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HP Recommended

I have a dvt6 Pavilion running Win7 (x64). Whenever I boot my computer, the HP Support Assistant pops up in the lower left-hand portion of the screen. While I am not interested in uninstalling the Assistant, I am not interested in having it run every time I boot. I have gone into Services and disabled the HP Support Assistant, and I do not see the related .exe file (hpsa_service.exe) in my Task Manager as a process. Is there another process that I need to disable (or tweak) to shut off the Assistant at boot time, or a specific setting in the Support Assistant I can set to prevent boot-time start?

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
HP Recommended

Hey darkhorse123-- I think I solved the problem! The Support Assistant Window for me would pop up a couple of minutes after I booted up. My first thought was that was because Support Assistant was set up as a delayed start-up service, but no luck. However, today after doing more research on the file, I ran across a random post -- nothing to do with HP -- but which seems to have targeted the cause--the Task Scheduler.

 

I checked my Task Scheduler and I noticed that the HP Support Assistant Quick Start task was set to run three minutes after I booted the laptop. Coincidence with the pop-up window timing? Not likely! I changed the setting I am hopeful it worked.

 

To change the Task Scheduler settings, go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Task Scheduler. Open the left side items (click on the arrow next to the Task Scheduler Library and the HP folder, then click on the Support Assistant folder). All the tasks related to Support Assistant should open on the top right-hand side of the screen. [If you cannot see the Triggers to each, click on each and then the Trigger tab in the lower window.] Right click on each that has a trigger you want to change (including any tasks that start at boot…), then click on "Properties." Click on the “Triggers” tab. Toward the bottom of the tab will be an "Edit" button. Click and change the “Begin task” setting to whatever suits you. There is no "Never" setting, so if you just want to run the task manually, uncheck the “Enabled” button at the bottom of the window.

 

I'm guessing that turning off the HP Support Assistant service simply prevents it from starting on its own--and apparently it's not the Assistant that opens the pop-up window, it's the Task Scheduler running Quick Start, which is why we were having so much trouble. I have rebooted my laptop twice now and no pop-up windows either time! I am cautiously optimistic…. 

 

Post whether this solution works for you. If so, I'll mark it solved. Good luck--I'm pulling for you.

View solution in original post

22 REPLIES 22
HP Recommended

Can you post a screenshot of what you are seeing at boot?

 

 

HP Recommended

This is the message that pops up when I reboot my laptop. It shows up at the bottom right (note the task bar icons below the window). I click the "No" box each time, but that wouldn't affect the window.  The "HP Support Assistance" service was stopped by me on February 14, 2012, and is unchecked as a start-up service in msconfig.exe. Several others (HP Service, HP Quick Synchronization Service and HP Software Framework Service) do load and run at start. HP startup programs include Quick Launch Buttons and 3D DriveGuard, but these have been running for years at startup. I hope this is helpful.

 

Additional information: Using the Task Manager, it appears that the file related to the window is The file that starts at boot is C:\Program Files (x86)\Hewlett-Packard\HP Support Framework\Resources\HPSFMessenger\HPSFMsgr.exe. At least one website has associated a file with this name with a virus; however, various malware checkers--including but not limited to Avast, IObit Advance Malware Fighter, and Malwarebits AntiMalware Scanner--have not identified this file as a threat.

 

HPSFMsgr itself does not appear to be a service, so I can't figure out if it is started by another service that starts at boot (it does not seem to be a dependent of the HP services that do start at boot). If further information is needed, let me know.

 

 

 

HPSupportAssistant.jpg

HP Recommended

Tick the No Thanks radio button then click the check mark by the OK. I assume you did this, just checking.

HP Recommended

Hi Mumbodog-- Thanks for asking. First thing I did. After each reboot, however, I get the same window. The window seems only to relate to whether to add "Quick Access" to the task bar. At this point, my best analysis is that the Support Assistant is, in fact, disabled; it is only this pop-up window that is not.Perhaps the question I should  be asking is, "How do I turn off this pop-up window when I boot my laptop"?

HP Recommended

Exact.same.thing is happening to me - and it makes me feel stabby.. 

 

I tried to find a setting that would disable it in the HP Support Assistant itself.  That didn't work.

I disabled the service.  That didn't work.

I chose "No" on the pop up - HP Support Assistant itself - and clicked the check mark.  Nope.

It's not to be found in msconfig - start up tab...and.... Nope.  Couldn't be that easy.

 

It seems to start at random for me - and then reappears when I don't make the choice it seems to want.

 

Any other ideas on fingering this out?

 

 

 

 

HP Recommended

Hey darkhorse123-- I suspect we have the same problem, though I experience it only when I boot up my laptop. I have done all the troubleshooting you have done, to the same end. It might help to share information about your system to see if our configurations have something in common. As I mentioned in my original post, I have a dvt6 Pavilion running Win7 (x64).

 

 

HP Recommended

setup.PNG

HP Recommended

This is what keeps showing up for me.  I've chosen "yes",  I've chosen "no" - always clicked "Ok" - and yet the evil pop up keeps coming back.    What I do know, is that I do not want add "Quick Access" to my Task bar.  If I can't find an answer I'm just going to destroy the HP Support Assistant totally.

 

grrrr.PNG

HP Recommended

You can uninstall it in control panel.

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