Startup

[Guest]

how do you find what used to be called the startup folder? I uninstalled some
verizon software but some updater program keeps trying to launch when I boot
up and hangs up the computer. In the past, you could drag things in and out
of the startup folder to determine what launched upon booting. How does one
choose what launches automatically?

And on a related subject, what's the best way to uninstall something that
won't show up in the "Add or Remove Programs" folder?

 

[Guest]

By looking through old posts I found the answer (thanks!) (using msconfig); I
found the verizon executable and unchecked it. But how come nothing shows up
in the startup folder buried in Documents and Settings?

 

[Alan Edwards]

Why should anything show up?
You can see in Msconfig where programs start and the Startup folder is
usually a small player. This is not new and has been the case since
Win95 (before Msconfig was of much help)

On the related subject, check the program's installation folder or
documentation or the author's web site for uninstall instructions.

....Alan

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

how do you find what used to be called the startup folder?

It's still called the startup folder. In fact, there are two

C:\Documents and Settings\your user name\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

and

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

I
uninstalled some verizon software but some updater program keeps
trying to launch when I boot up and hangs up the computer. In the
past, you could drag things in and out of the startup folder to
determine what launched upon booting. How does one choose what
launches automatically?

Looking in the Startup folder, in any version of Winodws, was never
sufficient to find what started automatically. Although some programs start
automatically from there, there are other places too. Read my standard
advice on this subject, below:
On each program you don't want to start automatically, check its Options to
see if it has the choice not to start (make sure you actually choose the
option not to run it, not just a "don't show icon" option). Many can easily
and best be stopped that way. If that doesn't work, run MSCONFIG from the
Start | Run line, and on the Startup tab, uncheck the programs you don't
want to start automatically.

However, if I were you, I wouldn't do this just for the purpose of running
the minimum number of programs. Despite what many people tell you, you
should be concerned, not with how *many* of these programs you run, but
*which*. Some of them can hurt performance severely, but others have no
effect on performance.

Don't just stop programs from running willy-nilly. What you should do is
determine what each program is, what its value is to you, and what the cost
in performance is of its running all the time. You can get more information
about these at http://castlecops.com/StartupList.html. If you can't find it
there, try google searches and ask about specifics here.

Once you have that information, you can make an intelligent informed
decision about what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of.

 

[Nightowl]

By looking through old posts I found the answer (thanks!) (using msconfig); I
found the verizon executable and unchecked it. But how come nothing shows up
in the startup folder buried in Documents and Settings?

Hi M

It's because that's not where the instruction to run the program is
coming from. The Startup folders are very handy for programs that *you*
want to run at system startup, but most installation programs put their
instructions in Registry keys.

If you look at the "Location" column on the Startup tab in msconfig
you'll see where the "call" for the program to run is coming from. The
two most common keys are:

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

There are other places too, but these are the ones you will see most
often. If you're comfortable editing the Registry, it's better practice
to go to the location msconfig shows and delete the startup reference
there, rather than simply disabling it by unchecking the box in
msconfig.

A safe and easy way to control all this is to use a startup manager
program, which will show you all your startups and where they are
starting from, and allow you to disable them or delete them permanently
without going into the Registry.

Here's a very good small, free one by Mike Lin that you can either
install as a Control Panel applet or run as a standalone program:

Startup Control Panel v.2.8
http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml

Hope this helps!