Windows explorer crashing, etc

[winprob71]

I have some serious problems which cause a lot of trouble for my work.
1) Irregularly but nearly every day I can't open files. sometimes I can open a folder but not the files within. If I have an open file, I can't move it to make room for another window. Uusally simultaneously Windows opens literally 100s of internet pages, all windows help or bing something. Restarting doesn't stop this--only holding down the power button until hearing 'click'. I have to do this at least once a day.
2) A kind of work around that sometimes works is to turn off my modem, then just one window opens telling me to connect to the internet. This page can't be closed or minimized (as the browser can't in (1)) but it can be slid out of the way to the edge.
3) This can also affect my publishing program, which opens a 'we can't open help' window which blocks access to my work. Hold down the power button.
4) A separate but also frequent problem is dimming down the screen to 0%. I have set everything under power options, auto-dimming etc but once again the only thing to stop it is---hold down the power button. I do often try ctrl+alt+delete but it has mixed success and can take 5 minutes.

Any ideas, please?

 

[Saltgrass]

I think most folks would feel you have some type of virus/malware/exploit on your system. I went to a site the other day which was about vison loss and I got a primary window, which I could not close, along with others popping up from the same site. The system was also freezing so I could not open other windows, like Task Manager.

If you get the system to reboot, depending on what you may still have on that system, possibly an add-on of some type has been added to your browser. There used to be things called Browser helper objects (BHO) which would take over your browser. I would check for that as well as removing any history where some previous site is being stored.

But running a good anti-virus may find the problem. If you have run a complete scan using Windows Defender, did it show anything? Do you have another anti-virus you could check?

Keeping Task Manager or the Resource monitor open may allow you to see what is happening.

Other will probably have more advise as to a specific anti-virus to address the exact situation.