Occasionally hear screenshot sound while browsing - security issue?

January 30, 2017 8:50 AM

Windows 7 machine running Chrome and Firefox - I will occasionally heard the screenshot "click" sound when browsing, with no related utilities open. An unwanted visitor or something more innocuous? Is there any practical way to check?
posted by ryanshepard to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

Start with looking at your Control Panel -> Sounds to see if that sound is used for something else. Also, run a full virus scan if you haven't already. You might also try an Offline Scan.
posted by cnc at 9:44 AM on January 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

Microsoft used a little click sound for a bunch of things including IE, Explorer, and some of their utilities (including ones that run in the background, so they don't show up on the task bar). Things that used embedded HTML viewers would often make the noise as well. See if it's this noise:

http://www.ecommercepartners.net/blog/how-to-cancel-remove-the-internet-explorer-refresh-sound.html
http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f131/solved-im-using-firefox-but-hearing-the-ie-clicking-noise-259863.html
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=617140
posted by Candleman at 10:17 AM on January 30, 2017

Are you using 1Password? I found that mine would give that little click when it locked access, which was set for an hour or so after I last used it so it took me the longest time to make the connection between the two.

(If you don't use it, what else do you have running that changes state some time after you use it?)
posted by telophase at 11:06 AM on January 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

Next time you hear it, you could open the Event Viewer to see if there's anything there at that exact time that might be triggering an alert. (Hit Windows key, start typing 'event viewer', it should appear.)
posted by quinndexter at 7:57 PM on February 1, 2017