Startup Folder

[GLOOPS]

You might try a system restore,  It sounds like you are badly in need of a clean install of Windows and you really need to learn to never install 3rd party applications that fix things (it is very similar to investing your retirement in a Vegas slot machine).

If you want to try a system restore I highly recommend booting from a Windows install disk to do it or if you don't have one create a different admin account other than your normal one from witch to run it (system restore occasionally hoses up the user account you run it from)

If all works well (and you have good restore points in the right date range) you can jump back in time to that happy place before you installed the app.

Thanks

Mike

This gizmo is from a good monthly magazine that I get.    I trust it some but who knows what you can trust these days bud ?       

[GLOOPS]

Did you check the registry locations I mentioned above?

Alan I am a bit foggy here mate I did a 'regedit' but I must confess to not being able to follow completely.  Where is HKLM and HKCU please? 

[GLOOPS]

Alan I am a bit foggy here mate I did a 'regedit' but I must confess to not being able to follow completely.  Where is HKLM and HKCU please? 

Yes Alan I have just done this now.  There is a reference to my virus checker in the HKLM scection but no reference to anything else in either section buddy ?   

[Allan]

Okay, so the only startup entry you see in the registry is for your AV. Then I must admit I'm at a bit of a loss as to why your startup folder is opening at boot.

[GLOOPS]

I have just tried to do a Windows Restore via my Win 7 istalation disk ...I have quite a number of points and I have tried more than one but to no avail guys!   

(You know, if you read my past threads, you will note that I have been in this kind of position more than once.    At every one of those positions system restore has let me down,  ..just as it is now on this occasion.   I have a STACK of restore pionts and NONE of them will 'kick in'!    So much for the program, it ought to be named SYSTEM NO-RESTORE! )    

[Allan]

I have never been a fan of System Restore. When it works, it's great. Unfortunately, it seems when you need it most it fails. Instead I've long been an advocate of Disc Imaging. I feel EVERYONE should utilize disc imaging software on a regular basis. Here's something I put together a while ago for another site:

Disk Imaging software takes a "snapshot" of your drive as it exists at the time you create the image. You can then restore the entire image or any file(s) or folder(s) you choose. It is a virtually foolproof way of backing up your system and providing a safe haven in the event of a catastrophe that requires you to blow away your system partition and restore it to a previous state. It also allows you to "test" various software and be confident that you have a the ability to return to the prior state any time you choose.

 
I use Acronis True Image. It is the best of breed, but it isn't free. The best free alternative is Macrium Reflect.


1) I create an image of my system partition once a week to a second hard drive and keep the 2 or 3 most recent images. I also image my other partitions about once a month. I always enable "verify image" in the options. It takes a little longer, but insures a valid image.

2) I also create an image before performing any drive level function (ie, changing the size of a partition) or making any significant change to the OS (installing a service pack, upgrading IE, etc). Also sometimes before installing new software.

3) Images may be created on any medium (cd, dvd, external drive, etc). For obvious reasons they should not be stored on the same drive you are imaging. The best option is a second internal hd if you have one.

4) Images may be created "in the background" within the OS. If you need to restore the system partition, that will need to be done before the OS loads. You can start the process within the application in the OS and it will then tell you it needs to reboot to finish the process. Alternatively, you can boot to a "recovery disk" which you can create when you first install the software (or to the application disk itself if you have one). Other partitions can be restored without a reboot.

[Salmon Trout]

I totally agree that disc imaging is preferable to System Restore, and as a Windows 7 user for 3 years now, I could point out that if the version (Vista or 7) is above Home Premium disc imaging is built in.

[jason2074]

Download Autoruns
After extracting, double click autoruns and go to File - Save - Filename : Autoruns
Save as type : Text. Copy and Paste the text on your next reply.

[GLOOPS]

I have never been a fan of System Restore. When it works, it's great. Unfortunately, it seems when you need it most it fails. Instead I've long been an advocate of Disc Imaging. I feel EVERYONE should utilize disc imaging software on a regular basis. Here's something I put together a while ago for another site

I heartily agree Allan, and yous guys, .. I too use Acronis, I have an image taken about a week ago and I shall us this today.     I try to do an image on a weekly basis and was about to do one when this problem occured. LOL    So much for System Restore guys!      

What's this with 'Autoruns' then ?    

[Allan]

Autoruns will provide a comprehensive list of everything that loads with your system. It's not a bad idea to look at it, though if you have an image that's a week old you're probably better off just restoring that.

[patio]

Autoruns Link broken...

Updated Link...

[GLOOPS]

Have got Autoruns, but it will not copy up here guys???

[GLOOPS]

WHOOPEEE!   That Autoruns has done it for me guys!           Thanks Jason2074 Great Stuff!       

I ran Autoruns and it is a great gizmo guys!   Under the 'Logon' section there was my antivirus and this " XP...somthing" file, that was coloured yellow.    It was registering 0 with a 'no informatin' tag!
 
I KNEW that this was the bugger that was causing my agro ..so I have deleted and rebooted and it has GONE guys! WHOOPEE!   

Please excuse my exuberence fella's you seldom fail me up here!  A BIG THANKS TO ALL OF YER BUDDY'S!      

[patio]

Meanwhile start throwin those magazine CD's in the Dumpster....
When you need a specidic Free app just check in here...     

[GLOOPS]

Meanwhile start throwin those magazine CD's in the Dumpster....
When you need a specidic Free app just check in here...     

The problem is Patio, the learning curves that we all have to walk.   In my computer learning curve, I have found that a regular monthly magazine can go, and HAS gone a long way with me in my experience and computer knowledge.  I picked out one that seems the most informative and I have stuck with the same mag for the last couple of years now.  I am not saying that I know anything near what you guys know, but I have learnt a lot via this mag.     

Like most mags, they issue a free CD, stacked full of programs (usually covered in the mag).    I have had very little trouble in the past bud. 

The trouble with apps, is that one does not know they are there, until someone points them out!  Good magazines keep abreast of the latest aplications and gizmos as a matter of course, so for me they are a necessety on the learning road .. to me at any rate. 

However, there is a danger that mag readers need to now about and that I now have been fully alerted to.        So I shall endevour to tread more carfully in the future.   

I shall check up here is the future too, as you suggest, 'before' the event, wherever I can ..rest assured on that my good freind.        

I MUST thank each and every one of you for your helping hands in this matter. 

(May the wind always fill your sails and not your trousers lads! LOL)