My Photos opens on Startup and refuses to close down

[Guest]

My Photos folder opens automatically on startup and re-opens instantly each
time I
close it. Occasionally a small black banner appears and disappears with the
words "My Photos" on it. My Photos keeps re-asserting itself as the live
window, so for example I cannot even use Start, Shut Down to shut down my
computer, as there is no time to click Shutdown Computer before My Photos
goes active again. Same happens for both users on the laptop.

I have scanned for viruses using AdAware and Defender but found nothing. I
have restored from a restore point before the problem appeared, but this does
not fix it. I am contemplating using the Restore CD, but maybe someone knows
of a
less drastic solution?

Thank you

 

[RBot]

This wouldn't explain it opening each time you close it, but try
running msconfig and see of the folder is listed under the Startup
tab; if it is, uncheck it.

 

[Rock]

My Photos folder opens automatically on startup and re-opens instantly
each
time I
close it. Occasionally a small black banner appears and disappears with
the
words "My Photos" on it. My Photos keeps re-asserting itself as the live
window, so for example I cannot even use Start, Shut Down to shut down my
computer, as there is no time to click Shutdown Computer before My Photos
goes active again. Same happens for both users on the laptop.

I have scanned for viruses using AdAware and Defender but found nothing. I
have restored from a restore point before the problem appeared, but this
does
not fix it. I am contemplating using the Restore CD, but maybe someone
knows
of a
less drastic solution?

Disable processes through task manager to see if you can find the one that
is causing this. Also:

How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310560

How to perform advanced clean-boot troubleshooting in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=316434

How to perform a clean boot in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310353

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the replies. The folder was not listed in the startup in msconfig.
In the end I used the system restore disc to re-format the hard drive and
start from scratch. All fine now.

 

[Rock]

Thanks for the replies. The folder was not listed in the startup in
msconfig.
In the end I used the system restore disc to re-format the hard drive and
start from scratch. All fine now.

Too bad you had to resort to so drastic a measure. Did you disable programs
in Task Manager? It was either a malformed entry in a Run registry key, a
problem with the winlogon key or some misbehaving 3rd party software.