Hi. I turned on my laptop today and suddenly found that all my applications (Chrome, Skype, Norton, etc.) keep minimizing on their own approximately every 1-2 minutes. The mouse is constantly doing this twitch thing (it flickers every second and the little loading circle comes up). It doesn't seem to be affected by typing, it occurs with and without keyboard/mouse interaction. I've installed nothing new that I'm aware about since last night, when this problem did not exist. I've manually turned off and turned my laptop back on, I've restarted it, I tried to run a scan but Norton is being a pain (am currently running a quick scan). Usually whenever my computer is acting up (unusually slow), I just restart it and it's fine. But I've tried to restart/turn off and on three times now and I can't find a fix.

This is on Windows 8.1 (please no Windows 7 exclusive answers. They're all I can find). I have not recently updated to Windows 8.1. I updated a few weeks ago (it was a forced update). 

And I don't think I have ioBit.

Update: This thing called whiteskyservices (http://services.whiteskyservices.com/addons/chrome/install.aspx?id=eeihfhnbnfemlajfadhbpdfiipncebl) popped up asking for a Constant Guard update (I never update Constant Guard, it's horrible). I x'ed out and the mouse flashing I mentioned has stopped, but the random minimizing has not. 

Update: I tried to disable Superfetch, that didn't work either. 

Update: Sometimes, it minimizes and then returns back to the window. 

Update: My mouse has erratically begun doing the flickering thing again.

• Edited by itzarah Saturday, December 06, 2014 6:01 PM

Hi itzarah,

I cant open and test the link you provide, please check. Share us a screenshot if you willing to.

Please explain a bit about the following questions to avoid misunderstanding:
1. Do you mean that the Windows 8 automatically upgrade to Windows 8.1 a few weeks ago?
2. Is this computer domain-based?
3. Does everything minimize on their own? Windows explorer, desktop apps and metro apps?
4. What is the result about the Norton scan?

Please take the following steps for troubleshooting:
1. As this is a laptop, please check if the mouse flickering caused by the touchpad. Please update the touchpad driver to the last version from the manufacturer website and check if this issue still exists.
2. Unplug the mouse and check if this issue still exists
3. Run the Anti-virus software to scan malware.

Best regards,
Fangzhou CHEN

Hello,

I am experiencing the same problems and am having very little help resolving the issue. I was wondering if you ever found a resolution here?

Edit: I spoke with a Microsoft Answer Tech person a little while ago. He said it was possible damage to the Microsoft account. I switched to my other user and I'll be damned if things aren't working normally. Now for the fun part of moving literally everything from this account to the alternate. 

• Edited by PettyAmnesty Tuesday, December 09, 2014 9:02 PM

I was having this same problem since Constant Guard changed to "Fast Connect" on my computer.  I went into the task manager and ended the Fast Connect.exe process and the problem stopped. Apparently there is a compatibility issue with the new Constant Guard version and Windows 8.1.  By the way I didn't do anything to update to Fast Connect, it changed automatically.

• Proposed as answer by Guy0220 Wednesday, December 10, 2014 6:09 AM
• Marked as answer by Michael ShaoMicrosoft contingent staff, Moderator Wednesday, December 17, 2014 9:25 AM

Update: My mouse has erratically begun doing the flickering thing again.

Is it going down to the bottom right?  If that is where your Taskbar is you could try moving your Taskbar. Also, if it is not clicking there but just hovering you could try unchecking (in Taskbar Properties)

Use Peek to preview the desktop when you move your mouse to the Show desktop button at the end of the taskbar

Good luck

The same thing happened to me, all windows started to minimize and maximize at will.  Thanks to the comment above, it started when Xfinity changed from Constant Guard to Fast Connect.  I opened Task Manager and ended all the Fast Connect processes.  Things seem to be back to normal.

I did run the Microsoft Scan, it did not find any issues.

Tom 

• Edited by T Duprey Thursday, December 11, 2014 9:36 PM

I had this exact same problem after Constant Guard changed to "Fast Connect" and the problem went away after ending the the Fast Connect.exe in the task manager as you suggested. Thank you so much for posting! I was getting REALLY frustrated!

Thank you very much!!!! Ending Fast Connect solved my issue!

Hello T Duprey, MaeRaeJ & MusicM0M,

I am glad to hear that the issue is resolved.
Thanks for your sharing.

Hello itzarah,
What is your current situation?
Have you tried to end the Fast Connect.exe in the task manager?

Best regards,
Fangzhou CHEN

I had the exact same thing. Driving me crazy.  Restoring from backup points didn't help, either.

Ran Norton, and got an error code.  Reported it to Norton.  Guy on the chat said that they were getting a lot of this.  We had to uninstall Fast Connect, and then Reinstall Norton.

Thank you . . . I was going crazy.  Ending Fast Connect solved my issue too!!

Constant Guard / Fast Connect was my problem. As soon as I uninstalled it & restarted my computer, it was all fixed. Good luck - the automatic minimizing was enough to make me want to throw my laptop out the window!

+1. *THANK YOU* for posting this solution (i.e., ending Fast Connect processes via Task Manager). I too was ready to go out and buy a grand piano for the sole purpose of dropping it on my laptop, which kept minimizing any window after 10 seconds or so. My husband pointed out that- since I was the beneficiary of this advice- perhaps I should make a more useful contribution. So, created a Technet account for this sole purpose ... Thanks. Whew.

Same issue and solution for me. Ended Constant Guard tasks and removed the program. Now back to normal operation.

OMG thank you so much! That's exactly what the issue was with me and as soon as I stopped it, my windows all stayed up.  Thanks again!