msconfig

D

Daniel

msconfig that existed in win98 disappeared in win 2000. I need to disable
programs that start in the background, which msconfig was permitting in win
98.

How can I disable programs that start in the background with win 2000?
Thanks
Daniel
 
D

Daniel

answering my own post, is the only option with win 2000 to edit the
following registry parameters: ?
(deleting the unwanted lines)?

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Microsoft \Windows \CurrentVersion \Run

If so, is there a way to re-enable some of the programs at startup ?
perhaps before deleting the unwanted lines, if I copy the key and string
value in a backup text file for future copy?
 
D

Dave Patrick

Natively you can; Start\Settings\Control Panel\Administrative Tools\Computer
Management(Local)\System Information\Software Environment\Startup
Programs|View|Advanced, then in the "Location" column, you'll find the path
to the "Startup" location either in the "Startup" directories or from the
registry's "Run" keys. (note that this window is read-only so you must
manually navigate to the location below to edit or otherwise delete)

%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

You can delete the shortcuts that you no longer want to run.


HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

You can delete the string value for the program you no longer want to run.

or copy msconfig from Windows XP to the "windows" directory
or AutoRuns from sysinternals
http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Autoruns.html


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| msconfig that existed in win98 disappeared in win 2000. I need to disable
| programs that start in the background, which msconfig was permitting in
win
| 98.
|
| How can I disable programs that start in the background with win 2000?
| Thanks
| Daniel
|
|
 
J

Jim Byrd

Hi Daniel - Just to supplement the information you've already been given:


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 Win2k and 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 first two I mentioned, msconfig and StartupCPL. They're both
free, and each has some advantages. For example, 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 (as well as avoiding
interference on installs from other programs such as Norton/Symantec
"stuff"):

#########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.

--
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP/DTS/AH-VSOP
My Blog, Defending Your Machine, here:
http://DefendingYourMachine.blogspot.com/



|| Pegasus and Dave,
|| thanks for your fast responses. I opted to download the msconfig.exe from
||
|| http://www.svrops.com/svrops/dwnldoth.htm
||
||
|| Worked a like a charm!
||
|| I will copy and save your resolutions for future reference
||
|| thanks again !
 
J

John John

Msconfig was never included in Windows 2000, no one was ever responsible
for putting it in, so no one can be held responsible for taking it out!
Windows 2000 was designed and released as an operating system for
corporate environments, for these environments and for the people who
maintain these systems msconfig is not that big a deal, while it is a
useful tool and may facilitate certain tasks, it doesn't do anything
that can't be done in other ways.

John

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Pegasus and Dave,
| thanks for your fast responses. I opted to download the msconfig.exe
from

|
| http://www.svrops.com/svrops/dwnldoth.htm
Click to expand...


Hello Daniel,,,,,,
Who is/was responsible for removing msconfig in win2000?
I bet a lot of people want a word with him/her.
Gekko
Click to expand...
 
G

Gekko

John John said:
Msconfig was never included in Windows 2000, no one was ever responsible
for putting it in, so no one can be held responsible for taking it out!
Windows 2000 was designed and released as an operating system for
corporate environments, for these environments and for the people who
maintain these systems msconfig is not that big a deal, while it is a
useful tool and may facilitate certain tasks, it doesn't do anything
that can't be done in other ways.

John
Click to expand...

Agreed, but it was a *useful* & *convenient* tool, and dropping it
wasnt the smartest decision ever made.
Then again, you are talking about the world of bIG business where
pc operators arent supposed to have simple access to a tool like msconfig.
Gekko
 
J

John John

It was NEVER dropped because it was NEVER there to start with! Windows
2000 was developped and evolved from the NT line, not along the Windows
98 line.

John
 
B

Bob I

Gekko said:
Agreed, but it was a *useful* & *convenient* tool, and dropping it
wasnt the smartest decision ever made.
Then again, you are talking about the world of bIG business where
pc operators arent supposed to have simple access to a tool like msconfig.
Gekko
Click to expand...
It was only added into operating systems that amateurs would be doing
the maintenance. It wasn't needed where people know what they are doing.
It was was NEVER "dropped".
 
M

ms

Hi Daniel - Just to supplement the information you've already been
given:


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 Win2k and 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
snip
Perhaps this will help.
Click to expand...

Thanks for good info, Jim.

Mike Sa
 
M

ms

Hi Daniel - Just to supplement the information you've already been
given:


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.
Click to expand...
Jim:
IIRC, the W98 msconfig has a excellent feature in Startup, you can select
a screen for what mode you wish for startup, I used it in ME so I can
select Normal or Safe each bootup.

I don't think it works for that in W2K, wish it did. The W2K msconfig
does not have that feature.

Comment?

Mike Sa
 
J

Jim Byrd

Hi Mike - Normally you would achieve that by hitting F8 after selection of
the particular OS to be booted (if you're multi-booting) during startup on a
Win2K system. You'll then get a variety of startup options including
several Safe mode options, Last Known Good Configuration, etc. You're
correct - that particular W98 approach isn't a normal part of msconfig
(except for one special method of forcing a Safe mode boot. MS recommends,
however, that you do NOT mess around with your boot.ini file without
knowledgable assistance or specific troubleshooting directions from MS
Support. The F8 approach is what should be normally used for that purpose.)

--
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP/DTS/AH-VSOP
My Blog, Defending Your Machine, here:
http://DefendingYourMachine.blogspot.com/



|| ||
||| Hi Daniel - Just to supplement the information you've already been
||| given:
|||
|||
||| 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.
|||
|| Jim:
|| IIRC, the W98 msconfig has a excellent feature in Startup, you can select
|| a screen for what mode you wish for startup, I used it in ME so I can
|| select Normal or Safe each bootup.
||
|| I don't think it works for that in W2K, wish it did. The W2K msconfig
|| does not have that feature.
||
|| Comment?
||
|| Mike Sa
 
M

ms

Hi Mike - Normally you would achieve that by hitting F8 after
selection of the particular OS to be booted (if you're multi-booting)
during startup on a Win2K system. You'll then get a variety of
startup options including several Safe mode options, Last Known Good
Configuration, etc. You're correct - that particular W98 approach
isn't a normal part of msconfig (except for one special method of
forcing a Safe mode boot. MS recommends, however, that you do NOT
mess around with your boot.ini file without knowledgable assistance or
specific troubleshooting directions from MS Support. The F8 approach
is what should be normally used for that purpose.)
Click to expand...

Right, but the W98 screen from msconfig is sure nice. Us oldfolks like it
easy. Some day my reflexes won't be quick enough to hit F8 at just the
right time (that's what it takes).

Mike Sa
 
J

Jim Byrd

Hi Mike - I'm of the same generation, so I can empathize. Sorry 'bout that!
:) An alternative that I recommend if it's only Safe mode we're talking
about is using the Clean Boot option that I outlined in my previous post. I
find it much more useful than Safe mode for the more common tasks such as
non-interfering installs or malware cleaning since it retains the
resolutions settings if special (a common client example, 1280x1024 which
normally defaults to 800x600 in Safe mode which is a PITA) as well as
letting me retain protected Internet access on the client machine and
certain specialized services in some cases.

--
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP/DTS/AH-VSOP
My Blog, Defending Your Machine, here:
http://DefendingYourMachine.blogspot.com/



|| ||
||| Hi Mike - Normally you would achieve that by hitting F8 after
||| selection of the particular OS to be booted (if you're multi-booting)
||| during startup on a Win2K system. You'll then get a variety of
||| startup options including several Safe mode options, Last Known Good
||| Configuration, etc. You're correct - that particular W98 approach
||| isn't a normal part of msconfig (except for one special method of
||| forcing a Safe mode boot. MS recommends, however, that you do NOT
||| mess around with your boot.ini file without knowledgable assistance or
||| specific troubleshooting directions from MS Support. The F8 approach
||| is what should be normally used for that purpose.)
|||
||
|| Right, but the W98 screen from msconfig is sure nice. Us oldfolks like it
|| easy. Some day my reflexes won't be quick enough to hit F8 at just the
|| right time (that's what it takes).
||
|| Mike Sa
 

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