How to fix cscript.exe popup

Question

How to fix cscript.exe popup

Abbey Hewitt 0

I am having this issue with a popup that is getting in the way of my games and daily tasksly tasks, although the box shows up very quickly and then goes away before I can interact with it. I was able to see that it says "C:\WINDOWS\system32\cscript.exe." I have been told to try Autoruns, but I have not been able to go further because I'm not sure what to do next. I will provide screenshots of both the Logon and Scheduled Tasks portions of Autoruns. User's image

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Answer 1

_AW_ 70,246 Volunteer Moderator

There's nothing listed in the log that is immediately invoking cscript.

It's likely a scheduled task, possibly the ASUS Promotion task with an executable from 2018. You could try unchecking that entry from an admin Autoruns.

If cscript still opens, note the time then open Windows PowerShell and copy/paste/run the following command:

Get-ScheduledTask | Select URI, TaskName, @{n='LastRunTime'; e={(Get-ScheduledTaskInfo -TaskName $_.URI).LastRunTime}}, @{n='Execute'; e={$_.Actions.Execute}}, @{n='Arguments'; e={$_.Actions.Arguments}} | Sort LastRunTime -Descending | ogv

Maximize the resulting grid view. That will show all the recently run tasks in descending order.

Abbey Hewitt 0 Reputation points

2026-11-12T08:14:37.59+00:00

Alright, I have unchecked it in Autoruns, and I will save this cmd if I see it again and run it; otherwise, I will play around for a bit and see if it comes back. Thank you for your help, and I'll message back here if I have more issues. :)
_AW_ 70,246 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-11-12T08:30:48.4466667+00:00

Please let me know how things go.
Abbey Hewitt 0 Reputation points

2026-11-12T22:47:34.16+00:00

I was unable to figure out anything from what you suggested, I god Process Explorer and I was able to catch the window before it vanished and it is telling me that this is it.
Abbey Hewitt 0 Reputation points

2026-11-12T22:50:34.3133333+00:00

Here are a few ss of the information I was able to find, let me know if there is anything else you may need.
Abbey Hewitt 0 Reputation points

2026-11-12T23:09:17.63+00:00

nevermind ignore that, didnt work
_AW_ 70,246 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-11-13T00:06:41.59+00:00

Did the PowerShell command show any task starting around the time of cscript? How often time wise does this cscript popup happen?

Answer 2

_AW_ 70,246 Volunteer Moderator

Could you share an Autoruns log on OneDrive, Google Drive or gofile.io?

To get the log, wait until Autoruns finishes scanning then go to File -> Save

Share the saved *.arn file.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/share-onedrive-files-and-folders-9fcc2f7d-de0c-4cec-93b0-a82024800c07

Abbey Hewitt 0 Reputation points

2026-11-12T02:55:32.3233333+00:00

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RHuU9lu7HIXJZ2vHxVbJr1GR8Im26XBG/view?usp=sharing

Here is the link to it on Google Drive
_AW_ 70,246 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-11-12T03:14:22.8733333+00:00

I think you shared the wrong file, that's a zip file containing an aqueduct folder.
Abbey Hewitt 0 Reputation points

2026-11-12T03:47:41.4933333+00:00

My appoligies I copied the wrong one lol! here it is https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C5pqF0zGQQPQ378dv0kaGH_GmhwK4Rgi/view?usp=sharing
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