Hi Gavin - There are several approaches you can use to make controlling the
Startup process easier in Win2k.
1) If you still have access to it, you can move a copy of the Win98 msconfig
to your \System\ folder and it will work - just ignore any complaints it
makes.
2) Much better, you can go here:
http://www.thetechguide.com/downloads.html (XP Version which works in Win2k
just fine) or here:
http://www.3feetunder.com/files/win2K_msconfig_setup.exe Recommended (stated
to be a Win2k Version - probably the same as the XP) or here:
http://www.techadvice.com/win2000/m/msconfig_w2k.htm and download msconfig.
3) As good, but different, is to go here:
http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml and get Mike Lin's Startup Control
Panel applet. Recommended. A somewhat more difficult to use but more
extensive program to do the same thing is StartupList from here:
http://www.lurkhere.com/~nicefiles/index.html, or even better, Autoruns from
here:
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/autoruns.shtml. This one
shows many additional useful/critical Registry entries. Recommended.
Be very careful about doing any Registry modifications directly unless
you're comfortable with this, and be sure that you BACKUP your Registry
before making any changes, so that you can recover if something goes wrong.
Get Erunt here for all NT-based computers including XP:
http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/ I've set it up to take a
scheduled backup each night at 12:01AM on a weekly round-robin basis, and a
Monthly on the 1st of each month. See here for how to set that up:
http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/erunt.txt, and for some
useful information about this subject. The following tutorials are useful:
Installing & Using ERUNT
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_eruntuse.html
To see an illustrated registry restore procedure
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_erdntuse.html
Changes made with StartUpCPL are less likely to cause problems, and are
usually a matter of just re-enabling the particular program. Another
program of this type that I can recommend is StartMan, free. You'll have to
get it here:
http://www.pt.lu/comnet/files/utils/startman10396.exe, as the
pcforest site is, sadly, no longer in business. Another such free program
that I can highly recommend is StartupRun, here:
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/strun.html, particularly if you suspect malware
problems - it has a lot of useful info including file creation dates. And
finally, StartupCop, here is excellent and allows you to set up multiple
"startup profiles":
http://www.pchelp911.com/files/startcop.zip. If you
have problems with suspected hijackers, you can look up and investigate
suspect programs in your StartUp lists here:
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_pages/startup_full.htm (Recommended)
http://www.3feetunder.com/krick/startup/list.html (Recommended)
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm (Recommended)
All work fine for controlling startups, however, I would recommend getting
both of the last two. They're both free, and each has some advantages. For
example, the XP msconfig also gives you some visibility/control over
services, while Mike's applet offers much better startup control.
Also, you should read and print out/save for future reference mskb article
Q179365 here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q179365 which will
tell you the order in which things get loaded.
Two additional resources which have useful information relating to startup
issues are:
How to Delay Loading of Specific Services
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;193888
HOWTO: Control Device Driver Load Order
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q115/4/86.asp
One last thing - if you want to use msconfig in order to help deal with
"malware" issues, be aware that you can use it to do a "Clean Boot" from
which to better run anti-spyware cleanup tools:
#########IMPORTANT#########
Show hidden files and run all of the following removal tools from Safe mode
or a "Clean Boot" when possible. Reboot and test if the malware is fixed
after using each tool.
HOW TO Enable Hidden Files
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2002092715262339
Clean Boot - General Win2k/XP procedure, but see below for links for other
OS's (This for Win2k w/msconfig - you can obtain msconfig for Win2k here:
http://www.3feetunder.com/files/win2K_msconfig_setup.exe ):
1. StartRun enter msconfig.
2. On the General tab, click Selective Startup, and then clear the 'Process
System.ini File', 'Process Win.ini File', and 'Load Startup Items' check
boxes. Leave the 'boot.ini' boxes however they are currently set.
3. In the Services tab, check the "Hide All Microsoft Services" checkbox,
and then click the "Disable All" button. If you use a third party firewall
then re-check (enable) it. For example, if you use Zone Alarm, re-check the
True Vector Internet Monitor service (and you may also want to re-check
(enable) the zlclient on the Startup tab.) Equivalent services exist for
other third party firewalls. An alternative to this for XP users is to
enable at this time the XP native firewall (Internet Connection Firewall -
ICF). Be sure to turn it back off when you re-enable your non-MS services
and Startup tab programs and restore your normal msconfig configuration
after cleaning your machine.
4. Click OK and then reboot.
For additional information about how to clean boot your operating system,
click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:
310353 How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353
281770 How to Perform Clean-Boot Troubleshooting for Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/281770/EN-US/
267288 How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows Millennium Edition
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/267288/EN-US/
192926 How to Perform Clean-Boot Troubleshooting for Windows 98
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/192926/EN-US/
243039 How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows 95
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/243039/EN-US/
#########IMPORTANT#########
Perhaps this will help.
