ThinkPad: Invisible “UNCServer” window… is in fact not the only sloppy “ThinkVantage System Update” programming #fail
Posted by jpluimers on 2012/06/11
I sometimes noticed a window in the Alt-Tab order called “UNCServer” that I could not switch to.
Recently I started a bit of digging, which was surprisingly easy as the first hit told me:
It is part of the ThinkVantage System Update program. Even if you close the program, the process UNCServer remains active.
UNCServer is started by the TVSU (ThinkVantage System Update) program, and keeps running even if TVSU has been closed, and should be fixed in a future update:
02-25-2011 05:20 AM
After installing and running the latest TV SU V4.00.0046 (Win 7 / 64), I now have a new semi-permanent application running in the background (does not appear on the taskbar but does appear when I switch tasksand as an app in Windows Task Manager): UNCServer.exe
This task will go away after a Windows RESTART and not reappear until another invocation / termination of TV SU.08-30-2011 03:27 PM
This will be fixed in a future update.
So UNCServer has an “invisble” window. not on the taskbar but in the Alt-Tab order and got introduced in februari 2011; clearly some sloppy programming and a real failure that it has not yet been fixed.
That is not the only sloppy thing: upon starting TVSU, it removes any UNCServer.exe related firewall rules, and adds new rules permitting inbound TCP/UDP traffic to UNCServer.exe; talking about a potential security leak!
when you start lenovo system update, two inbound rules are programmatically inserted in the firewall that permit inbound TCP and UDP traffic to UNCServer.exe. I have found no way to avoid this. Every time I run system update, I have to delete the two new rules by hand. Even if I create blocking rules to block inbound traffic to UNCServer.exe, system update will eliminate my rules (any rules regarding this exe) and create its own ones.
–jeroen
via:
- Invisible “UNCServer” window…What the heck is this?
- ThinkVantage System Update V4.00.0046 – Lenovo Community
- What is UNCServer.exe? – Lenovo Community
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 
Noah said
My question is this: why doesn’t it just run as a background program in the first place. I can open the task manager and see it, but once I close it, it stops running. And my second is what purpose did it originally serve in lenovo update?
jpluimers said
I have no idea. Since then I moved to Windows 8.1 without any Lenovo/IBM software on it. Works like a charm except for the fingerprint reader (:
Michel said
Precisely the reason I allways install Windows using an original Windows. So far, all manufacturer software I have tried and used only serves as bloatware that never ever made my life easier. Even on my Android phones!
jpluimers said
I do the same. Just made the mistake to install too much of the ThinkPad software afterwards (:
Lenovo System Update UNCServer.exe | MCB Systems said
[…] apparently it’s part of Lenovo System Update, as this article and this post confirm. The file is also digitally signed by […]