Remove autostart program?

[MikeB]

Long story.

I had Netmeter installed to show network activity. I like to see if
I'm downloading or if I'm just sitting waiting for nothing.

Then when on vacation in June/July, Netmeter on Vista suddenly started
displaying an incredibly long list of "network adapters" with the
weirdest names and descriptions, while at the same time saying it
couldn't find any active adapter. This after it worked for a long time
(years?) on XP and then on Vista since December when I got a new
laptop.

In frustration I downloaded the Netmeter beta. This alleviated the
problem and I could see network activity again. Unfortunately, the
beta was simply an .exe file, not an install through Windows
installer.

Now, after a few weeks, when I start up, I get a message that Netmeter
has stopped working and that Vista has reported the problem to MS (as
if that will do anything!). Unfortunately, I can't get it to not start
up, since the option to start at boot-up is set in the program and
since the program won't start ... you get my drift?

How can I safely tell Vista to not attempt to start Netmeter at start-
up?

 

[Daniel Martín [MVP]]

How can I safely tell Vista to not attempt to start Netmeter at start-
up?

You could use Msconfig:

Tim Sneath : Windows Vista Secret #9: Kill the Startup Monsters
http://blogs.msdn.com/tims/archive/2006/09/28/windows-vista-secret-9-kill-the-startup-monsters.aspx

 

[Jon]

Long story.

I had Netmeter installed to show network activity. I like to see if
I'm downloading or if I'm just sitting waiting for nothing.

Then when on vacation in June/July, Netmeter on Vista suddenly started
displaying an incredibly long list of "network adapters" with the
weirdest names and descriptions, while at the same time saying it
couldn't find any active adapter. This after it worked for a long time
(years?) on XP and then on Vista since December when I got a new
laptop.

In frustration I downloaded the Netmeter beta. This alleviated the
problem and I could see network activity again. Unfortunately, the
beta was simply an .exe file, not an install through Windows
installer.

Now, after a few weeks, when I start up, I get a message that Netmeter
has stopped working and that Vista has reported the problem to MS (as
if that will do anything!). Unfortunately, I can't get it to not start
up, since the option to start at boot-up is set in the program and
since the program won't start ... you get my drift?

How can I safely tell Vista to not attempt to start Netmeter at start-
up?

Those 'weird' network adapters, as well as the non-weird ones, should be
listed in Device Manager under 'Network Adapters', and also in Network
Connections. Worth exploring what you have in those 2 locations, and perhaps
removing any non-essential ones.

 

[MikeB]

Those 'weird' network adapters, as well as the non-weird ones,  should be
listed in Device Manager under 'Network Adapters', and also in Network
Connections. Worth exploring what you have in those 2 locations, and perhaps
removing any non-essential ones.

I didn't put them in there, Vista sometimes decides what it wants to
do and then does it, with no input on my part. How the heck would I
know what is non-essential?

 

[MikeB]

I guess, but does MSConfig actually delete the relevant entries or
does it just put them somewhere else in the event I want to use
MSConfig to restore them?

I guess I could simply live with the idiotic pop-up at start-up for
the next 3 months. But I would really like to try and reinstall the
original netmeter and see if it perhaps will recognize my adapters and
monitor the right one.

*Sigh*

M