Getting Rid of Certain Screens at Startup

[Guest]

I just upgraded to XP Home from ME. I get 3 screens/messages after the
desktop has loaded.
1. "System" screen (showning contents of C:\Windows\System. I had this
problem with ME and could never get rid of it at startup.
2. "Office" message "X This application must be installed to run. Please
run Setup from the location where you originally installed the application."
I ran Setup from my Office (XP, Version 2002) Professional installation disk,
but the message remains on startup.
3. "Service" message "Windows cannot connect to the E-service button
hardware. WYou can still access E-system by double-clicking the desktop
icon. If restarting your system does not clear this problem, you can repair
it with E-Support. Detail: Bad namespace.

I would appreciate any tips on getting rid of these screens and messages so
that I don't have to close them manually at every startup.

Thanks in Advance

 

[Jone Doe]

Take the named programs out of the start up menu.

 

[Sharon F]

I just upgraded to XP Home from ME. I get 3 screens/messages after the
desktop has loaded.
1. "System" screen (showning contents of C:\Windows\System. I had this
problem with ME and could never get rid of it at startup.
2. "Office" message "X This application must be installed to run. Please
run Setup from the location where you originally installed the application."
I ran Setup from my Office (XP, Version 2002) Professional installation disk,
but the message remains on startup.
3. "Service" message "Windows cannot connect to the E-service button
hardware. WYou can still access E-system by double-clicking the desktop
icon. If restarting your system does not clear this problem, you can repair
it with E-Support. Detail: Bad namespace.

I would appreciate any tips on getting rid of these screens and messages so
that I don't have to close them manually at every startup.

Thanks in Advance

1) Look closely at startup entries (paths for startup programs listed in
the registry, target paths of shortcuts in startup folder, etc). If you
find a path that contains spaces or that exceeds 8 characters, enclose the
path in quotes. Since Windows is showing you the Windows\System folder,
that is as far as it can follow the path. Assuming you boot from C: and
Windows is installed there, the item you're looking for starts with
C:\Windows\System\some program name here
when found, change it to
"C:\Windows\System\some program name here"

2) Start the computer with your Office CD in the cdrom drive. If it's the
same drive and drive letter that you originally installed Office from, the
installer will grab the necessary files as it needs them. Alternatively,
run Office setup but instead of reinstalling, use the Repair option.

3) Your Win98 system had a program named Ebuttons that loaded at startup
and the program had "name space" references within the operating system
that no longer apply (message states: bad namespace).

Other name space items on the desktop are things like Recycle Bin, My
Computer - "system shortcuts," behaving similar to regular shortcuts but
handled in a different way by the operating system. Reinstalling the
Ebutton software should rebuild the necessary registry entries.

NOTE: If this was for OEM support software that shipped with your previous
operating system, there may not be an XP package available to you. You
could check with the manufacturer to find out for sure. If not available,
you'll want to remove vestiges of that program from the startup (use
MSCONFIG), the file system and from the registry. I doubt that Add/Remove
Programs will work at this point of the game but it's worth a try. If it
fails, you'll need to do this manually. Tread cautiously when pruning the
program and its references.

 

[Guest]

Sharon,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my inquiry. I apologize for my
naivete, but could you please tell me how to find the startup entries you
mention in your response to problem 1. In other words, I need to know how to
find the startup programs in the registry and the paths of shortcuts in the
startup folder. Also, I assume that when you state that the path should not
exceed 8 characters, you mean that the program name should not exceed 8
characters, right?

Thanks in advance,
Ron

 

[Sharon F]

Sharon,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my inquiry. I apologize for my
naivete, but could you please tell me how to find the startup entries you
mention in your response to problem 1. In other words, I need to know how to
find the startup programs in the registry and the paths of shortcuts in the
startup folder.

If you're familiar with the Registry, you can browse through the various
RUN, RUNONCE, RUNONCEEX keys.

Or

use Start> Run> MSCONFIG> Startup or Start> (All) Programs> Accessories>
System Tools> System Information> Software Environment> Startup to get a
list of startup programs. This list includes the location of the call to
run at startup - you'll see a path for a registry key or a path to a file.
Follow the path. Examine the item for complete sets of quotes around extra
long paths. Edit if necessary.

To check the paths of startup shortcuts, click Start> (All) Programs>
Startup. If there is a shortcut here, right click on it and select
Properties. In the properties sheets, you'll see the "Target" path listed.

Also, I assume that when you state that the path should not
exceed 8 characters, you mean that the program name should not exceed 8
characters, right?

Yes, thanks for catching that. Any segment of the path that's longer than 8
characters (portions in between the \ marks) including the file name at the
end.

 

[Guest]

Sharon,

Thanks for your help. I ran MSCONFIG and found a C:\\Windows\System line
with no program called out. I deleted that line and that fixed the "System"
screen I was getting. I then went to my Programs list and deleted all the
unnecessary items in my Startup folder. Some of them went back a few years
with my ME installation and were no longer used. I think the only things
left there now are Office and Works. Anyway, that took care of the other two
error messages. What a pleasure now to startup and only have my desktop to
look at. Thanks again for your help!

Ron

 

[Sharon F]

Sharon,

Thanks for your help. I ran MSCONFIG and found a C:\\Windows\System line
with no program called out. I deleted that line and that fixed the "System"
screen I was getting. I then went to my Programs list and deleted all the
unnecessary items in my Startup folder. Some of them went back a few years
with my ME installation and were no longer used. I think the only things
left there now are Office and Works. Anyway, that took care of the other two
error messages. What a pleasure now to startup and only have my desktop to
look at. Thanks again for your help!

You're welcome and thanks for the feedback that this is now fixed and
working the way that you want it to.