AVG antivirus has a LinkScanner that intercepts this process and it sometimes fails (many reports on the net if you google it). It occurred for me in AVG 8.5 and I was hoping that AVG 9.0 would address the issue but it appears to be worse
To disable:
- Double-click your AVG tray icon (bottom right of screen near the clock)
- Double-click Link Scanner
- Untick the checkboxes under settings
- Click Save Changes.
To remove yellow exclamation alert mark off the AVG tray icon:
- Double-click your AVG tray icon
- Go to Tools menu, then Advanced settings
- Click Ignore Faulty Conditions
- Tick LinkScanner
- Press OK.
Daz