# Multiple comp issues (strange popup, issues with games)



## Mongrel714 (Jan 28, 2012)

Okay, so I've been having some annoying issues on my computer, nothing serious yet but some are concerning. Feel free to ask for more info if needed.

Issue 1: I've had some jerkiness/lag and loading issues for some of the games I play, particularly Blizzard games (all of which should be well within system specs). The prime examples:

--> When I play Overwatch, sometimes character models/audio/sprays/projectiles take FOREVER to load for the first game I play after launching the program. All player models are essentially invisible, including my own (don't see the character's weapon or even HUD), and if I fire my weapon while invisible the map will react (breakable objects break), but all of the effects are invisible (if I fire a rocket, for instance, the rocket and explosion are invisible). I can still see usernames above allied players, but enemies are completely invisible. Models load at different rates (so one hero's model might load after a few seconds while the rest take minutes, for instance), any sprays just appear as the default spray (if they appear at all), and voice lines don't work. This has lasted for an entire round before, and when that happens the "play of the game" clip will often have invisible characters in it, even if they've loaded fully by the end of the round. Additionally, even once most/all assets are loaded, if I die and respawn there is a period (several seconds) where the screen is completely black even though my character is definitely in the game (if I move while the screen is black, the character will have moved when it comes back on, if I shoot their clip will be depleted, etc.). To attempt to fix this, I updated my video card driver (which was out of date). This appeared to fix it for a while...but the issues quickly returned so it's possible it didn't actually do anything, since this doesn't happen every time I play. On the bright side, the issues appear to be not quite as bad now, but it's difficult to say for sure.

--> When I play Heroes of the Storm, I am frequently briefly booted when I first load a game (the starting animation of everyone warping onto the map is jerky/freezes, and I'm kicked but immediately rejoin after). Furthermore, some games are INCREDIBLY laggy, which doesn't appear to be related to my internet service (which I admittedly have issues with, but mostly when other people on the network don't close out their Dropbox). Like, one game will have no issues, and the next will be unplayably jerky, occasionally lagging so hard that I actually lose control of my character for several seconds before being booted (and often taking a significant amount of time to rejoin, almost always longer than the quick boot at the start of a match). This might depend on what map the game is being played on; the newest map (Hanamura) seems to have the highest likelihood of experiencing issues.

Issue 2: Recently (within the last week or so) I've noticed that every now and again a mysterious popup will appear and immediately close itself before I can even see what it is. This seems to happen roughly once every 30 mins to an hour (I think...the interval might be longer, but the point is it's a continuous issue). I ran a "record your desktop" program so that I could get a screencap of it, but unfortunately it's poor quality...Image below (popup is in the top left of screen).










It's really difficult to read the file destination that appears there, but based on the folders on my computer I THINK that it's this:
C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Office/root/Office16/???(last part has me stumped).

I'm pretty sure that Program Files (x86) is just the Program Files folder copied over from before I upgraded to Windows 10 (was Windows 7 before). Also, it's possible that Office16 is actually Office15, but there doesn't appear to be another folder it could be. I actually have a Microsoft Office 15 folder on my normal Program Files folder (without the (x86)), so the other folders might be superfluous? 

Needless to say this is concerning to me...I have up to date virus protection software (McAfee, but I'm considering switching to Avast since it's worked well on previous computers), but there's always a chance something slips through the firewall, so to speak.

Any help would be appreciated :thanx:

System specs (copy-pasted from system info):

OS: Windows 10 Pro
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 950 @ 3.07GHz 3.07GHz
Installed memory (RAM): 8.00 GB
System type: 64-bit Operating System, x64-based processor
Pen and Touch: Pen Support


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Please follow this guide here on reinstalling your video card drivers:

How to clean your system from all display drivers - Tech Support Forum

Let's take a look at your system hardware specifications. Please follow this guide on how to get those specifications:

How to find your system specifications - Tech Support Forum


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## Mongrel714 (Jan 28, 2012)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> Please follow this guide here on reinstalling your video card drivers:
> 
> How to clean your system from all display drivers - Tech Support Forum
> 
> ...


Hello Masterchief, thank you for your response. I will try to get this done today, unfortunately I may have chosen a poor time to make this post heh...I have some pretty time consuming assignments to take care of for my business masters program. I literally need to read an entire book and do a powerpoint report on it, and that's just one assignment =(

Rest assured, I do want to get to the bottom of these issues, and will do everything in my power to expedite that, but my grades are a priority right now...at the very latest I should have time to spare come Monday, but I hope to follow those instructions for wiping and reinstalling drivers/providing system info to you tonight if I can.

Thanks again for taking the time to help me out here, I don't want it to seem like I'm blowing you off, I really do appreciate it :thanx:


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## Mongrel714 (Jan 28, 2012)

Here is my Speccy link: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/iORwOujTATVLYe3dtGVeRUj

The guide says to "please include the make and model of your power supply," but doesn't say how to get that information. I'd put that info here but I have no idea what it is =x

I haven't completed the driver cleaning tutorial yet, hoping to do that soon.

By the way, I noticed something about this mysterious popup...I started recording the time (from my computer's clock) each time I saw the popup, and it seems it always happens at x:43 for some reason (that is to say, the times I managed to catch it were 2:43pm, 4:43pm, and 5:43pm). That screencap I posted also appears to be at a time that ends in :43. So it's probably an hourly occurrence (on the dot) for whatever reason.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

To see the make and model# of your *P*ower *S*upply *U*nit, shut the computer down and take the side off of the desktop tower, look at the _label _of the *PSU*, write down the *Make, Model#* and *W*attage. Report here in your next post. If the Wattage is less then *500W*atts, it may not be strong enough for your setup


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## Mongrel714 (Jan 28, 2012)

I've completed the clean driver install as per the tutorial you posted. It's a little early to say whether or not it worked. I did pass 7:43pm without seeing that popup, but I could have missed it (or maybe it's just every hour from a certain point based on when your computer is booted up?).

I'll post back here with more info if the issues persist.


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## Mongrel714 (Jan 28, 2012)

spunk.funk said:


> To see the make and model# of your *P*ower *S*upply *U*nit, shut the computer down and take the side off of the desktop tower, look at the _label _of the *PSU*, write down the *Make, Model#* and *W*attage. Report here in your next post. If the Wattage is less then *500W*atts, it may not be strong enough for your setup


Thanks for the tip. This computer was custom built by a friend of mine who is pretty good with computers, and I've had it for a few years now without any significant issues. I'll post those specs, but I'd be surprised if they ended up being what's wrong.


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## Mongrel714 (Jan 28, 2012)

spunk.funk said:


> To see the make and model# of your *P*ower *S*upply *U*nit, shut the computer down and take the side off of the desktop tower, look at the _label _of the *PSU*, write down the *Make, Model#* and *W*attage. Report here in your next post. If the Wattage is less then *500W*atts, it may not be strong enough for your setup


Power supply is an Antec 750 watt. I didn't see any model # anywhere.

I also took the opportunity to dust out the insides with compressed air, though they didn't look particularly dusty.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Mongrel714 said:


> I've completed the clean driver install as per the tutorial you posted. It's a little early to say whether or not it worked. I did pass 7:43pm without seeing that popup, but I could have missed it (or maybe it's just every hour from a certain point based on when your computer is booted up?).
> 
> I'll post back here with more info if the issues persist.


Has the issue continued after this?


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## satrow (Feb 4, 2012)

The pop-up appears to be a known effect of MS Office 16 on W10 Creator's edition.

A Scheduled Task is run at boot and each hour afterwards that causes the popup, details and workaround/fix here: https://www.ghacks.net/2017/05/30/w...dows-10-that-disappears-after-a-split-second/


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## Mongrel714 (Jan 28, 2012)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> Has the issue continued after this?


I haven't had much chance to test it yet, unfortunately (been dealing with a pretty heavy workload from MBA program so not as much time for games as I'd like).

I've managed to play a couple games of Heroes of the Storm. It went a little jerky, but I think my internet might be the culprit rather than my computer, since a friend was playing in the same game on the same internet connection and had similar issues. I'll post here again when I have some time to try Overwatch, as those issues are (or, hopefully, were) a little more consistent and probably not related to my internet connection.

That weird popup thing appears to be gone though, for whatever reason.



satrow said:


> The pop-up appears to be a known effect of MS Office 16 on W10 Creator's edition.
> 
> A Scheduled Task is run at boot and each hour afterwards that causes the popup, details and workaround/fix here: https://www.ghacks.net/2017/05/30/w...dows-10-that-disappears-after-a-split-second/


Thanks for the tip. For whatever reason updating the drivers appears to have fixed that issue, but now that I know what it is I should be able to handle it in the future with that guide


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## Mongrel714 (Jan 28, 2012)

Hey, so over the weekend I've had an opportunity to play Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm a little, and it appears that the issues are still there =(

Overwatch, at least, certainly still has problems loading up character models, sprays, voice lines, etc. My games of Heroes of the Storm didn't see any significant issues (I wasn't booted during the loading screen), though I'm not sure I've played enough games to say for sure as the issues had always been intermittent. 

Is this something that reinstalling the game(s) might fix? I could try to do that overnight tonight.


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## satrow (Feb 4, 2012)

I've played Steam games that required 3x full reinstalls before getting one that worked as expected... I suspect that Steam downloads might be better outside of any busy periods, buy them when they're cheap, but download them in the 'off season' might be a good tactic.


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## Mongrel714 (Jan 28, 2012)

My Steam games have all worked without issue, only games launched from the Blizzard client seem to be affected at all (though Hearthstone isn't...but that's a pretty simply game graphics wise).

BTW, I forgot to reinstall the game last night, will try to remember to do so tonight.

In the meantime, I've recorded footage of the Overwatch issues I've been experiencing in case that brings new insight. You can watch it here: 




A note: those issues righted themselves when the game clock was at around 3:00. So, including the time allotted to setup and hero picking, it took about 4 and a half minutes for it to start working properly.


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## jenae (Jun 17, 2008)

Hi, You have Avast Anti Virus, does it have a firewall? If so Windows firewall is also active. You should have only one firewall active. This is up to you, however with windows 10 having it's own AV and MS increasingly developing it, I see no reason for a third party AV , they are increasingly causing problems, my advice is to use windows defender and windows firewall. The level of protection will be the same and you will experience none of the downsides.

Now you also have remnants of McAfee on your system this is most likely your major problem please run this util to be properly rid of it. Scroll down and use the MCPR Tool:-
https://service.mcafee.com/webcente...showHeader=false&_adf.ctrl-state=10iv8101is_4


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## Mongrel714 (Jan 28, 2012)

Oh, also, another issue I've been having for a long time (years I think) that you guys might be able to shed some light on (though I don't expect it to be related to the other issues I've mentioned): For some reason, when I set my computer to Sleep it pretty frequently will boot itself back up for no reason...

Sometimes this is almost immediately after setting it to sleep mode, others it will be hours or more, still others it never reboots at all until I initiate it. This doesn't seem to be related to what programs are running when I sleep the computer; I've tried closing everything before sleeping and still had it reboot, and I've also had it stay asleep while running plenty of stuff in the background.

I had this issue with a previous computer, and it turned out to be caused by my wireless keyboard; turning the keyboard off when I initiated sleep mode solved it. My current keyboard is not wireless though, so that's out the window...I guess I could try unplugging it just to test it out.


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## Mongrel714 (Jan 28, 2012)

jenae said:


> Hi, You have Avast Anti Virus, does it have a firewall? If so Windows firewall is also active. You should have only one firewall active. This is up to you, however with windows 10 having it's own AV and MS increasingly developing it, I see no reason for a third party AV , they are increasingly causing problems, my advice is to use windows defender and windows firewall. The level of protection will be the same and you will experience none of the downsides.
> 
> Now you also have remnants of McAfee on your system this is most likely your major problem please run this util to be properly rid of it. Scroll down and use the MCPR Tool:-
> https://service.mcafee.com/webcente...showHeader=false&_adf.ctrl-state=10iv8101is_4


Oh I didn't see this, seems you posted about the same time I did last =x

So I decided to uninstall Avast at your suggestion, and now my Windows Defender won't turn on for some reason...I ran the McAffee removal tool (and even an Avast removal tool), but whenever I try to turn on my virus/threat protection I get an error message saying that it's being handled by another AV program...as far as I know, all of the other AV programs I had (namely Avast and McAfee) have been purged from the computer. 

I ran an update that said it fixed some issues, but whenever I try to update Windows Defender, specifically, it errors out saying something like "check your internet connection" (which is working fine btw). =(


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## jenae (Jun 17, 2008)

Hi, run the AV removal utils again, this time do it in safe mode. Next, go to search and type command prompt, right click on the returned command prompt and select "run as administrator" at the prompt copy and paste:-

sc config wscsvc start= auto (press enter)

After this restart computer into normal mode and try defender now. Let us know how you get on.


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## Mongrel714 (Jan 28, 2012)

jenae said:


> Hi, run the AV removal utils again, this time do it in safe mode. Next, go to search and type command prompt, right click on the returned command prompt and select "run as administrator" at the prompt copy and paste:-
> 
> sc config wscsvc start= auto (press enter)
> 
> After this restart computer into normal mode and try defender now. Let us know how you get on.


I followed these instructions and still no change, Windows Defender refuses to turn on. Also, the issues with Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm appear to still be present =(

I've reinstalled Avast for now just so I have some virus protection. Still interested in getting these problems resolved though =(


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

This sounds like you are infected with a virus. Due to forum rules, we cannot comment on that subject here. 
Please click on the link in my signature for *Virus/Malware Help*. 
Do those things and post in that section of the forum and not here please


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## Mongrel714 (Jan 28, 2012)

spunk.funk said:


> This sounds like you are infected with a virus. Due to forum rules, we cannot comment on that subject here.
> Please click on the link in my signature for *Virus/Malware Help*.
> Do those things and post in that section of the forum and not here please


Yikes, you think so?

Well thanks for the advice, I'll post in the appropriate board.


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