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When I go to START/MSCONFIG/STARTUP, I see multiple appearances for several of the startup options. How do I eliminate all but one of these duplications?

I also am somewhat perplexed by the persistence appearance of Corel Registration and Lotus Smart Suite Registration options when I uncheck them and reboot. Is there a way I can permanently remove these options?

Your response will be greatly appreciated

Alvin E. Stones
astones@primenet.com

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NOTE that some startups REQUIRE the extra startup entry, i.e., the power saving is one.
provide us a list of ALL entries and we may be able to help your further.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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Here are all the “startups” that appear in the System Configuration Utility Startup Menu.

Microsoft Inteli Type Pro
System Tray
Tweak UI
NPROTECT
POINTER
Norton email Protect
NAV DefAlert
bymer scanner
ICSMGR
Tweak UI
Voyetra Tray
DcanRegistry
TaskMonitor
NPROTECT
NAV DefAlert
Norton Auto Protect
Norton email Protect
Adaptec DirectCD
winmodem
NPROTECT
LoadPowerProfile
SchedulingAgent
YtrayMagic Lite 1
Hidserv
distributed net client
SymTray – Norton Systemworks
NPROTECT
CSINJECT
Encoder Agent
Corel Registration
Lotus SmartSuite Release 9 Registration
Lotus SmartCenter
Lotus SuiteStart
Lotus QuickStart
Lotus Organizer EasyClip
Lotus SmartSuite Release 9 Registration
ViaGrafix CDN Training
Multimedia Training
Microsoft Office Startup
Adobe Gamma Loader
Description of shortcut
Norton System Doctor
CleanSweep Smart Sweep-Internet Sweep
Corel CENTRAL Alarms
Desktop Application Director 9
Corel Registration

My question is how do I eliminate the duplications, and how can I eliminate the ones that I dont want to be in the startup menu. Also is there a way to prevent items being placed in the startup menu?

Thanks for your very considerate attention to my dilemma.

Alvin E. Stones

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Hi Alvin:

It must take a week for you to reboot! While it’s a matter of philosophy, I keep my machine almost as lean as possible. You’ll find it will run so much faster, with less problems. When you install apps, some of them allow you to choose whether you want them to start when windows starts or be placed in startup or whether you want a systray icon or a shortcut on your desktop, etc.. I decline ALL those options. There are some that are rude enought not to ask you. Some install themselves in startup & systray, but give you an option under Preferences, settings, options or some similar name that will let you uncheck it. Start by going to each of these programs & see if you can find such options & uncheck them. Just keep a shortcut to each program handy where you can find it. Most programs try to install themselves everywhere you look. Do you really need a desktop shortcut, a systray icon, a quick launch icon, & a couple of start menu shortcuts for one single program. After all, when you come home, do you turn on every light & every appliance all at the same time, just in case you may need it.

I keep a shortcut to a batchfile on my desktop that starts everything I need before I go online–from my network card, to antivirus, to apps I use when I go online. I also have a shortcut to Neil Rubenking’s End it All. This is a fantastic utility that turns off everything unnecessary. You can get it at

http://hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/sw…cm&fcode=0011NB%5B/url%5D

While you’re there, you should get another utility called RegEditPlus–much better than regedit. Under it’s favorites menu, it will lead you to all the startup keys in the registry, where you can edit out duplicate entries. Don’t do this unless you first back up your registry first (although I have to say I edit it all the time without backing it up manually). You can find regeditplus at

http://hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/sw…cm&fcode=00104E%5B/url%5D

What you need to do is:
1. Decide the absolute minimum you need. Uncheck everything else in msconfig. I’m not familiar with all your programs, so you’ll have to see how necessary some of them are. Unchecking all but the essential ones won’t hurt. You can put them back one at a time if something goes wrong (like if the mouse doesn’t work). I’ve placed a question mark by the ones I’m not familiar with, but unchecking them & adding them back if needed won’t hurt. I’d recommend it. Of the ones that you mention, the only ESSENTIAL ones to start windows & have it work are:

Microsoft Inteli Type Pro – this is probably your mouse driver
System Tray – necessary
Tweak UI – useful, I keep it.
NPROTECT – not sure, this is part of Norton. Check documentation.
POINTER – try doing without
Norton email Protect – I’d uncheck this & load it only when going online.
NAV DefAlert – I think this tells you when new virus definitions are available. Not necessary. You should just check weekly (some people check daily, but I think that’s overdoing it, especially if you’re cautious).
bymer scanner – obviously for scanning. Unless you scan every moment, you’re wasting resources.
ICSMGR – ??
Tweak UI – we’ll talk about duplicate entries at the end;
Voyetra Tray – ??
DcanRegistry – ??
TaskMonitor – this keeps track of how often you use programs so that defrag will place the frequently used ones in the front of the drive.
NPROTECT
NAV DefAlert
Norton Auto Protect – this is NAV’s automatic virus scanner that checks every time you open, save, etc. certain files. I have UNCHECKED mine (I can hear people screaming at me already. I load it when I go on the web, or insert any floppy or file from anyone else. I scan every file I download or get. However, NAV AutoProtect slows down certain games, so I keep it off when gaming & turn it on.
Norton email Protect – again, I’d only use it when going online or accessing email.
Adaptec DirectCD – turn it off. You can always turn it on when necessary.
winmodem – I’ve turned my adapter off. I load it before going online.
NPROTECT
LoadPowerProfile – You may have 2 of these. If so, KEEP BOTH!
SchedulingAgent – Although not essential, it’s useful for starting programs behind the scenes like scandisk, defrag, & other tools.
YtrayMagic Lite 1 – ??
Hidserv – ??
distributed net client – ??
SymTray – Norton Systemworks – ??
NPROTECT
CSINJECT – this is CleanSweeps install monitor. You don’t need it running all the time. Just start it when you want to install or uninstall.
Encoder Agent – ??
Corel Registration – unload this
Lotus SmartSuite Release 9 Registration – unload this
Lotus SmartCenter – I’d unload all the Lotus stuff. You can always start it up later.
Lotus SuiteStart
Lotus QuickStart
Lotus Organizer EasyClip
Lotus SmartSuite Release 9 Registration
ViaGrafix CDN Training – ??
Multimedia Training – ??
Microsoft Office Startup – I don’t use this. I’ve found that Launch Bar is fine. If you use it constantly, then keep it.
Adobe Gamma Loader – ??
Description of shortcut – ??
Norton System Doctor – I haven’t used Norton yet so I can’t advise. I do know that it uses resources & slows things down to have everything running.
CleanSweep Smart Sweep-Internet Sweep – you don’t need this unless you’re going online…even then you may decide you don’t need it.
Corel CENTRAL Alarms – ??
Desktop Application Director 9 – ??
Corel Registration – ??

2. Now reboot. See what’s running (Ctrl+Alt+Del). If you can’t turn off what you don’t want running, you can edit the registry. Some apps may constantly make themselves load at startup every time you run the program. If that’s true, you must either allow it, or put a batch file in your startup directory that turns it off.

3. Check what’s in msconfig. If you want to eliminate duplicates (except load power profile), go to the next step.

4. Start regedit plus. You will see a menu option that says “Favorites”. One of the entries is “startup programs”. A submenu will take you to each of the startup keys under HKEY_Local_Machine & HKEY_Current_User. Here you can use their “SafeEdit” option to delete extraneous entries. Back up the registry first.

Hope this helps.

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Thats interesting and I have downloaded the first file but cannot find the liknk to regedit plus and nothing comes up in serach. Would you be able to give the link please. Both of those links posted are the same
Thanks Allan

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Hi Allan:

I screwed up. I posted the same URL twice. Thanks for letting me know; I’ve corrected by post. Regedit Plus is at http://hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/sw…cm&fcode=00104E%5B/url%5D

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Thanks very much for the prompt reply, I have now downloaded it… having being using regedit so will be interested in this
Regards

Allan

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I wouldn’t disable the winmodem, this WILL cause problems down the track with system resources and will probably mean the modem stops working (not such a bad thing as winmodems are the work of Satan and corner cutting pc manufacturers.)

I would also not disable the anti-virus scanner, it is too easy to forget to turn it on when you need it. I would however disable the Norton E-mail scanner in the NAV setup, it causes security and stability problems with the PC.

I’d recommend to have only the following items ticked:

System Tray
Norton Auto Protect
winmodem
LoadPowerProfile – Both entries
SchedulingAgent

A couple of other ones to note are:
1. the bymer scanner, I’ve never heard of a Bymer Scanner but I have heard of the Bymer Worm (http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/nav.nsf/docid/2000101911341506) for a description. Take the tick off it.
2. the ICSMGR is Internet connect sharing. If this computer is the ICS server for your network then this needs to be ticked or the other machines won’t get on the net and may not see the rest of the network.
3. If you don’t use a Distributed Net program then the distributed net client is either a worm or spyware. Dump it.
4. Hidserv is the Human Interface Device Server, you will need to tick this if you are using USB components.

You may find some of the application you use don’t work the way you like them once all these things are unticked. If you do need something then just go back into MSConfig and tick what you do need. The less you have starting with the computer, the faster and more reliable your computer will be.

Good Luck

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