If my taskbar turns to a light blue color, does that mean I've been hacked?

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)

DarthVoid

Posted 2015-06-28T06:13:08.417

Reputation: 227

Answers

Why does the taskbar change color to light blue?

This can happen under the following circumstances:

Your machine is running low on resources. Windows may disable aero when this happens.
When you run a program that is not able to support Aero. Windows will change the theme to Windows Basic.
You are running dual monitors and one of the monitors is not set to 32 bit color depth. Windows requires 32 bit color depth on both monitors in order to support aero.
You are running a program that requires maximum performance and that program disables Aero - as pointed out in the answer by Xan.

DavidPostill

Posted 2015-06-28T06:13:08.417

Reputation: 118 938

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 thehack` program supports Aero then nothing will change. Turning Aero off does not mean there is a hack. – DavidPostill – 2015-06-29T11:07:06.633

This 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

Windows Aero is the premium design of Windows 7. It looks really pretty, like glass (Windows, get it?), and it exists for the sole purpose of showing off then-recent graphical advances. You're not being hacked. Windows is disabling Aero and trying to save itself from shutting down because downloads are so heavy! If you'd like to re-enable it, just follow these steps: http://www.nextofwindows.com/how-to-turn-aero-back-on-or-re-enable-it-after-being-disabled-in-windows-7 Hope this helped!!

SolidSnake859

Posted 2015-06-28T06:13:08.417

Reputation: 242

1Phew ok! That seems kind of a strange thing to do when it is also the symbol of when someone has remote connected to your PC, no? – DarthVoid – 2015-06-28T06:28:50.533

Yes, but just like @DavidPostill said, if you're running dual monitors and one of them isn't set to 32-bit color depth, Windows will compromise and disable Aero. – SolidSnake859 – 2015-06-28T06:43:36.043

11I don't think that is a sufficient explantion. Aero effects first and foremost consume GPU resources, neither a lot of main memory nor CPU. Also, no matter how harsh one downloads stuff, it is very difficult to get over 6-8% CPU usage and 20% or so (everything included, the actual downloading takes maybe 0.5%) RAM usage with just downloading some stuff. Unless this laptop is 20 years old, the idea of a download consuming too many system resources is just ridiculous. – Damon – 2015-06-28T08:25:58.573

@Damon True...I actually have the same problem every once in a while because my programs aren't compatible with Aero. When I run Fallout 3, for example, Windows gives me a message saying that the theme has been defaulted. I think our asker is probably perfectly happy with just my simple answer (since it'll work either way), but now my interest is piqued--what do you think the problem was? – SolidSnake859 – 2015-06-28T09:25:33.820

1When a game (say Fallout) switches to fullscreen, desktop effects are switched off, that's normal. About what causes the behavior on the OP's machine, I wouldn't know. Just saying that "downloading lots of files" doesn't provide a valid reason. Back in the days, I've used Pentium III computers with 64MB and run webservers on Pentium IIs with 8MB on a 100mbit/s internet link, no problem whatsoever (the malware built into Kazaa could very well bring a computer down back in the early 2000s, though - if running P2P services counts as "downloading a lot" - maybe that's just it). – Damon – 2015-06-28T11:05:13.577

I'd still be very sceptical here, especially if that didn't happen right from the installation. This really smells of some program being started that may well be malicious. – Simon Richter – 2015-06-28T12:20:00.500

@SimonRichter you're making me worried. I wouldn't say my laptop is that old either (prob around 4 years). It can handle a lot (16GB Ram), so I still feel like someone connected to my PC? To everyone: is there a program I can download that would notify me of suspicious activity? Although I think Windows is already supposed to tell you this, no? – DarthVoid – 2015-06-28T17:11:52.507

6@DarthVoid Aero turning off is not intended to indicate that someone has remotely connected. Rather, it happens because the remote desktop program doesn't support Aero, for whatever reason (for instance, with Microsoft RDP, connecting to Win 7 Pro machines doesn't support Aero; with other software, the necessary changes made to support remote desktops can slow the computer to the point where it must turn off Aero). Aero turning off is a side-effect of other things, not a security feature to let you know someone's connected in. – cpast – 2015-06-28T20:15:49.720

Yes, but it would never turn off because of system load -- there is no mechanism for that. That only happens because of a program starting, or (when configured to do so) when the AC power is pulled. – Simon Richter – 2015-06-29T19:15:56.630

This happening at night is a sign of WinSAT running on schedule.

For some unfathomable reason, Win7 thinks it's important to re-run performance checks every week to update Windows Experience Index "scores" you can see at System properties, regardless of whether your hardware changed at all.

As part of the process, it disables Aero to squeeze every last bit of performance for the test:

Aero Glass is deactivated on Windows Vista and Windows 7 during testing so the tool can properly assess the graphics card and CPU.

You can disable it if it bothers you (it sure bothered me!). In Windows 8 and higher they removed that jarring transition during the test.

Xan

Posted 2015-06-28T06:13:08.417

Reputation: 214

-2

Nope that doesnt mean that you are been hacked....when computer resources decreased ...windows 7 has ability to change into visual performence to increse over all performence of pc...and if you still have any dought...just switch to classic theme and taskbar color will be never changed

Nisarg

Posted 2015-06-28T06:13:08.417

Reputation: 1

Then what can I use as an indicator that I've been hacked/connected to? – DarthVoid – 2015-06-28T17:21:16.080

1First use defender or firewall comes pre installed and you can also use quickheal latest version to get secure against trojans which connects your computer to another computer....and you can use task manager to check if any suspective process running or not and in last use cmd command to get all port list...from there you can see all ports and also that where your computer is connected...simple – Nisarg – 2015-06-28T17:26:52.833

@DarthVoid You can safely assume you aren't being hacked. – gronostaj – 2015-06-28T20:49:35.153

If you like my answer you can give a vote or. Reputation to me thanks – Nisarg – 2015-06-29T01:40:00.270