# Computer Tech: The Mystery Window **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 2, 2004, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-tech-the-mystery-window/232061 "2004-03-02T06:07:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-tech-the-mystery-window/232061/1 "2004-03-02T06:07:37Z")
- - - I have a PC running WIN98SE, and just tonight noticed that after booting up, there is one single gray pixel in the upper-left hand of the screen. The background is the plain green so it is obvious if you look closely, but I never did that before. And I also noticed that if you put the (regular) arrow pointer near it, the cursor changes into an “I”-beam, such as if there was a textbox to type in, but there is not. I have moved around other nearby shortcuts and it’s not part of any of them, and I tried to grab it and that doesn’t work either–and I tried to “click & drag” grab it, no success there either. And after about three attempts, the gray pixel disappears, but the cursor still changes into an “I”-beam there. - How can I find out everything that is running on the desktop? It is obvious that the “Desktop” folder does not show everything–system icons aren’t included there. I have an antivirus program and spybot s & d/adaware and run them now and then, I have no reason to suspect it’s any kind of malicious program but now I’m darned curious. If I change the desktop resolution, it expands or contracts _from the upper-left hand corner_, I can tell by the arrangement of the desktop icons when I switch from a lower-resolution to a higher one (all the icons are shifted up+left). Any ideas? ~ ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-tech-the-mystery-window/232061/2 "2004-03-02T07:08:42Z")
Right-click the desktop and hit **Arrange Icons|By Name**. This should move any icons that have somehow been dragged up into that corner. If that doesn’t help then it’s probably being caused by a program. The quickest way to see what’s running is to hit Ctrl-Alt-Del. See if ending any of the running processes makes that spot go away. You can also go to **Start|Run** , type **msconfig** , and uncheck items on the **Startup** tab until you’ve isolated the cause. If it still happens with everything disabled then it might be some kind of weird video driver issue. ---
**Author:** ![Ryle\_Dup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Ryle\_Dup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryle_Dup)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-tech-the-mystery-window/232061/3 "2004-03-02T08:31:15Z")
When you check your desktop folder, are you sure that you’ve configured windows explorer to show system and hidden files? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-tech-the-mystery-window/232061/4 "2004-03-02T08:38:45Z")
Also, have a look in Start\>Programs\>System Tools\>System Information and browse the categories under Software Environment - pay particular attention to the program manufacturers, but anything odd should stand out a mile, as unwanted/malicious programs nearly always seem to have stupid-sounding names like SpeedyHelper or ThrustGrabber or something.