command screens after startup - malware?

[Former Member]

For some time now, my laptop has been getting slower, and it's getting worse. Recently, I've noticed that after restarting my computer (Win10), a minute or two after the desktop comes up two command screens pop up, issue commands, and go away. This happens too fast for me to scrutinize the command, but it's a single command-line entry with lots of parameters. McAfee scans don't find any problems (nor does Malwarebytes). Where can I look to see if this is malware, or to otherwise diagnose what's happening?

[dvarnell]

Hi plantrob,

To  help identify what these instances of CMD might be doing, you can utilize the free Sysinternals Process Monitor tool (external link) with the Boot Logging feature to capture a trace of process execution upon booting. 

Here is a good article (external link) on how to use this feature.

Hope this helps!

[Former Member]

Thanks! I think (hope) I was able to resolve the problem by removing entries in the startup folder as well as the task scheduler, but if the bugger returns I'll be sure to give this a try.