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Somehow I got a window which I can't close. It's unclickable, floats above other windows and I don't know which process it belongs to.

Using Process Explorer's crosshair tool does not help, because it identifies the window which is at that monent behind this window. So if a browser is behind it, then crosshair returns the browser process, if the desktop then the desktop, etc.

Is there an other way than process explorer to identify it?

See the screenshot. It's the transparent window with the question mark.

enter image description here

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  • possible duplicate of How do you remove ghost menu items in Windows 7?
    – DavidPostill
    Feb 15, 2015 at 8:58
  • @DavidPostill it's not a menu, it's a window. I tried start/stopping Desktop Window Manager Session Manager though, as it suggested in the answers, but it did not help. It looks like it belongs to a living process and that's why it doesn't disappear.
    – Tom
    Feb 15, 2015 at 9:04
  • Also tried to change the resolution. No effect.
    – Tom
    Feb 15, 2015 at 9:07
  • I'd start by going about it a little differently. check for unfamiliar items in sysinternals autoruns, and in your task scheduler. something has to be starting it. review the properties of any apps that seem related to the window contents. Also, you might want to update or reinstall your vid card driver, just in case it is a ghost. Feb 15, 2015 at 10:06
  • I forgot about this ghost window (I got used to it being there) and I suddenly noticed it's not there anymore. I didn't notice when it went away and why. I leave the question here nevertheless in case people have further ideas what process it belonged to.
    – Tom
    Feb 15, 2015 at 10:59

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It looks like the ghost icon that appears when you drag a list item in Windows Explorer. That's the icon usually used for a Compiled HTML Help (CHM) file. Were you by any chance dragging a CHM file in Windows Explorer?

If it happens again, try killing explorer.exe and see if it goes away. If you're running the Desktop Window Manager and killing explorer.exe doesn't help, you may want to try forcibly killing the process (not just restarting the service).

There are some instances when an outside action causes focus to be transferred to another application, effectively canceling the drag operation. For some reason, depending on the operation (or possibly the position of the stars and planets), Windows Explorer doesn't realize this, and the "ghost" of the dragged item remains visible.

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