Weird edge related thing opens in my default browser--no-startup-window%20--edge-reporting-task

Hi Toby,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

I'm Hahn and I'm here to help you with your concern.

I'm sorry to hear that you are having trouble with your default browser. It sounds like you are experiencing a bug in Microsoft Edge that causes it to launch itself at logon and open a new tab with a random URL.

To troubleshoot this:

1. Check Startup Programs: Sometimes, programs set themselves to run at startup without your knowledge. Check your startup programs to see if anything suspicious is listed there.

2. System Logs: Check your system logs for any errors or warnings around the time the browser tab opens. This might give you some clues.

3. Check Scheduled Tasks:

- Open Task Scheduler (you can search for it in the Start menu), and look for any tasks that might be related to this behavior. Check for any task that might be triggering the browser to open that specific URL and disable or delete it if found.

5. Clear Browser Data:

- If the issue persists and seems to be browser-related, try clearing the cache, cookies, and browsing history in your default browser.

Disclaimer: Your browser automatically saves temporary internet files to help pages load faster. Clearing this cache will sometimes fix website issues. Please back up all your personal files first, such as Favorites, to ensure you do not lose data.

6. Reset Browser Settings:

- Consider resetting your default browser to its default settings, as some extensions or settings might be causing this behavior.

7. A "clean boot" starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs, so that you can determine whether a background program is interfering with your game or program. How to perform a clean boot in Windows - Microsoft Support

Hopefully, one of these steps will help identify and resolve the issue with the mysterious browser tab opening on startup.  If there is anything not clear, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Your Sincerely

Hahn - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Hi Toby,

I did some digging, and it looks like there are several entries in Task Scheduler (taskschd.msc) that pertain to MS Edge:

• MicrosoftEdgeReportingTaskMachine

• MicrosoftEdgeUpdateTaskMachineCore

• MicrosoftEdgeUpdateTaskMachineUA

It seems that "MicrosoftEdgeReportingTaskMachine", would be the culprit here. I disabled the MicrosoftEdgeReportingTaskMachine scheduled task, and that annoying behavior seems to have gone away (Right-click the name of the task to disable it).

Optionally, you can take the opportunity to disable all of the tasks that start with MSEdge* if you like (as long as you do not use the Edge browser).

If you have any questions/concerns/feedback, please let me know! I hope this helps!

Kind regards,

Andrew

I'm having the same issue, however, you say it is "MicrosoftEdgeReportingTaskMachine".... but you don't give direction on how to find "MicrosoftEdgeReportingTaskMachine".

How about telling us how to remove Edge completely. No one likes using Edge. Time to give up on the browser all together.

Henry

Hi Henry, thanks for the feedback. Unlike Hahn up there, I don't actually work for MS, and am sad that I have no idea how to rip out Edge in an effective manner (I do not like it either). I found this thread online yesterday, and wanted to contribute the results of my little experiment.

Here are my steps taken... if you do not see the screenshots, please let me know.

1) Open the Run dialog - Right click the Start button > Run, or press Win+R together.

2) Type taskschd.msc and press Enter - to open Task Scheduler

3) When the Task Scheduler opens, it should default to showing the Task Scheduler Local > Task Scheduler Library -

If not, select this from the sidebar on the left.

4) Select the MicrosoftEdgeReportingTaskMachine entry, then right-click it > Disable. You can do this for the other MSEdge* tasks, too.

5) Maybe this isn't needed, but I rebooted after disabling the services.

Hope this helps! :-)

Andrew

Thank you!!! I appreciate it, and I disabled.

Thank You, That seems to be it. One step closer to my quest of banishing edge off the face of the earth

I wish MSFT would stop trying to make Edge/Cortana/CoPilot/Bing a thing. They suck!!!

My pleasure! If you want to eradicate Edge, I'd suggest a flamethrower. Or Linux. ;-)

From my understanding, half of the changes we make to stop this stuff reverts after a Windows Update cycle anyway.

Have a great weekend!

Andrew

Suspicion confirmed: After a Windows Update and subsequent reboot, the tasks and popups are back. Ugh.

Here is a PowerShell scriptlet to auto-disable these "features." Run it as Administrator whenever you see a popup.

1) Press Win+X together, or right-click the Start button > Terminal (Admin) - You may also see this as PowerShell (Admin)

2) Type or copy/paste the following and press Enter:

Get-ScheduledTask -TaskName MicrosoftEdge* | Disable-ScheduledTask

3) You should see the following output that shows each task with State: Disabled

4) Task Scheduler will also reflect this (press Win+R together > type taskschd.msc)

Hope this helps! :-)

Andrew