[SOLVED] Laptop doing a lot of weird things when left on and closed?

[BlunderScore]

So I have a laptop (Running Windows 10 if it matters) that I sometimes use when I'm not on my desktop computer, but lately its been acting really weird. When I close the lid and set it aside I'll open it later to find my icons all over the place with a different size, multiple programs open for no reason and the background changed randomly. One night it just started making the windows notification sound repeatedly and wouldn't let me do anything so I just turned it off. It hasn't acted weird at all when I've used it though.

Not really sure what's going on but I've been worried if there's some kind of malware that could do any of this or a remote desktop going on that I don't know about? I ran a few scans including malwarebytes but nothing turned up.

 

[Lutfij]

Make and model of your laptop? What version(not edition) of Windows 10 are you on? Might want to run malwarebytes and see if you might have any stowaways. By any chance, can you see if you have any remote access apps installed on your laptop?

 

[Barty1884]

Which laptop?

Malware seems unlikely, but not impossible.... you would experience issues while in use too, Malware doesn't take time off while the system is in use and only appear when idle. I guess something could be coded, but there's really no reward for anybody doing so.

Remote access is a possibility too.. Should be fairly easy to spot a remote application installed. TeamViewer, LogMeIn etc. Basically, take a look for any unknown programs installed and sanity check those.

Do the issues persist when the laptop is idle but not closed? Is it a touch screen?
Just thinking out loud , potentially there may be some minor damage (pressure on a touchscreen, pinched or failing ribbon cable... or something) If you can isolate it to only when closed, that might be an avenue to go down.

 

[BlunderScore]

It's an HP Laptop running Windows 10 Home, I've had it for a few years now so it isn't too old. The only thing I ever installed close to a remote desktop would be Splashtop when I let a family member use it for work once while we were out of town. I uninstalled that shortly after and have never used anything else on it ever unless it could have been hidden inside something I downloaded? Would there be any processes I should look for?

The screen is touch too if that could be something, I can try leaving it in a different position next time to see if that makes a difference.

 

[Barty1884]

Something nefarious, in terms of remote access could be hidden, but someone slipping malicious code into a download isn't going to be mindful of whether you're using it or not - and anybody with physical access would likely have just installed an off-the-shelf program, which should be fairly obvious to spot.

Try to either leave it open, and let it sleep (maybe adjust your power settings so the device sleeps quicker) or close it just to the point the screen shuts off (if it'll hold there). Will be as close to identical, without making contact with the shroud/keyboard etc..... if the issue doesn't reoccur, then it's fairly likely it's something to do with the full closed position.

 

[BlunderScore]

So I have a bit of an update on this, after trying a few things like setting it so my laptop sleeps when I close it and even disabling the internet connection entirely before doing so doesn't seem to have fixed the problem. Just last night after trying to do the same thing as before, I heard a bunch of steam notifications coming from it and when I opened the laptop up it was trying to launch a few games along with 10-15 windows of the file browser. It was still disconnected from the internet so I have no idea other than hardware/software going crazy?

 

[dwd999]

Have you checked the Task Scheduler to see if there's any rogue tasks? Also the Services app to see if there's anything you don't recognize?

 

[BlunderScore]

I didn't see anything in scheduled tasks, but would there be anything I should look out for in services? I've never looked at that before on here.

 

[dwd999]

The most obvious would be services without an explanation of what they are and do. Also services tied to any file which is not in the Windows\System32 folder. If you have another computer you could compare the services listed on the screen to that would help, i.e. you look at the Services list on one computer's screen and then the list on the other computer's screen. Worse case scenario you could just google what's this services file. Also next time it tries to launch any games or opens any browser windows you could make a list of what they are and then investigate. Are they all from one company, etc. You could also google how do I know if Splashtop is totally uninstalled. Otherwise it may be best to prepare for a complete wipe and fresh reinstall.