Microsoft ads crash laptop

pfarrell · 06 Aug 2023

I have a laptop which crashes every so often. When I reboot I can see that Windows Edge has been opened with an advertisement for Microsoft. There must be something running on my computer that is causing this, but I don't know what it is. If the internet is down I still get Edge opening up from time to time, but it shows a "cannot find page". When this happens, the screen goes black. I believe that the laptop is still running, but I have not found a key or mouse action that will bring it back. I have to hold down the power button until it reboots. How can I find the process which I assume is running all the time that is causing this ? This is a plain vanilla dell laptop that I bought reconditioned, all I use it for is to bring up things I want to view and feed them to my big screen television. Mostly used for Youtube, or pluto.tv. Thanks in advance if you have any ideas.

dalchina · 06 Aug 2023

Hi,

This is a plain vanilla dell laptop that I bought reconditioned

Who installed the O/S?
Was the last install a clean install?
If not, you have no idea what has been done with it, and you should start by running basic hardware checks (As a matter of routine) and then if ok clean install Win 10 and go from there.

Have you ever checked your (entire) disk? E.g. Crystal Diskinfo - and your RAM?

Assuming you have a 'sound' build, you could try
Enable or Disable Microsoft Edge Pre-launching in Windows 10
which may help with Edge.

Consider options 1,2,6 - quite a comprehensive article.
Does Microsoft Edge Keep Opening Itself on Windows? Try These Fixes

Note: I never find Edge launches automatically myself.

There must be something running on my computer that is causing this, but I don't know what it is.

If 'something' is launching Edge then you will need to do some investigation.

E.g. start with a clean boot; see if Edge is ever launched automatically.
Depending on whether it is or not, either work backwards or disable more - e.g. use Autoruns (free from MS) - cautiously.
Consider also scheduled tasks - also covered by Autoruns.

We've no idea of your build number = despite the forum prompting you for it clearly - why- so we don't have to keep on endlessly asking for it. Nor have you said if it's Home or Pro etc.. thanks.