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HAVE I HELPED? |
WHY YOUR PC WON'T START ON THOSE COLD MORNINGS
Excellent Links on understanding where startup problems can be found:
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;q179365
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.htm
This site, a page under the one above, contains the most complete list of "startup" programs I have ever seen, and IDs which are "good" and which are "bad." If you have a question about an entry, go to this site and see if you can find it, and see what it says. A lot of these programs are classed as "spyware" and they have no business on your PC. Check this page out to understand some of this stuff.
In XP, run "msconfig.exe." Check the "startup" folder. If any of the entries look a little suspicious, do a search on google and see if it is reported as spyware, or check the page above. XP msconfig lets you uncheck the item in question so that it will be disabled on a reboot. In Win2K, run "sysconfig.exe," or better yet, copy "msconfig.exe" from XP and it will run just fine on Win2K. Sysconfig.exe only lists the startup programs, you still need to disable them by going into the registry, or the startup folder. Msconfig.exe will let you enable/disable them right in the program! Much better. You can also run the registry clean program which lists the startup programs - and you can disable them from here. Or, start the management console, by issuing the "mmc" command at a command prompt - you can add lots of little management functions to this "console" and use it as your main management starting point. Another little Windows not so obvious GUI/feature. :-) Also, don't forget to look in autoexec.bat, and win.ini under the load= and run=. System.ini and win.ini are the config.sys and autoexec.bat of win3x - they contain drivers and TSR programs. Win9X and WinNT/2K/XP still look in these directories and load any startup programs they find! And on NT and Win2K and XP (the multi-user Windows machines), don't forget the startup directory, under startup, in All Users, as well as individual users: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup.
"Hacking Exposed" Lists these registry entries to check for startup programs:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
...Run, ...RunOnce, ...RunOnceEx, ...RunServices, ...AeDebug, ...Winlogon
"Hacking Exposed" also mentions also that mal-ware device drivers can be used to load malicious code at bootup. Whew...
The ILOVEYOU virus pulled a neat trick. It forced the start page of your browser to a mal-ware site that downloaded mal-ware.
If you subscribe to Norton Ghost, you can actually boot your ghost CD, and you have the option to run a virus check from the CD. Even better than running a virus check in safe mode. Especially nice if you already use Norton antivirus as well as the Norton Ghost.