Unexpected Interruptions: The Mystery of the Annoying “Did You Know” Alerts
If you’ve ever experienced a persistent nuisance on your computer that you just can’t seem to shake, you’ll relate to this peculiar incident I found myself tangled in recently. As an IT professional, I pride myself on troubleshooting tech-related issues, but I encountered a rather bizarre situation that had me scratching my head.
My Windows 10 laptop, which runs on version 20H2, began vocalizing random factoids every half hour. Picture this: I’m diligently working, and out of nowhere, my computer announces, “Did you know…” followed by some obscure trivia. It was everything from the peculiar nickname for a hairball to historical anecdotes about figures like Marie Antoinette. This odd behavior began to disrupt my workflow, making it increasingly difficult to focus.
Initially, I assumed that perhaps Cortana—my long-dormant digital assistant—was up to her old tricks. I had turned her off, anticipating a peaceful work environment, yet her voice persisted in reciting these unsolicited factoids. My quizzical searches online for solutions like “Did you know PC Speech” yielded nothing but irrelevant results. No extensions or unfamiliar programs had been added to my device recently, and all hotkeys were disabled.
Then, in a moment of clarity, I decided to take a closer look at everything running in the background. After a period of frustration and confusion, the mystery finally unraveled, and I discovered that this relentless trivia was the handiwork of a coworker who had pulled off a prank. They had created a batch file that executed every 15 minutes to read quotes from an XML file and cleverly scheduled it to run using a PowerShell script.
While I applaud the creativity, I must admit that being on the receiving end of such a prank caught me completely off guard—especially considering my background in IT. Lesson learned: always check for suspicious scripts lurking about, even when you least expect it.
So, if you ever find your own device delivering unsolicited tidbits of trivia, take a moment to investigate. You never know if an unsuspecting coworker is having a little fun at your expense!
Share this content:
