Question Task Manager not closing itself

[Aryadne]

The computer I'm trying to fix is having all sorts of issues. I have a feeling there are hardware issues so I'm checking out a lot of things. But I was wondering if the fact that the Task Manager not closing itself was a telltale sign of anything specific. If not, I know I got a lot of other issues to check out anyway - registry, cache, DNS, OS, memory, hard drive, CPU, the list goes on. I have a feeling this 4-year-old computer will be going to computer heaven.

 

[rgd1101]

what do you mean not closing?
backup the data and reset windows?

 

[USAFRet]

"I have a feeling there are hardware issues "
Yet you're trying to fix the registry, DNS, etc, etc.


What is the actual problem?
What are the symptoms?

As above, have you started with a clean fresh OS install?

 

[Aryadne]

"I have a feeling there are hardware issues "
Yet you're trying to fix the registry, DNS, etc, etc.


What is the actual problem?
What are the symptoms?

As above, have you started with a clean fresh OS install?

Yup. I reinstalled Windows twice. The computer is having wifi internet connection issues and it's the only one in the house with the issues. The built in adaptor was having problems and there is no new driver for it since it's 4 years old. So I bought a USB adaptor that was working well for a while. But the computer is having other issues like not letting us into the Settings area (or taking a reeeeeally long time to open), not always restarting properly (it often hangs up while restarting), blue screens, etc.

I've been looking through the Event Viewer and in the Application area I see the Application Hang. In the General Tab, it says:


The program Taskmgr.exe version 10.0.18362.693 stopped interacting with Windows and was closed. To see if more information about the problem is available, check the problem history in the Security and Maintenance control panel.
Process ID: 23f4
Start Time: 01d6c447af92e795
Termination Time: 60000
Application Path: C:\Windows\System32\Taskmgr.exe
Report Id: ccce4367-3645-4c90-bb0d-35cea2609b49
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:
Hang type: Cross-thread


I'm pretty sure this error was generated from when Windows FINALLY (10+ minutes) told me that the Task Manager was unresponsive and asked if I wanted to close it, right? Not from the actually "hang" itself?

 

[rgd1101]

full system spec?
test in safe mode?

 

[Aryadne]

I haven't tested in safe mode yet. Let me see if I can get the system info (If the computer will let me in )

 

[Aryadne]

Lenovo ideapad FLEX 4-1580 Signature Edition
Intel Core i7-7500 CPU @ 2.7GHz
RAM 8GB
64-bit
Windows 10 Home

 

[Colif]

4 years isn't old. Does the model have intel or Atheros WIFI as I see both are choices here - https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/au/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/flex-series/flex-4-1580/downloads/driver-list/component?name=Networking: Wireless LAN

did you try here after install? - https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/au/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/flex-series/flex-4-1580/downloads/automatic-driver-update

safe mode might tell you if its software problem.

Are the problems you are having now the same ones you did a reinstall to escape or different?

 

[rgd1101]

check cpu temp?
ran any memory test?

 

[Aryadne]

4 years isn't old. Does the model have intel or Atheros WIFI as I see both are choices here - https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/au/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/flex-series/flex-4-1580/downloads/driver-list/component?name=Networking: Wireless LAN

did you try here after install? - https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/au/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/flex-series/flex-4-1580/downloads/automatic-driver-update

safe mode might tell you if its software problem.

Are the problems you are having now the same ones you did a reinstall to escape or different?

The adapter is a Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4A. I'm going to try to do the Lenovo driver scan if I can get my phone to be a hotspot but the computer isn't letting me in to the Network & Internet area at the moment.

I've just switched to Safe Mode right now but it's not letting me use the search or the Windows icon in the bottom left. So I just used the PowerShell to run a scan but it's reporting no integrity violations.

And yes it's the same problems as before the reinstall of Windows.

 

[Aryadne]

check cpu temp?
ran any memory test?

I ran a memory test and it can back clean. The CPU isn't getting physically hot but I'm going to check the official temp anyway.

 

[Aryadne]

I'm starting to think it has something to do with the Atheros qca61x4a adapter. I'm using a plain admin account and for some reason, when it's enabled the computer is a mess. I can't do basic things like get to the Settings, close the Task Manager, nor get to the internet (it works for about a minute but then it drops the connection and says it can't find any networks). But when I disable it, the computer seems to run smoothly except that I obviously can't get to the internet.

I'm going to check this a bunch more times. I don't know why a network adaptor would be screwing up the operating system. I can't think of any reason they would conflict.

 

[Aryadne]

It's gotta be the Atheros adapter. I've uninstalled it and now the computer runs fine. But now my internet is spotty. I think it has to do with the USB adapter I'm using (TRENDnet TEW-808UBM AC 1200) and how it works with IP addresses (maybe it needs specific settings or not to be dynamic/static - I'm trying to figure out what it wants). Every fix I use seems to work for a little while and then stops. I can always kick it back into gear but it seems like there should be something that settles it once and for all.

I even tried giving it a specific DNS but that only worked for a little while which makes me think it didn't work at all. I just keep getting errors saying that things like "Wi-Fi doesn't have valid IP configuration". Sometimes Windows can fix it by resetting the adapter and other times it can't

In IPv4, I set the Preferred DNS to 1.1.1.1 with the Alternate to 1.0.0.1 but that's didn't improve anything.

UPDATE: Somehow, there are no drivers installed for the device which makes no sense since it was working and it's been working on and off. Can an adapter work without drivers? And I'm 99% sure I installed them when I was hardwired in another area of the house. Ugh.

UPDATE: Okay, now I'm thinking ports? I inserted a USB flash drive with the drivers into the troubled computer but the computer wouldn't recognize it. So I removed the mouse's USB dongle and tried the flash drive in that port but it didn't work. NOW the dongle won't work either. Wouldn't that align with the fact that sometimes Windows can fix the "valid IP config" thing by resetting the adapter and other times it can't? Maybe when the port is acting up, Windows can't communicate with the USB dongle for the adapter? Therefore, it can't reset it?

And for frigs sake, I'm restarting the computer to see if the USB will work again. In doing so, I got the BSoD. Uuuuuuuuuuuuuugh! Why God?! Why????!!!! It did eventually restart on it's own. :/

And the ports are working again. Yeah.

 

[Aryadne]

So now in doing another restart, I got a notice that a program called "Switch USB" (which I've never heard of) was preventing my computer from shutting down. The Switch USB icon is super small an hard to see and I can't find the program on my computer so it's hard to identify, but I'm including a pic from my mobile phone.

Switch USB Shutdown Issue
Switch USB Logo

(I was trying to insert the actual images but I couldn't figure out how to do that with Google Drive. Is that not possible?)

 

[Colif]

Switch USB appears to be tied into the WIFI card, from what I can find online.

https://www.trendnet.com/support/support-detail.asp?prod=105_TEW-808UBM
this link shows "drivers" from 2020 but...

Its using a realtek chip - WI1 chip1: Realtek RTL8812BU
only driver for it was released in 2018 - https://www.realtek.com/en/component/zoo/category/rtl8812bu-software

so the date of driver package doesn't actually mean a lot.

this might explain why you can't see any drivers for it, as Win 10 likely downloaded drivers from Windows update catalog or they might have been included in a version update and be marked as Microsoft drivers.

I don't see a link to that USB program anywhere?

try running auto runs and see if you can find that program in here, and stop it from auto running with windows at startup - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns
If a program needs that file it can start it, this just stops it loading with windows.