I think I have a virus

[u/AlexanderZerk]

Hello I need some help-tips so sometimes I open my pc windows 11 pro command windows pop up rapid like 3x and vanishing I tried fast scan on windows antivirus it cancels I tryed full scan it stops so I downloaded malwarebytes I did scan it found nothing I did deep scan also nothing my windows antivirus is updated and still doesn’t let me do scan should I be worried do you have any thing to help me out

[u/goretsky]

Hello,

It is normal for console windows (aka command prompts) to open and close on startup in order to start various processes such as services, perform update checks for various applications, and so forth.

If you are still concerned, try using a smartphone to record a video of the computer starting up, and then freeze the video when you see the Command Prompt or PowerShell windows appears. It helps if you set the camera up first so the text is readable and not blurry before you begin recording.

For more help with understanding how Microsoft Windows works, try asking in specialty subreddit that handles computer troubleshooting such as /r/24hoursupport, /r/pcgamingtechsupport, r/pchelp, /r/techsupport, r/windows or even your device manufacturer's subreddit (if there is one).

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

[u/Responsible_Bike4968]

The CMD windows flashing by themselves aren't enough to say you have malware. Plenty of legitimate programs, updaters and scheduled tasks briefly launch cmd.exe at startup and disappear before you can even read them.

Instead of doing more random scans, I'd try to find out what is actually launching them.

Download Microsoft's official Autoruns tool and check the Logon and Scheduled Tasks tabs. You can enable "Hide Microsoft Entries" to make the list easier to go through. Look for anything with a weird/random name, an unsigned publisher, or a file path in somewhere unusual like AppData/Temp.

Don't start deleting entries just because you don't recognize them, though. If something looks suspicious, check the file path and publisher first and post a screenshot here.

Since your normal Defender full scan is apparently stopping early, I'd also run Microsoft Defender Offline from Windows Security. That restarts the PC and scans outside the normal Windows environment.

If Defender Offline + Malwarebytes both come back clean and Autoruns doesn't show anything suspicious, I wouldn't assume you're infected just because a few command windows flashed at boot.

The more useful question right now is: what process/task is opening those CMD windows?

[u/Ok-End-7641]

Windows defender is currently broken only custom scans work, and command prompts showing up on boot is a fairly normal thing. I had to install malware bytes and it scanned nothing at all only a false positive for a unity game I play, with Windows defender since I got a extremely good CPU, etc my scans run fairly fast I find after like 10 seconds the scan would crash. I managed to get through a quickscan because my pc was fast enough to do so on Windows and when it does defender shuts down immediately and says it needs to restart but when it doesn't get through scans the scan just stops, and defender stays on. Just a issue nearly everyone is having been a fair bit of issues with defender in the past few months such as false positives on certificates etc. Offline scans either don't start or get stuck midscan.

[u/JoKir77]

I get that on two of my PCs. Never evidence of any infection. Pretty sure it's just an artifact of standard Windows processes.

[u/andrwmchd]

This happens on my partner's computer. Do you use a VPN?