Almost all icons flashing on desktop and task bar

Topic

New Reply

[Susan Bradley]

My desktop and task bar icons started flashing to white every three seconds today. All icons are affected except Windows-based programs like Office, File Explorer, Recycle Bin, & Control Panel plus my browsers. I’ve never seen this issue since I started using PCs in 1985. It seems like the problem started when I plugged in a USB-based SD card reader with the card installed. I’ve used the reader many times in the past, but it has been about 6 months since I used it.

The problem shows up about a minute after Windows starts. So far I’ve tried:

• Disabling Norton
• Updating Radeon RS580 display drivers.
• Updated chipset and audio drivers for ASUS ROG SRIX X470-F Gaming motherboard.
• Updated Windows 20H2
• Running “SFC/Scannow”. First run found and fixed problems. Flashing returned. Followup SFC runs haven’t found any problems.
• Running “DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth”. No problem found.

I noticed in Task Manager that Windows Explorer seems to be running a fair amount–up to 5.5% CPU. FWIW, I had not rebooted my system for a couple of days. I just put it to sleep when I wasn’t using it.

I haven’t tried “DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image/RestoreHealth” yet. I didn’t know if it would cause other issues because I’m still using 20H2.

Any suggestions of what to try next?

Thanks,
Steve

Edit: I’m using Win10 Pro. Also, I found that drop-down menus disappear every time the icons flash so it’s impossible to perform any task in the menu.

• This topic was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by Susan Bradley.
• This topic was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by SteveP.

Reply | Quote

Replies

Even if you disabled Norton, this may very well be related to having Norton installed on your system.  Myself and others with Norton started noticing something similar starting today.  Check out

https://community.norton.com/en/forums/norton-cpu-spikes-every-2-seconds-causes-desktop-icons-flash

 

1 user thanked author for this post.

SteveP

Reply | Quote

Yep, it’s a Norton issue. I tried the open Norton’s GUI and close it immediately trick. The problem goes away and the higher than normal Windows Explorer CPU usage drops. The Resource Monitor graphs show CPU spikes that quit with the Norton start/stop trick.

This also explains what happened with my home entertainment computer. Norton was bugging me so much with popups I let the subscription expire. That increased the bug factor. Norton kept telling me I didn’t have any protection, yet it was still working behind the scenes. Starting last night the computer’s fans started sporadically changing speed. Today I looked into the problem and noticed much higher than normal CPU usage was causing the fans to change. The culprit was Norton even though it was supposedly not working. It had downloaded the update that caused the problem. I used Norton’s uninstall tool and the problem finally went away.

BUT, Norton wasn’t through with me. Later it popped up a notice about reinstalling it!! And, there was no way to tell it stop bugging me permanently. I could only pause the notice.

So the final question is, HOW DO YOU TOTALLY GET RID OF NORTON???

Thanks for letting me rant,
Steve

Reply | Quote

Use the Norton uninstaller.
https://support.norton.com/sp/en/uk/home/current/solutions/v15972972

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the info but I did use the Norton uninstaller. Norton just won’t quit!

I’ve used Norton since its early days. It was great for many years. Their marketing department has totally taken over. It’s now time to move on. Any suggestions of a good substitute that’s not from Russia, Romania, or Croatia?

Thanks,
Steve

Reply | Quote

Defender.

The best a/v these days is between your ears and the fingers on your keyboard. Otherwise just get something that is well behaved.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

Reply | Quote

MS Windows Defender in conjunction with MBAM is popular here and free.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Can Defender be set up to update frequently while Windows updates are deferred?

Thanks,
Steve

Reply | Quote

Defender updates independently of Windows.
See this post for more info: https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/defender-wont-update-with-a-metered-connection/

cheers, Paul

1 user thanked author for this post.

SteveP

Reply | Quote

Thank you very much for the link.

Steve

Reply | Quote

A hotfix is currently being pushed by Norton that is supposed to fix the issue.  I haven’t had a chance yet to confirm myself, but others online are reporting that the patch works

Reply | Quote

I can confirm that the hot fix issued by Norton does fix the problem (the problem that a Norton update caused). I am the author of the Norton forum posting that you provided a link to.

Drcard:))

HTH, Dana:))

Reply | Quote

Unfortunately nothing has changed on my system.  Was a hotfix actually sent via Live Update.  I’ve run live update, restarted and shut down and so far nothing has been fixed for me!?

Reply | Quote

I downloaded Norton’s script logger to run while the problem was occurring (which was constantly). Ran the log and submitted with the case number that the Norton support agent sent me. I also posted the log in that forum thread. I went away from the PC to do other things and returned several hours latter to see the problem was fixed. I did not have to run Live update, but I had set Norton to Automatic Updates before I left the PC just in case they had a fix.
It appears that this hotfix was applied while I was away from the PC.
History in Norton showed access to updater about an hour ago, so it was just fixed. Maybe because of my thread they sent it to me first. Hopefully you’ll get the update soon.

Drcard:))

HTH, Dana:))

1 user thanked author for this post.

Brocktoon

Reply | Quote

I decided to perform a reinstall, and after updating to the current version of N360, so far things are running fine but it’s only been ~ 90 minutes.  After 30 minutes I noticed a got a automatic update that the logs show ZERO updates applied successfully, followed by another live update a few minutes later with the standard updates.  Typically if live update runs and there is nothing to update, then there will be no log with 0 listed unless it’s an error.  But this was a successful update of 0.

I’m thinking there’s a chance that may have been some sort of patch after my reinstall.  We’ll see how I’m doing after 24 hrs though.

Still good to know that AskWoody has a great base of members who cross post from the various support forums

Reply | Quote