# desktop refreshing randomly



## Massacher (May 31, 2003)

The past few days I've had this problem of the desktop refreshing itself. The first time it happened was random. My desktop wallpaper vanishes for about 2 seconds and its black for those 2 seconds. Then it comes back. The icons in the systray also vanish and come back but some are missing like the nVidia driver and an Avast icon that looks like a microphone with 2 waves shows up and it has a x next to it.

I can still use my computer but its annoying. And the only way to get back my systray icons is to reboot.

I also have a problem of when clicking folders in Windows Explorer it opens them in a new window despite the fact that I have it set to open in the same window. I thought it was the folder settings but I checked and its set to open in the same window.










Here are my regular systray icons that load










And here they are with some missing after the refresh










My sys specs are as follows:

Core i7 6700k 4GHz
Gigabyte Z170-HD3
Kingston HyperX 16GB DDR4
GeForce GTX 980 G1 Gaming 4GB
Asus Xonar D1
Logitech Z-5500 Digital
LG Flatron W2261VP (2ms)
ViewSonic VX1932wm WS (2ms)
Samsung 840 ProSeries SSD 256GB
WD Black SATA 1TB
WD Green SATA 1TB
LG SATA 18x DVDRW x2
Pioneer 206BK Blu ray burner
Thermaltake Evo_Blue 750Watt PSU
Noctua NH-C12P-SE14
Lancool PC-K62 Case
Razer Goliathus Control Mouse Pad
Cyborg R.A.T. 7
G15 v2, G15 Refresh

Win10 x64


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

do you also lose the Task Bar 
sounds like Explorer is restarting

did you install any software before this first occurred ?

Anything else occurring

When did this first start - perhaps you could do a restore to a date before it first happened
*------------------------------------------------------------------------*

*Restore PC to an Earlier Date & Time*

*  Windows 10 *
http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4588-system-restore-windows-10-a.html

*------------------------------------------------------------------------*


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## Massacher (May 31, 2003)

Yes the taskbar also reloads. It started a few days ago. I think it was Thursday night when it first occurred. I haven't installed any new apps recently.
I googled for a solution and found on the tenforums that other people are having the same issue. For them it was a sound driver issue. Many of those people have a Dell PC and disabling a certain file helped them but my PC is custom built by myself and as such I don't have those drivers or that file.

Here is my post on the issue from the tenforums

http://www.tenforums.com/general-support/15245-file-explorer-keeps-crashing-3.html#post765131


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

You will still have drivers , even in a custom built machine, just different drivers to match the hardware you have for video and sound 
Quite a few things they have tried - identifying what maybe causing the issue is the main task

What have you tried from that thread?

you could look at event viewer and see if that helps at all

did you try a restore to a date before last Thursday

has windows 10 carried out an update recently

in the serach bar at the bottom of the screen 
type
WINVER
double click on the entry that has
"Run Command"
Post back the first line of the information 
1511 .........
1607........
etc

on windows 1o have you allowed microsoft to update drivers
http://www.howtogeek.com/223864/how-to-uninstall-and-block-updates-and-drivers-on-windows-10/
http://winsupersite.com/windows-10/stop-automatic-driver-updates-windows-10


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## Massacher (May 31, 2003)

I have tried looking for the IDTNC64.cpl driver but I don't have it on my system. From what they describe that sounds like an onboard sound driver. My motherboard does have onboard audio but I've disabled that in the BIOS.

Windows 10 can't carry out any updates as I said I have disabled them so it can't even check for any.










Winver is 1511 (OS Build 10586.3)

So somehow I have these updates on my system. I don't know how they got on here as I haven't allowed any updates since I installed Windows.










I will try to restore tomorrow I'm heading to bed right now as I have to get up early for work tomorrow.


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

how did you stop windows updates , on W10 thats not an option in the basic home versions 
what version of windows 10 do you have ? - Pro/Home ?


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## Massacher (May 31, 2003)

It is possible. I have pro.


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

yes as mentioned Basic/home does not allow - PRO does 
not many people running pro in a domestic environment


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## Massacher (May 31, 2003)

That is the very reason I'm running Pro. I like to have access to all options and no limitations.


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## Massacher (May 31, 2003)

I forgot to post my systray before and after the explorer.exe crash/refresh

Here it is before










And after










You can see that the nVidia GeForce Experience (display driver) and my Asus Xonar D1 audio driver icons vanish and don't return up the refresh. Its could possibly be an issue with one of those but I am not sure if its even those causing it.


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

Lets re-install the drivers for those devices 

When it comes back without those icons , does it continue to refresh and nothing else changes ?
OR
as the graphics is just a driver update tool - lets stop those running 

goto task manager 
startup tab 
and disable those programs - infact - lets see whats on startup and stop all the unnecessary programs from running


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## Massacher (May 31, 2003)

Yes when it comes back it does so without those icons. nVidia GeForce Experience also controls the LED on my GPU. I have it set to 40% as the default brightness is too bright.

How can I show what is running on startup. There is no way that I can see to create a log file.

I have done some research into this issue and I have found that it is resolved with update KB3020114. But I can't get windows updates to check for updates now lol. I have spent the last hour trying to figure out how to turn them back on but no luck so far. I have this bug

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/how-fix-so...-your-organization-message-windows-10-1521281

I have tried the steps but still I cannot fetch updates.

As stated here

The issue occurs due to 2 underlying bugs:


In build 9879 we introduced some new System Compression code that systems with SSDs can take advantage of to reduce disk usage by the OS. In some cases the logic for low-space detection gets inverted, and we compress automatically as a background operation.
On PCs have had system compression enabled, an additional bug with how the filesystem tracks deletes caused the installer to think that the temp files failed to extract correctly, so the installer fails because it thinks it cannot complete.

Which could be my issue. I want to get the KB3020114 update but since I can't figure out how to turn on updates I can't :/


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

have a read here http://www.redmondpie.com/disable-turn-off-automatic-updates-in-windows-10-heres-how/
method 3


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## Massacher (May 31, 2003)

Yea I already tried that. I have it set to 2 - Notify for download and install.
I should mention that I haven't checked for any updates since installing Win 10 Pro in January. It hasn't even fetched the initial update.
I also have Turn on recommended updates via Automatic Updates set to enabled.

*edit:* I have got updates turned back on. They were still disabled in administrative tools. Some are downloading now. Is there a way I can search for KB3020114? I don't want any of the other updates and there is no way that I can see to cancel each one.


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

why not have all the updates - some updates are dependant on previous updates already installed ?


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## Massacher (May 31, 2003)

I have used system restore to restore my system to a point before I started the updates because it hanged. It took 28 mins and being that I have Windows on an SSD it shouldn't take even half that time. I have done some more digging and I am trying to find the cause of why windows.storage.dll is at fault. As I posted on the ten forums about it. I'll copy and paste it here for convenience.

I just checked Reliability Monitor and the most recent entry for explorer.exe is this:

Source
Windows Explorer

Summary
Stopped working

Date
‎08/‎07/‎2016 17:10

Status
Report sent

Description
Faulting Application Path: C:\Windows\explorer.exe

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: explorer.exe
Application Version: 10.0.10586.0
Application Timestamp: 5632d4c0
Fault Module Name: windows.storage.dll
Fault Module Version: 10.0.10586.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 5632d59e
Exception Code: c000041d
Exception Offset: 000000000010cf82
OS Version: 10.0.10586.2.0.0.256.48
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 7cb2
Additional Information 2: 7cb2c72c4ec5a461b48431651d5275a2
Additional Information 3: 4389
Additional Information 4: 4389d654fa3e0de48d725d30f98f6694

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: de60f61ec39c072ea9e67619b1c3a0c3 (120351718241)

There are multiple entries like this. Two of them have explorer in caps explorer.EXE

Source
Windows Explorer

Summary
Stopped working

Date
‎08/‎07/‎2016 14:47

Status
Report sent

Description
Faulting Application Path: C:\Windows\explorer.exe

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: Explorer.EXE
Application Version: 10.0.10586.0
Application Timestamp: 5632d4c0
Fault Module Name: windows.storage.dll
Fault Module Version: 10.0.10586.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 5632d59e
Exception Code: c00000fd
Exception Offset: 000000000010cf82
OS Version: 10.0.10586.2.0.0.256.48
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: a492
Additional Information 2: a4927ffd23357a88dcbd704646114a3e
Additional Information 3: 4875
Additional Information 4: 487545df91ce49e5b0b4d5e31930f510

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: 68a38db3953caadca10b9f79fb245dae (120351732520)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source
Windows Explorer

Summary
Stopped working

Date
‎08/‎07/‎2016 16:49

Status
Report sent

Description
Faulting Application Path: C:\Windows\explorer.exe

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: Explorer.EXE
Application Version: 10.0.10586.0
Application Timestamp: 5632d4c0
Fault Module Name: windows.storage.dll
Fault Module Version: 10.0.10586.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 5632d59e
Exception Code: c000041d
Exception Offset: 000000000010cf82
OS Version: 10.0.10586.2.0.0.256.48
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 7cb2
Additional Information 2: 7cb2c72c4ec5a461b48431651d5275a2
Additional Information 3: 4389
Additional Information 4: 4389d654fa3e0de48d725d30f98f6694

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: de60f61ec39c072ea9e67619b1c3a0c3 (120351718241)

I have found a post on superuser.com relating to Windows 10 File Explorer crashing regularly. A user there has found a possible solution but I don't really like messing with the registry so I am very hesitant to try it. *Note:* I have not tried to customize explorer using the command line.



> I had a similar issue. It seems that what caused it for me was trying to customize explorer using command line. I ended up with the copy/move crash, and open-in-new-window issue.
> 
> This is the command that broke things for me:
> 
> ...


Here is the page for reference:

http://superuser.com/questions/964930/windows-10-file-explorer-crashing-regularly


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## Massacher (May 31, 2003)

An update. I have fixed Explorer.exe crashing by enabling Launch folder windows in a separate process. So at least I can continue to browse my files without having to re-open the explorer windows that keep on closing. The desktop and taskbar issue remains.


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

why are you not updating the windows system at all?
with windows 10 - these include a lot of bug fixes 
i usually hold off on other windows system , just to make there are no issues - but no updates since Jan on W10 - i would expect to have issues on a new OS


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## Massacher (May 31, 2003)

I tried to update but it got to working on updates to 100% with the spinning circle and then it sat there for 28 mins. So their update service is bugged. When I rebooted (I had to shutdown because my reset button is buggered), and then I couldn't get back into Windows so I had to use system restore from the install cd. I haven't had any issues until this explorer.exe bug. I am never updating again.


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## Massacher (May 31, 2003)

I tried to update once again but it failed again. Or rather it hung. I left it over night on Tuesday night. It was working on updates and it was sitting on 94%. At which point I went to bed. When I woke up in the morning it was stuck on the login screen:










I have got a replacement for explorer, Directory Opus. It works just the same as explorer. But I still have the issue of the desktop and taskbar vanishing and then re-appearing. But it only happens when I open a file (image, photo, text file, etc), and when browsing for files to upload. Sometimes it happens when saving a file too. It doesn't happen browsing folders anymore as I am using Directory Opus now. It displays thumbnails much faster too which is a plus.

Is there a way I can manually download updates and install them without using the Windows update service? Because it clearly doesn't work. It should be able to download and install no matter what time I choose to do it. My copy is essentially v1.0 so it is effectively the same as if I had installed it fresh.


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