Mysterious Windows Beep

[Winapp2.ini]

I really can't find an explanation for this one, sometimes (not always) when I open a windows explorer window, windows makes the 'confirm?' sound like when I press delete.

 

Any ideas?

[Alan_B]

Try AutoRuns from SystInternals

 

I used this when Right Click gave me a 20 Hz modulation on an unusable context menu.

 

First thing to look at is the Tab labelled "Explorer".

 

That is where I discovered Dropbox had planted 10 hooks into my operating system,

all because it thought my whole purpose in life was to share files with the world.

Dropbox has gone and will not darken my path again.

 

If "Explorer" does not do it for you then the TAB "Everything" will give you much more to consider ! !

[hazelnut]

On what operating system?

 

If on 7 have you changed the default theme?

[Winapp2.ini]

Win7 with a partially customized 'Characters' theme running.

[hazelnut]

Next question (I'm sure you have guessed what it is ) does it still happen if you change the theme back to default?

[Corona]

If I get an entry like this in Autoruns, is it safe to uncheck it?

 

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\Wds\rdpwd\StartupPrograms

 

rdpclip - File not found: rdpclip

 

And which categories should be deemed untouchable even if other "not found" entries appear in them? I always was fascinated by Autoruns but, like the hive, I dared not fiddle with it.

[Alan_B]

If I get an entry like this in Autoruns, is it safe to uncheck it?

If you uncheck then it is disabled from starting again until you tick the box.

Easy to recover if you got it wrong

 

If you delete it then there is no easy way back unless you exported relevant registry keys.

 

There is a help file that explains how to use Autoruns,

and there is Google to tell you about rdpclip.

 

I guess that if you disabled or deleted all the auto-runs entries the next time you power up you might revert to the "last good" registry.

If all else fails then ERUNT restore will make everything good.

[Winapp2.ini]

Next question (I'm sure you have guessed what it is ) does it still happen if you change the theme back to default?

 

I can't test this without using the default theme for an extended period of time, since the chime doesn't happen on any predictable interval.

 

Also sometimes I hear the 'next' noise while doing non-explorer things like playing games, the same noise that windows makes when you change folders.

 

Spooky haunted harddrive

[kroozer]

Spooky haunted harddrive

You have my sympathies. Windows sounds are flaky so I turned 'em off long ago when getting intermittent scratchy sounds. Tried just about everything before bailing.

[Guest Shane0500]

CHKDSK sounds like a good idea right about now, fix up your HD

[Corona]

If you uncheck then it is disabled from starting again until you tick the box.../...If all else fails then ERUNT restore will make everything good.

 

So if I uncheck it, it's the same as disabling a Service and can easily be turned on again by ticking it again. Good to know.

 

I love ERUNT but I haven't needed it since I went from XP to Win7 64. Last time I looked I wasn't sure ERUNT was even compatible with Win7 64, or even Vista. The orange 1998 webpage sort of enforces that assumption all by itself.

[Alan_B]

So if I uncheck it, it's the same as disabling a Service and can easily be turned on again by ticking it again. Good to know.

Yes.

When it showed me 10 off Dropbox hooks I disabled them and fixed the problem, and re-enabled and the problem returned.

After that I was on auto-pilot and do not remember the details,

but my standard operating procedure would have been to leave the hooks active,

and use RevoUninstaller to mop up any residues after it launched Dropbox Uninstaller,

and then look at AutoRuns to confirm the hooks were gone;

otherwise I would trawl through the system looking for any Dropbox residues that escaped RevoUninstaller,

and then use Autoruns to DELETE (not disable) the hooks.

 

I love ERUNT but I haven't needed it since I went from XP to Win7 64. Last time I looked I wasn't sure ERUNT was even compatible with Win7 64, or even Vista. The orange 1998 webpage sort of enforces that assumption all by itself.

 

On my Laptop using XP I would close down with a BAT script that launched ERUNT and that took only 8 seconds to make a backup.

BAT also launched "CCleaner /AUTO /SHUTDOWN",

and by the time I had found my keys and put on my shoes the computer was OFF.

 

I now use Windows 7 and suspect ERUNT may not accept a BAT launch from 7.

I understand ERUNT has a GUI that works with 7 - but I just want a Click-n-Go action - no GUI navigation for me.

I now just click and a BAT launches a Macrium Partition Image backup of my whole system, taking less than 3 minutes.

[kroozer]

CHKDSK sounds like a good idea right about now, fix up your HD

Thanks Shane, for the suggestion. After reading your input I turned on Windows sounds -- no longer scratchy.

 

Apparently one of my ChkDsk runs (or some other internal autorepair) has fixed them.

[hazelnut]

Just read this Winapp, may help.

 

http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/find-application-making-sounds-in-background/

[Winapp2.ini]

I think it is almost certainly Explorer.exe but I'll check that out, thanks!

[Super Fast]

I really can't find an explanation for this one, sometimes (not always) when I open a windows explorer window, windows makes the 'confirm?' sound like when I press delete.

 

Any ideas?

Winapp, I think it has been a few days since you posted, but hopefully you will still find this useful.

I agree with checking your startup items.

 

Something like Nirsoft Startup run will show startup + BHO objects.

Trimming it to the bare essentials should help, as should running something like AutoRuns & BartDart Context Menu (disable leftover context menus)

 

I would even say, you may want to check ur system for malware. Malware infected systems sometimes beep, cause random noises in the background, as they load ads in the background, or switch windows.

 

The windows explorer sounds could be from the malware silently executing with some invisible window in the background, hence the noise your hearing.

Of course, if you have your sounds set to custom, it would be advisable to check what sounds you have set for each action under the control panel, if not reset to default.

 

You could even set it to no sounds, if you wanted silence.

The fact that there are noises in the background is definitely indicative of something wrong, so I would check & investigate to see if any of the above listed possibilities yield an answer to your problem.

 

If it turns out to be malware, you could end up with worse problems the longer this goes on.

Sometimes there are stealth rootkitted malware or viruses that are very hard to detect, even for modern programs.

[Corona]

Is this for real?

[hazelnut]

 

You could even set it to no sounds, if you wanted silence.

The fact that there are noises in the background is definitely indicative of something wrong

 

So now we know.

[Corona]

Yes Hazelnut. Yes we do.

[Super Fast]

Amen.