# Flashing icon on taskbar: Is this a virus? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 27, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-icon-on-taskbar-is-this-a-virus/198051 "2003-08-27T19:36:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-icon-on-taskbar-is-this-a-virus/198051/1 "2003-08-27T19:36:40Z")
For the last several days, I’ve has a small, sky-blue icon on the desktop taskbar (along the bottom; windows 98 Plus!) flashing; it looks like a solid “Q” or a comic-book word balloon. When I rest the arrow on it, it produces a normal balloon describing it as a “free upgrade”; but I suspect that I’ll trigger a virus if I click on it. (I have Earthlink and AOL as Internet Service Providers.) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-icon-on-taskbar-is-this-a-virus/198051/2 "2003-08-27T20:14:13Z")
Dollars to doughnuts says it’s RealPlayer. Whether or not you classify it as a “virus” depends on your opinion of the software. While I wouldn’t call it a virus, I’d sure call it mediocre bloatware. You can turn it off with msconfig (or whatever it’s called in Win98) so it doesn’t autoload with everything else in the system tray. ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-icon-on-taskbar-is-this-a-virus/198051/3 "2003-08-27T20:27:56Z")
It is an Apple Quick Time icon. Apparently you downloaded Quick Time. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-icon-on-taskbar-is-this-a-virus/198051/4 "2003-08-27T20:29:17Z")
> [@](#): > > It is an Apple Quick Time icon. Apparently you downloaded Quick Time. So it IS a virus! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-icon-on-taskbar-is-this-a-virus/198051/5 "2003-08-28T19:17:02Z")
Cervaise was right. I watched someone else click on it on his computer. It’s RealPlayer, all right. I finally mustered the courage to left-click on it on my computer and it upgraded RealPlayer for me. Thanks to Cervaise and my friend who clicked on that icon himself. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![InquisitiveIdiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3ec8ea/32.png) [@InquisitiveIdiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InquisitiveIdiot)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-icon-on-taskbar-is-this-a-virus/198051/6 "2003-08-28T20:48:04Z")
How to rid yourself of unwanted programs: Step 1: open MSconfig Step 2: Click the startup tab Step 3: Uncheck anything that you don’t recognize or isn’t in a system directory Step 4: Look up the remaining files online, uncheck them if they aren’t needed No thanks required. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flashing-icon-on-taskbar-is-this-a-virus/198051/7 "2003-08-28T23:19:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by InquisitiveIdiot \* > \*\*How to rid yourself of unwanted programs: > > Step 1: open MSconfig > Step 2: Click the startup tab > Step 3: Uncheck anything that you don’t recognize or isn’t in a system directory > Step 4: Look up the remaining files online, uncheck them if they aren’t needed > > No thanks required. \*\* That is poor advice. Removing at item from MSconfig will not always keep it from running at startup. Some programs will stick themselves right back in there, with a checkmark next to their name. Often, these are the very troublesome programs you are trying to get rid of. Try it with qttask.exe sometime. If you have a program causing you trouble, remove it. Fix the problem, don’t apply a kludge.