# Persistent Small White Window on Desktop



## Freida (Aug 19, 2013)

I have a small blank (white) window in the upper left corner of my desktop and I cannot get rid of it. It does not appear when I first start up; I am not sure what triggers it to appear. But, once it does, I cannot get rid of it.

I think it is some sort of program running because when I hit Alt+Tab I see an icon for an extra application that I am not running. If I select that icon, the white box window comes up on top of whatever screen I am displaying at the time. So I do not think this is a desktop issue, per se.

I do not know how to get a screenshot of the icon so I will describe it as best I can. It is a green rectangular box with a small white rectangular box on the bottom with 2 dots in the right of the white box (think of a field entry box) and there is a curved arrow going from the top of the icon into the white box.

I think I just figured out how to get the screenshot so I am attaching it.
As you can see, I am not the most sophisticated user, but I can follow an explanation of what is happening and what I should do to fix this, if possible. It's driving me crazy.

Freida


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## Tomken15 (Dec 7, 2011)

Have you tried any of your restore points prior to when you think it first appeared ?

This article will show you how Using System Restore to Recover your Windows 7 Computer - when you click on Scan for affected programs for each date, it should show a particular program that you had recently downloaded which may have included this box and this next article will show you how to post a screen shot or snip into your reply box http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f195/how-to-post-a-screenshot-184291.html


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## Freida (Aug 19, 2013)

I did attach a file with the screenshot of the icon with my original post.

I have not downloaded any programs since getting this computer.

Any ideas on what that icon represents?


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## Tomken15 (Dec 7, 2011)

I don't know what the icon represents but you could perform a clean boot then add one item back at a time until the box reappears - that is if it does disappear with all start up programs and non-MS services disabled.

*Edit -* If you right click on it, do you get the option of Properties to click on ? - this may show what it belongs to.


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## jenae (Jun 17, 2008)

Hi, these phantom Icons can be a pain there are a few things you can try first is to flush your Icon cache (windows will create a new one).

Go to start, search and type:- cmd right click on the returned cmd.exe and select "run as administrator" cmd prompt will open:-

Type:- taskkill /im explorer.exe /f (press enter) Your desktop will go blank.

Now type each line and press enter after each line. 
Note the spaces.


CD %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local

attrib -h IconCache.db

del IconCache.db

explorer.exe

See how you go.

If no joy then back to cmd as admin (as shown) and copy paste:-

reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{98D99750-0B8A-4c59-9151-589053683D73}" > 0 & notepad 0

press enter if it returns something, notepad will open, post it here.


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## Freida (Aug 19, 2013)

Thank you for your responses; I truly appreciate your taking the time to help me out. Unfortunately, I cannot take the measures you advise because it is my work computer and I am not allowed to do anything as administrator now. I will have to wait until they can get a "tech" person in. We used to have a dedicated "techie", however, with the economic downturn that is no longer the case, so I do not know how long I will have to "deal" with this problem since it is not an issue that stops me from working. :sad: I did try to right click on the white window, but there was no shortcut menu that came up. Neither can I make it bigger or smaller.

I was hoping that maybe someone would be able to identify the icon and from that realize what it was coming from and therefore know how to get rid of it.

Is there any way to identify the icon?


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## Tomken15 (Dec 7, 2011)

Have you checked to see if anyone else at work has it or have you asked a supervisor (if you have one) ?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

The Icon is for Dell Backup and Recovery Manager, is this a Dell PC?
> Dell Software Download Center


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## jenae (Jun 17, 2008)

Hi, well done Wrench good find. If the IT guy has a problem this Icon has a unique identifier they are listed under the key I asked for above:-

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace. Under this will be subkeys that look like this:-

{21EC2O2O-3AEA-1O69-A2DD-08002b30309d} This is the Icon identifier for "Control Panel" Locate the errant one and right click select delete, normal precautions apply.


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## Freida (Aug 19, 2013)

Yes, Wrench. That is exactly what it is. I was out for the weekend and came in today to catch up on my work. I discovered that is what the program was and came in here to let everyone know....and then I saw that you had it already.

I think I will not have the problem anymore. I somehow got into the program and got a window that actually asked me for a response (Do not show this window until next boot). I chose do not show this window EVER again. I hope it will work.

If not, I think I will uninstall the program.

Thank you all for your help. It's wonderful to have this site to come to with my problems (even I am so un-tech-savvy that I barely understand some of the stuff I read =D )


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