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. This helps eliminate software conflicts that occur when you install a program or an update or when you run a program in Windows. To know more, follow the article below:

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

    Note: After troubleshooting, refer to this section ‘How to reset the computer to start normally after clean boot troubleshooting’.

    Please do let us know if you need further assistance with Windows, we’ll be glad to assist you.

    Thanks and Regards

    Sarandeep S - Microsoft Support.

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