Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2022 November 13

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November 13

Blank Rectangle in Lower Right Corner

My screen is displaying a blank rectangle in the lower right corner, about the size and shape of a business card. I can't click on it or move it. It looks like this:

This shows a rectangle in the corner of the screen.

.

How do I get rid of it? I am running Windows 10 on a Dell. It obscures a corner of the screen, whether I am using Google Chrome or Firefox or Microsoft Word.

I was having this problem earlier today, but then Windows said that it had updates to install, and restarted my computer, and the blank rectangle went away for a little while, but now it has come back. How do I get rid of it? Robert McClenon (talk) 03:00, 13 November 2022 (UTC)

Open up Task Manager. And look at the Processes tab. Some .exe file is there existing. If you find it, closing it may just temporarily close it. You may need to right click, Open File Location, and delete it. 67.165.185.178 (talk) 04:48, 13 November 2022 (UTC).

I think that I understand most of what you said, but would like to verify that I have understood correctly, and maybe ask a few more questions. The Task Manager is divided into three sections, Apps, Background Processes, and Windows Processes. It appears that you are saying that sometimes one or another of the items in the Background Processes or Windows Processes lists will have .exe at the end of its name, rather than just a name. How should I know that it is safe to end the task? How do I then know that it is safe to delete the .exe file? Does the presence of the .exe extension in the list mean that it is somehow irregular or non-standard? Is there any more information available? Robert McClenon (talk) 01:06, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

It may be somewhat trial-and-error that you discover which app/task was causing the rectangle for you. You may remember what was displaying information down there if it occurs again. It probably won't hurt much if you end the wrong task. You would not, in this circumstance, want to delete any files, EXE or otherwise. This is just a temporary display glitch. Elizium23 (talk) 01:13, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

Something similar which happened to me turned out to be pre-installed by the manufacturer: it was supposed to nag me to register with them, but it wasn't functioning properly. You might give processes with "Dell" in the name your consideration.  Card Zero  (talk) 19:58, 16 November 2022 (UTC)

@Robert McClenon: I see a white rectangle in your screenshot, not black. Does it still happen? Does it appear if you shut down (not sleep) the computer and start it again without doing anything? If it does appear then try Task Manager at this time to reduce confusion from other programs. I wouldn't delete anything without knowing what it is but you can try to stop processes. You may accidentally stop a security feature temporarily. For protection you can disconnect the Internet first, and restart the computer before reconnecting the Internet or starting any other program than Task Manager. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:08, 16 November 2022 (UTC)

User:PrimeHunter - Thank you. I didn't mean to say that it was black. I meant to say that it was blank. It goes away if I restart the computer. In the future, I will try to be alert to what is happening when it pops up again. At this time, I am not exactly sure when it pops up. Robert McClenon (talk) 02:05, 17 November 2022 (UTC)

@Robert McClenon: I misread, you did say blank and not black. It may pop up at random looking times when a background process tries to display something there. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:32, 17 November 2022 (UTC)

Computer Viruses

When certain malware (ransomware, worms, adware, whatever) are first created, how do they become dangerous in the first place? What fault in their code that is, that enables them do be so destructive? Also (just for reference - i promise i don't plan on doing this myself), can someone with basic programming skilz, create malware themselves? Thanks. Wikipedian10282 (talk) 18:09, 13 November 2022 (UTC)

History of computer viruses and History of malware can provide more information. Generally, malware is damaging because programmers program it to be so. That said, there is the possibility of programming errors. Brain (computer virus) was intended to target piracy of a Pakistani medical program, however it extended worldwide.

About the second question, malware requires working against safety measures, so basic skills are not enough to create malware. However, it is software and there are people who offer malware creation kits or ready-to-use products. The people who use them and did not develop them are derided as script kiddies by savvier people.

--Error (talk) 00:42, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

Thank you, that is exceptiona. Wikipedian10282 (talk) 00:56, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

One of the oldest computer worms to become notorious, the Morris worm of 1988, unintentionally wreaked worldwide havoc because of a coding error.  --Lambiam 09:04, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

It is possible to create a program that turns off the computer after waiting 1 second. Then, if that program is in Startup, then it will shut your computer down upon startup. Would you consider that to be malware? Subjective. 67.165.185.178 (talk) 08:39, 14 November 2022 (UTC).

Yes.  --Lambiam 09:05, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

I don't think that would be subjective, it's pretty unambiguously malicious. Partofthemachine (talk) 04:01, 15 November 2022 (UTC)

There is a ransomware tool named Satan (not to be confused with the white-hat tool SATAN) being offered as a service on the Dark Web, that allows total n00bs without techical knowledge or coding experience to create their own ransomware attack programs.^[1]  --Lambiam 09:20, 14 November 2022 (UTC)