Strange Occurance

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Guest

I have a Windows 2000 machine with SP 4 and all the latest patches that is
connected to a Windows 2003 Domain. Recently, no matter what user logs into
the machine the Windows Media player launches as soon as the login is
completed. I have checked the Startup Items folder aqnd there are no program
shortcuts there to launch. Is there a setting in Media Player that says to
launch on startup? Is there a registry entry I should look for? I have
sacanned for all known viruses using Symantec AntiVirus 10 with no results
and I have also scanned for Spyware/Adware using Spayware Doctor.
 
CJewell said:
I have a Windows 2000 machine with SP 4 and all the latest patches that is
connected to a Windows 2003 Domain. Recently, no matter what user logs into
the machine the Windows Media player launches as soon as the login is
completed. I have checked the Startup Items folder aqnd there are no program
shortcuts there to launch. Is there a setting in Media Player that says to
launch on startup? Is there a registry entry I should look for? I have
sacanned for all known viruses using Symantec AntiVirus 10 with no results
and I have also scanned for Spyware/Adware using Spayware Doctor.
Click to expand...


HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current version\Run

This is the key that controls what starts at Windows Start up, be warned
that editing the registry can cause problems
if done incorrectly.

Jud
 
There are four Run keys in the NT registry that cause programs to be run
automatically:

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

Also, services (for NT) will be in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services. (I don't
recommend that you go there trying to turn off services unless you
really understand the key structure).

In addition, programs can be automatically started at boot via logon
scripts or batch files. They can be invoked via shortcuts or by being
placed in the Startup Folders (Current User and All Users). They can be
started at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Userinit, Task Scheduler, and I'm sure I'm
forgetting a few other start places.

There are several ways of dealing with these autostart programs, via the
programs themselves, via registry edits or with the aid of helper
applications. The preferred method is to go in the programs themselves
and turn off the autostart option. The well written and graceful
programs always give an option to be turned off at boot. It's the not
so well written or graceful programs that present a bit of a difficulty
as they can be hidden in in the other startup places. IF that is the
case then you can look in the 4 keys mentioned above and see if you can
disable them from there. If you can't at the reg keys then look in the
Services management console and see if you can set the associated
service to "Manual" start instead of "Auto". Check the Startup Folders
and delete the entries if there.

If you still are having difficulties then the helper application will
come in handy. I recommend the following:

CodeStuff Starter: http://members.lycos.co.uk/codestuff/
Sysinternals Autoruns:
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/autoruns.shtml

You can also download XP msconfig from the internet and place it in your
System32 folder and use it to look at/disable the startup entries.

Finally, you can also view some of these items by right-clicking My
Computer>Manage>System Tools>System Information>Software
Environment>Startup Programs.

John

PS. I think that Media Player item is started via a service, use your
Services Management Console to find it and set it to Manual.
 
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