Vsserv.exe Clears Windows Explorer Balloontips Registry Entry On Startup

pdrexel

A recent update to vsserv,exe resets the the following registry item to zero

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\EnableBalloonTips

This causes notifications (e.g., USB device safe to remove) to NOT appear. vsserv.exe should NOT be changing Windows registry entries.

I have attached a screen capture from Microsoft's Process Monitor showing the smoking gun.

I have raised a ticket #2016062216220003 and I am going through the usual hassles. Support have asked me to run supporttool_2015.exe, but it appears to be hanging.

If anyone knows of a configuration change that will fix this, please share.

Unknown

EnableBalloonTips is not a standard registry DWORD. It must be added manually or is written by a "tweaking" utility upon selection by the user. Otherwise known as a "registry hack," the real smoking gun.

You can google HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\EnableBalloonTips and verify this DWORD as the result of inquiries to disable of balloon tips. The results that rise to the top are from Microsoft itself.

As to why vsserve.exe behaves in that way remains to be answered. Except that I would prefer their support crew to work on real issues.

IMHO, you should just remove the DWORD, reboot and observe. You can always put it back.

Cheers.

 

I forgot to mention, balloon tips are not notifications.

The behavior of notifications is determined by the Notification Area Icons Control Panel.

So your USB device safe to remove, etc. are safe.

Sorin G.

Hello,

Balloon Tooltips are disabled by the Bitdefender profiles which is a FAD. Profiles are designed to improve the performance of the computer and disable any elements that may interrupt your profile-specific activity (work, movie, game), including balloon tooltips.

If you do not wish to have them disabled either turn off Bitdefender profiles from Bitdefender > Modules > Tools > Profiles, or make sure your profile is set to Standard when you wish to have balloon tooltips.

Also as dallas7 mentioned this key is just for the balloon notifications and your systray icons are safe.

pdrexel

Thanks Sorin. I turned off autopilot and, with the standard profile, I have my "Safe to remove" back again. The registry key is now set to one. I have been using BitDefender products for many years now and this is the first I have come across this issue, And, it was not the case a few weeks ago.

Dallas7, before receiving Sorin's advice, I tried what you commanded (er, recommended), deleting the registry key, and found that it came back on reboot.Oh and as far as Windows Explorer is concerned, despite being called EnableBalloonTips, the safe to remove "notification" did not appear when the key was zero.

The whole reason I noticed this issue is because the "safe to remove" suddenly stopped working a few weeks ago. Perhaps a Microsoft update redefined the meaning of the key to include notifications, or at least the "safe to remove" particular notification.