On Jan 6, 12:57 pm, "David C. Holley" <David.C.Holley> wrote:
> I've checked both and can't see any 'Autorun features' on the two offending
> applications.
>
> "John John - MVP" <audetw...@nbnot.nb.ca> wrote in messagenews:uU2BsAmjKHA.2260@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>
>
>
> > The best way is to go in the applications themselves and find the option
> > to have it run at boot time and disable it from there. If you can't find
> > it in the application's options you can try these:
>
> >http://codestuff.tripod.com/
>
> >http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx
> > Autoruns for Windows
>
> > Be *very* careful with Autoruns, don't disable things that you are unsure
> > of as this might prevent you from successfully booting the computer!
>
> > John
>
> > David C. Holley wrote:
> >> There seem to be a couple of apps that are starting automatically at
> >> startup. I've check the startup folder and don't see them in there. I did
> >> have a registry utility which listed several of them as running at start
> >> up - I'm assuming based on keys in the registry.
>
> >> How would I stop them from running automatically?
If you are not using the offending programs, uninstall them.
If you use them once in a while, see if they have a configuration
option to prevent them from running with Windows starts.
If you ca't figure it out and know the name of the program, state it
clearly and somebody will know what to do.
Even if you could find them in msconfig, and "uncheck" them, that
merely disables the item by moving it to another part of the registry
so it won't start again. msconfig was meant to be used as a
troubleshooting tool, not a startup manager.
Offending unchecked programs will still display and leave behind their
installed leftover folders, files, registry and msconfig entries you
don't need. They may not impact your system performance but can
become annoying. The next question is often "how do I remove
unchecked items from msconfig". Not difficult, but it doesn't have to
be.
msconfig also does not list everything that could possibly run at
startup. It lists the "usual" places.
One good thing about msconfig is that is is easy to turn things off
and on for testing and then decide to actually remove the startup
items the proper way (which is not with msconfig). If any
modifications are made with msconfig, you will be reminded that a
system configuration change was made the next time you reboot.
Respond appropriately to not see that message on the next reboot.
An achievable goal is to have a complete empty Startup tab is
msconfig.
StartupCPL is one of several third party tools you can download and
install, but it doesn't tell you anything you can't find out another
way without installing anything. It just looks better and is more
convenient. When you are done using it, it is still installed.
StartupCPL also (I installed it today) listed things on my computer
that I know are not installed. I don't know where it is getting the
information it displays for some of the things, but it is very clearly
wrong. Maybe it used to work differently... but I don't feel like
tracking it down since I will never use StartupCPL for anything.
StartupCPL also has not been updated since January 2003. I would say
it is bordering on obsolete.
The most effective way to manage startup items is with Autoruns from
Microsoft TechNet. It will show you probably more information than
you need to know, but you will surely find every startup item and can
decide what to do about it. It can be a little overwhelming at first
with all the information. It does not install anything on your system
- it runs on demand, then unloads itself.
With Autoruns you can disable items like you can with msconfig, test,
enable again if you need to. Or you can totally delete the startup
item when you are sure you don't need it. There is no undo or quit
without saving for deletes when using Autoruns though. Deleting an
item also does not uninstall the program. It just keeps it from
starting.
You can download Autoruns from the Microsoft TechNet:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx
Download and launch Autoruns and wait for it to finish scanning your
system.
When Autoruns is finished scanning, it will say Ready at the bottom.
Look through the list of startup items and find the one related to
your situation, check or clear the box next to the item to enable/
disable the item and test your system (reboot). When you are sure,
you can right-click the entry and choose to delete it if you want.
There is no undo or quit without saving for deletes when using
Autoruns.
There are a lot of startup items that get installed over time with
other programs you need to use. You may not need all the startup
items that go with the program though. They consume memory and CPU
resources that could be used on other things you need. If you don't
need a configured item, you should at least keep it from starting.
Many changes you make with these methods will involve the Windows
Registry, so you should make a copy of it before making any changes in
case something goes wrong. You could also make all the same changes
by editing the registry yourself. Here is a popular free tool to
backup your registry:
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/
If you are not sure about a particular startup item, provide more
details about exactly what it is and not vague hints like "some
items...". Say what the item is. The chances are good if there is
some secret to be known, somebody here will know about it.
Malicious software can also add items to your startup process and you
may be able to find and uncheck them with msconfig (maybe), but that
does not remove the malicious software. Autoruns is the best choice
for lingering startup items after removing malicious software.
Perform some scans for malicious software, then fix any remaining
issues:
Download, install, update and do a full scan with these free malware
detection programs:
Malwarebytes (MBAM):
http://malwarebytes.org/
SUPERAntiSpyware: (SAS):
http://www.superantispyware.com/
They can be uninstalled later if desired.