Paul said:
The spyware I was using was Ad-Aware Free Anniversary Edition version
8.0.7. Ad-Aware did find something; however, I don't have any information
about what was found or the file involved. The malware was deleted. The
malware was detected during a scheduled scan. There were no error
messages or detectable effect from the malware.
I have restarted the computer several times, and it always behaves
normally in every way except with the info messages. When the mouse
pointer hovers over the time, a small message window, slightly smaller
in hight than the task bar, appears with out anything in the window.
Hi Paul,
First, I have never encountered your problem before, so, sorry in advance
if my "help" is no help.
By "info messages" I assume you are talking about Tool Tips.
(aka. ToolInfo) Are balloon notifications affected too?
Did you check to see if your anti-malware has a Log or record of its
activity? If you know the time, Event Viewer might have some information.
Maybe file search for *.log
Your first message here was dated Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:41:01 -0700. How soon
before that date/time did the problem first appear?
The problem still sounds like the ToolTip property is using the same
background and foreground theme. Try Display Properties again.
Here's how I checked mine:
Press (and release) Windows logo key, then Alt key, then hold shift and
press Tab, then hit F5 key, then hold shift and press F10, then hit R key
for Properties. That gets me Desktop Display Properties.
Click Appearance tab. "Windows and buttons" is set to "Windows Classic
style". "Color scheme" is set to "Windows Classic". Click Advanced button
for Advanced Appearance dialog. Beneath the sample window is this advisory:
"If you select a windows and buttons setting other than Windows Classic, it
will override the following settings, except in some older programs."
Click "Item" dropdown, and select ToolTip. To the right of that, Color 1 is
a pale yellow. Font is Microsoft Sans Serif, Size 8, Color black.
What are your settings for all the above stuff?
Close the Advance Appearance dialog, and back on the Appearance tab of
Display Properties, click Effects button. I have an empty checkbox for "Use
the following transition effect for menus and tooltips". Fading or scrolling
doesn't sound like something that would make ToolTips blank, but we don't
want to leave any stone unturned.
Another place where things that affect ToolTips can be found is: Hold
Windows logo key down and press Pause/Break key. (Or right-click My Computer
and click Properties.) On the System Properties dialog, click Advanced tab.
Under Performance, click Settings. You should see "Fade or slide ToolTips
into view". I use "Let Windows choose what's best for my computer", which
has checkmarks on all items in the little window.
Some problems with the ToolTip text buffer, were fixed with Service Pack 3.
What is your Service Pack level? To see your Windows Version and SP:
Click Start, click Run, type or paste next line and press Enter:
winver
Something else to try:
Start> [all]Programs> Accessories> Accessibility> Narrator
See if the AnnounceToolTips feature of Narrator works.
Two dll's (Dynamic Link Libraries) I'm aware of that concern ToolTips are
comctl32.dll and mfc42.dll which may need to be re-registered. (Common
Controls and Microsoft Foundation Class 4.2)
Click Start, click Run,
Type or paste next 2 lines (1 at a time) and press Enter:
regsvr32 /s COMCTL32.DLL
regsvr32 /s MFC42.DLL
If still no joy, try System File Checker. (Close all programs, and) Click
Start, click Run, type or paste next line and press Enter:
SFC /scannow
It takes awhile. Here are the SFC Help Remarks:
• You must be logged on as a member of the Administrators group to run
sfc.
• If sfc discovers that a protected file has been overwritten, it
retrieves the correct version of the file from the
%systemroot%\system32\dllcache folder, and then replaces the incorrect file.
• If the %systemroot%\system32\dllcache folder becomes corrupt or
unusable, use sfc /scannow, sfc /scanonce, or sfc /scanboot to repair the
contents of the Dllcache directory.
I just ran SFC on my computer and it took 25 minutes 45 seconds. A small
"Windows File Protection" window appeared with text: "Please wait while
Windows verifies that all protected Windows files are intact and in their
original versions." with progress bar growing slowly to the right.
I ignored my own advice and right-clicked my clock, and clicked Task
Manager, and clicked Performance tab to watch the hyper active jagged graph
display while SFC ran. On the Processes tab, I clicked the CPU column header
twice and noted that "winlogon.exe" and "ekrn.exe" were very active. When
the progress bar was nearly complete, "egui.exe" and "system" got into the
act. No problems were reported when it completed.
Start> (all)Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Event Viewer> System
There were 2 items with Source: Windows File Protection. One that said it
started, and the other said, "Windows File Protection file scan completed
successfully." (An uneventful event except for the hyper jaggies.
Another possibility is a problem with a video driver or display adapter.
Check System Properties (WinKey+Pause/Break) and click Hardware tab, and
click Device Manager. Check devices related to video or display. Double
click for Properties, and check all tabs. Any problem devices?
Well, I've peeled back all the layers of yellow post-it notes plastered
around the inside of my empty skull, and that's all I can think of.
(Here's hoping you find a solution.
--Richard
