Why do Windows 10 foreground apps mysteriously launch as background processes?

Occasionally Task Manager shows that "Store", "Settings", and/or "Calculator" are mysteriously running as background processes.

There's no corresponding foreground application, just the background processes.
I haven't interactively run either during the current session.
Neither is listed in the "Everything" tab of AutoRuns.

As discussed in my answer to this SuperUser question, these two background processes cause a delay in executing Windows shortcut keys. But besides that, it's just plain weird.

Does anyone know why these foreground apps are mysteriously launching themselves as background processes?

And, ideally, how I can prevent it from happening? As discussed elsewhere (SuperUser and Thomas Vanhoutte), I could uninstall the Calculator and Store apps. But it seems like overkill to uninstall them just to defeat a shortcut key delay.

Andy Giesler

Posted 2015-08-16T20:29:32.083

Reputation: 1 051

Check in Start -> Settings -> Privacy >Background apps. If these apps are listed, set them to Off (more info).

– harrymc – 2015-08-20T06:26:18.363

+1 Great tip. Store is listed, so I unchecked it and we'll see how things go. Unfortunately Calculator isn't listed, so I expect that will continue to cause problems. I'm befuddled as to why Calculator (or Store) would randomly launch in the background. – Andy Giesler – 2015-08-20T14:21:49.627

Re "these two background processes cause a delay in executing Windows shortcut keys.", Another problem is that they show up in the list of running applications when using a virtual desktop managers like VirtuaWin, and the virtual desktop manager can make them become visible. Both of these things are annoying. – ikegami – 2018-02-10T00:34:35.517

Answers

Store probably runs for doing automatic update check.

To turn it off, go to Start -> Settings -> Privacy -> Background apps and set it to Off.
More info in the article: How to Turn On or Off Background Apps in Windows 10.

You might also in this case turn off automatically-applied updates by going to
Settings -> Update & Security -> Advanced options
and set "Choose how updates are installed", to "Notify to schedule restart."

For the calculator :

I believe that this Modern app is among those that Windows 10 tends to keep in memory if used once. It probably runs in suspended mode, using very little memory, ready to be launched quickly when called, which is more useful in a tablet than a computer.

Windows might forget about it if you kill it off a few times using the Task Manager before shutting down. If this works, I advise in the future to use a third-party calculator instead of the Modern one, or it will come back.

harrymc

Posted 2015-08-16T20:29:32.083

Reputation: 306 093

6The peculiar thing about Calculator is that more than once the following has happened: I start my computer, checked task manager, and confirm it's not running; then a while later I find it in the background even though I haven't run it during that session. – Andy Giesler – 2015-08-21T21:27:36.933

You could use Process Explorer to find in the Properties of the calculator its parent that launched it, but I assume you will find that it's a component of Windows. You can still uninstall the calculator as shown here, as it's not as essential as the Store, and use instead a third-party one or even the one from Windows 7 (Google for it).

– harrymc – 2015-08-22T06:39:04.363

Disabling the SuperFetch service can prevent applications from starting on their own.

We've found out that with SuperFetch running, some applications are started in the suspended state automatically once or twice an hour, even after you explicitly kill their processes. This happens for Windows Store/Modern UI/Metro apps like Photos, Calculator, Maps, Weather, Time and so on.

How to Disable SuperFetch

From the Command Line

Run this command under Administrator:

sc config sysmain start=disabled

Additionally, stop an already running SuperFetch:

sc stop sysmain

From the UI

Press Windows+R, type services.msc and press Enter.
Find SuperFetch in the list, and double-click it to open its properties.
Set Startup type to Disabled.
(Optional.) Click Stop to stop an already running SuperFetch.
Click OK to save the changes.

Helen

Posted 2015-08-16T20:29:32.083

Reputation: 480

SuperFetch does not "launch applications in background". Proof: You wil never find an application process created by the SuperFetch process. (The "process tree" view of Process Explorer will show you which processes created which other processes, at least as long as the creator is around.) – Jamie Hanrahan – 2015-09-10T10:05:40.097

@JamieHanrahan: OK I rephrased that. – Helen – 2015-09-10T13:18:10.900

2+1 - I was a little skeptical, but since disabling SuperFetch there hasn't been a single instance of my problematic apps (Calculator and Store) launching in the background. – Andy Giesler – 2016-01-03T19:53:56.383

1Is it a good idea to disable this though? It's meant to decrease boot time and make loading of applications more efficient. It's not entirely clear to me how it does it but since it's been around since Windows Vista I assume it's actually helping. – laurent – 2017-05-26T21:02:18.830

SuperFetch is a good thing, it uses idle time and idle RAM to pre-emptively load things into RAM. A fast OS should always have your RAM full of stuff you may use in the future: http://computertooslow.com/superfetch.asp

– Jonathan – 2018-12-12T22:22:25.223

1Just a note that major updates to Windows 10 will usually re-enable this service (among many other changes to previously-tuned settings). If you followed these instructions in the past and find recently that it's enabled again, it's probably due to a Windows update. – TylerH – 2019-02-24T20:06:51.880

As of this writing I notice the display name on Windows 10 has been changed to SysMain if you are looking to disable this service via the UI. – No Refunds No Returns – 2019-06-06T14:37:19.637

I too am seeing the shortcut key delay issue in Windows 10. I believe it is caused by any Metro app sitting in the "suspended" state (as reported by Process Explorer). I have seen it caused by the Photos app, Video app, Calendar app, etc, which seem to launch randomly by themselves as he OP reports.

So it seem the shortcut key delay issue a general issue with (most/all?) apps in the suspended state.

I have checked the Background apps setting in Privacy, but it does not list all the problem apps. E.g. the Calculator and Video apps are not listed there.

Reported on the Microsoft forum: 3 second delay when using shortcut key to launch program

My solution for now is to have a batch file which I can run on demand, killing problem processes using taskkill /f.

Donny

Posted 2015-08-16T20:29:32.083

Reputation: 31

Had the same problem, I had changed the settings of background apps, and it didn't change anything, the same apps were showing in the background and staying, the only way to shut them, was to start them and then shut them, then they would disappear from background.

I saw here that disabling superfetch was maybe the way...so I didn't do it. I just deleted all the files in prefetch folder (c://windows/prefetch/) so it would start anew.

All the subsequent restart of Windows have not shown the problematic background apps again.

Vincent B

Posted 2015-08-16T20:29:32.083

Reputation: 1