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I've noticed this happen at night randomly. My Windows 7 taskbar at the bottom of my personal laptop turns light blue for a bit, then after a while it goes back to its normal color.
At my company when an IT helpdesk guy remote connects to my work laptop (different laptop), the screen generally gets lighter: the taskbar becomes a light blue and borders of Windows and programs in general turn to a lighter shade.
Has my PC been hacked into? Is someone watching what I'm doing?
If I remember correctly, I think it's mainly happened when I'm downloading a large amount of files. However, I don't think it's my internet service provider because:
A) isn't that illegal to remote into a laptop without consent and
B) I download large quantities of files at various times of the day, yet this strange thing only happens at night.
I'm wondering if maybe it's a "fast download" state that my computer is hopping into when I'm downloading because it stops shortly after I'm done.
Alienware M17x R3
Windows 7 Home Premium
Service Pack 1
regular Windows updates
Avira anti-virus protection (free version though)
3Also, some programs will turn off Aero to speed themselves up. E.g., Screen sharing software like GoToMeeting will either ask the user or automatically disable Aero. – ps2goat – 2015-06-29T07:07:51.633
Are there still monitors (actually graphics cards) that don't support 32 bit (actually 24 bit) colour? – user253751 – 2015-06-29T08:20:23.770
2@user20574 I can set my display properties to High Color (16 bit) if I so choose ... that would disable Aero. – DavidPostill – 2015-06-29T08:46:19.800
None of your points suggests hacking! :> Your answer is "bad"! :~> – trejder – 2015-06-29T10:48:11.067
@DavidPostill Oh god... think about the amount of code Windows still contains to support that. (Actually, probably not too much. Now, if we were talking palette mode though...) – user253751 – 2015-06-29T10:59:30.380
3@trejder Your comment is covered by point 2. If the remote program (
RDP
,TeamViewer
, GoToMeetingor whatever) does not support Aero, then Aero will be disabled). If the
hack` program supports Aero then nothing will change. Turning Aero off does not mean there is a hack. – DavidPostill – 2015-06-29T11:07:06.633This happening at night is most certainly WinSAT kicking in. See my answer for details. – Xan – 2015-06-29T13:44:14.483
Thanks for the comment. I've updated my answer and acknowledged your contribution (as well as upvoting your answer). – DavidPostill – 2015-06-29T13:49:21.077