[Resolved] Programs 'deselecting' themseves...

[Hoov]

I looked at the logs again, and while there are security problems, there does seem to be something a little more curious. It has to do with the user Loobee in the domain LOUBY and the workstation LOUBY.

Would this be your login name and the name of your computer?

[Shaiya]

Hi Hoov,

Yes the computer (and I presume workstation) are named 'Louby' but my login screen was 'Loubee'.  I have changed login to 'Louby' so they all match but this hasn't fixed it  :-\

Thanks for your help so far :)

[Hoov]

I would like you to go to the run command and type in msconfig. Then select the selective startup option, and then uncheck the Load Startup Items selection. Then click apply and then reboot. Now run a few programs and see if the problem is still there. Once you have decided if it is still happening or not, run msconfig and select Normal Startup, and then apply and then reboot. Then let me know what happened.

[Shaiya]

Hi Hoov,

I went to 'run' and typed 'msconfig' and got an error message...

Window cannot find 'msconfig'.  Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again.  To search for a file, click the Start button, and then click Search.

I double checked and then triple checked that I spelt it correctly.  I even tried lower case then capital letters - nothing but the error...

Then I went on Google and did a quick search for it to see if I was doing something wrong.  From what I could see I was doing everything correctly (it isn't even case sensitive) but still nothing happens.

Using the 'Search' function I was able to find it at C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles\i386 .  I have selected the 'Selective Startup' option, unchecked 'Load Startup Items', applied the changes and I am about to reboot.  I will post some time very soon to let you know what I find with programs/browsers - I'm not sure why the msconfig command won't work though and I don't know whether it's relevant that it couldn't be found using 'Run' but I thought I'd let you know.

Thanks again.

[Hoov]

Do you have your windows XP install disk and access to another computer that is clean with a CD burner?

[Shaiya]

Hi Hoov,

This Dell laptop came with Windows preinstalled and I didn't get a Windows CD with it - in fact I didn't get any CD with it.  I do have access to other computers with CD burners and I am pretty sure I could also get whatever version of windows is needed  ;) if it's required.

On the 'Selective Startup' side of things I have just selected to start programs I know are required for me to use the computer online and I think (although I am still watching for it) the problem isn't happening now.  I don't know if it's relevant but when I was looking down the Startup list there is one that worries me - all the information that is shown is under location SOFTWARE\Microsoft\CurrentVersion\Run.  Apart from the box to tick the rest is blank - both name and command address aren't shown...

Most of the other items I know what they are and I can do without - some items I am fairly sure I know they are proper programs but I'm not 100% sure, whether they are needed and/or what they are needed for I don't know.

Thanks for your help so far.  :)

[Hoov]

A blank line is usually indicative of some data that was left over from the install.

If you have stopped the problem from happening, then the next step is to check half of the startup items so they start, and see what happens. If it is still fixed, uncheck that half, and check the other half. If the problem is still gone, check all of them and see what happens. Leave the blank line unchecked. If you have all the others checked, and it all works just fine, then check the box with the missing info, and see what happens. Let me know.

[Shaiya]

Hi Hoov,

I'm pretty sure that it's not happening at the moment with some of them turned off.  I am going to narrow it down over the next day or two to find the process that is causing the problem.  I am just posting to let you know that I have read your latest post and as soon as I know which one is causing the problem I will post again to let you know.

Thanks again for all your help  :)

[Hoov]

Shaiya, do you still need help?

[Shaiya]

Hi Hoov,

Sorry about the delay but I've been very busy over last few days and so haven't spent much time trying to fix the problem.  I came today to message you that I've not worked out which process is at fault yet and saw your latest message  :-[ .

I will finish checking the process tonight and post a message telling you the results tomorrow if that's ok  :) .

Thanks for your help so far and sorry about delay between posts.

[Hoov]

No worries.

[Shaiya]

Hi Hoov,

Still not figured it out yet but have been trying.  Hoping you can bear with me.

Thanks again for help so far.

[Hoov]

Sure can. Just to make sure that you are not on a wild goose chase, when you selected only part of the startup programs, did the computer stop deselecting programs?

[Shaiya]

Hi Hoov,

First let me say 'Thank you' for bearing with me - I know it's been awhile since you gave your last instructions  :-[.  Sorry about the delay.

Secondly - Happy Holidays!  (Whichever ones you celebrate  :D)

Finally - onto the 'deselection' issue....

I did what you said and selected half the programs - problem didn't seem to occur.  Switched to other half and still problem didn't seem to occur.  Repeated this process (half/half alternated) again because I thought I might have missed it - nothing again.  Then I thought maybe it's 2 programs together causing the problem - something conflicting etc - so I switched on stuff I was fairly sure was ok and started slowly adding more and more after each restart and waiting to see if it happened.  As you can probably imagine this took a fairly long time as the problem only seemed to occur every 30mins at most.  Finally I got all boxes ticked and I still don't seem to be having the problem - I have selective startup ticked but all boxes ticked to start everything...

As I wrote this message I thought to myself that one thing I should have done before posting was to unselect 'selective startup' and go back to full (normal) startup and see if it's fixed.  I will do that after I post this message and let you know very soon what happens.

I'm totally at a loss.  I don't know if the problem is fixed or not (or how it was fixed) but running 'selective startup' yet still having all boxes ticked I don't seem to be having programs 'deselect' themselves.

Thanks again for all your time.

[Hoov]

Curious. Have you gone into msconfig and Selected "Normal Startup" ?

Happy Holidays to you and yours!