I've got a family member who's really struggling with their Windows 11 laptop. Every time they start it up, a full-screen overlay appears with flashy buttons and animations, urging them to purchase an Office license and asking for credit card information. I've advised them to try the usual shortcuts like CTRL+ALT+DELETE to access the task manager, but the overlay blocks it. Even opening File Explorer with the Windows key doesn't work, as the overlay just covers it right away. Restarting the laptop just makes the overlay come back. I'm planning to take a closer look at the laptop when they bring it to my place tomorrow. In the meantime, I couldn't find much online about this issue. Has anyone seen something like this before, and is there any potential fix?
4 Answers
It sounds like your family member's laptop might be infected with some malware or a rogue program. I recommend using the Windows 11 Media Creation Tool to create a USB drive and perform a clean install of Windows 11. A clean install is the best way to ensure any malicious software is completely removed.
Most likely, this issue arises from accidentally allowing notifications from a suspicious site. I'd suggest searching for how to disable notifications in the specific browser they're using and removing any sites from the allowed list. Those notifications can lead to these kinds of overlays.
I’ve seen this often. 99% of the time, it starts with the user clicking on something they shouldn’t have. It's important to educate them that websites won't warn you about malware, so they need to avoid such notifications in the future.
Don't forget to boot the laptop in safe mode first if it allows you. Sometimes that can help you access the settings to remove any pesky programs. You might also want to check for any odd programs in the startup tasks and disable unnecessary ones.
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