Cannot deactivate programs in Startup Folder -- possible virus?

[ggff]

I have a computer running XP that over time has gathered a bunch of
viruses, including the latest "blaster" virus. I patched the XP OS
with Window's Updater and also updated Norton Anti-Virus to get rid of
the viruses. At least I thought I got rid of everything. The
computer was still acting funny so I decided to reinstall XP. This
seem to go fine. I did not reformat the hard drive before
reinstalling the XP.

One of the issues that kept coming up was that I could not uncheck
programs (like Real Player or MS Office Startup) that were in the
Start-Up folder (run/msconfig/startup folder). I would uncheck a
program, reboot the computer, and on startup I got a message saying
that the computer started in the Diagnostic Mode and that I would need
to go to the General Tab and check the "Normal" button. When I
checked the "Normal" button I had to reboot and when I went back to
the Startup folder the programs that I unchecked were once again
checked. I am not able to deactivate anything in my startup folder.

So, my question is, does anyone know if a virus is causing this to
happen? I run XP on other computers and I can easily check and
uncheck programs in the Startup Folder. Perhaps because I did not
reformat the hard drive there is still a virus lingering.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Thorsten Matzner]

(ggff) wrote:

>One of the issues that kept coming up was that I could not uncheck
>programs (like Real Player or MS Office Startup) that were in the
>Start-Up folder (run/msconfig/startup folder). I would uncheck a
>program, reboot the computer, and on startup I got a message saying
>that the computer started in the Diagnostic Mode and that I would need
>to go to the General Tab and check the "Normal" button. When I
>checked the "Normal" button I had to reboot and when I went back to
>the Startup folder the programs that I unchecked were once again
>checked. I am not able to deactivate anything in my startup folder.

This is by design, because the MSCONFIG.EXE tool is for
troubleshooting purposes only. Disable the entries that you do not
like and restart. Skip the message about the Diagnostic Mode and then
delete the disabled items. Entries you have disabled with MSCONFIG.EXE
are found in the Registry keys
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\services
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared
Tools\MSConfig\startupfolder
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\shared Tools\MSConfig\startupreg
and you can directly delete them from here.

--
(tm)

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

See www.dougknox.com, Win XP Utilities, Startup Programs Tracker. This
small utility scans your system for startup programs and running processes.
It also allows you to create a log file that can be copied and pasted into a
newsgroup post. The contents of the program window are also copied to the
Windows Clipboard, automatically.

You can use this utility to determine what is load at startup, and from
where. The results from the Log file can be copied and pasted into a reply.

--
Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows XP/ Windows Smart Display
Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com
--------------------------------
Associate Expert
ExpertZone - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
--------------------------------
Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.

"ggff" > wrote in message
...
> I have a computer running XP that over time has gathered a bunch of
> viruses, including the latest "blaster" virus. I patched the XP OS
> with Window's Updater and also updated Norton Anti-Virus to get rid of
> the viruses. At least I thought I got rid of everything. The
> computer was still acting funny so I decided to reinstall XP. This
> seem to go fine. I did not reformat the hard drive before
> reinstalling the XP.
>
> One of the issues that kept coming up was that I could not uncheck
> programs (like Real Player or MS Office Startup) that were in the
> Start-Up folder (run/msconfig/startup folder). I would uncheck a
> program, reboot the computer, and on startup I got a message saying
> that the computer started in the Diagnostic Mode and that I would need
> to go to the General Tab and check the "Normal" button. When I
> checked the "Normal" button I had to reboot and when I went back to
> the Startup folder the programs that I unchecked were once again
> checked. I am not able to deactivate anything in my startup folder.
>
> So, my question is, does anyone know if a virus is causing this to
> happen? I run XP on other computers and I can easily check and
> uncheck programs in the Startup Folder. Perhaps because I did not
> reformat the hard drive there is still a virus lingering.
>
> Any thoughts would be appreciated.
>

[Jim]

When you next get the message, simply check the box saying "do not show this
message again"; or possibly uncheck the box saying "show this message at
startup", I can't remember this.

I went through this a couple of months ago. I've just checked, and msconfig
is still running happily in selective start-up mode.

Jim

"Doug Knox MS-MVP" > wrote in message
...
> See www.dougknox.com, Win XP Utilities, Startup Programs Tracker. This
> small utility scans your system for startup programs and running
processes.
> It also allows you to create a log file that can be copied and pasted into
a
> newsgroup post. The contents of the program window are also copied to the
> Windows Clipboard, automatically.
>
> You can use this utility to determine what is load at startup, and from
> where. The results from the Log file can be copied and pasted into a
reply.
>
> --
> Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows XP/ Windows Smart Display
> Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
> http://www.dougknox.com
> --------------------------------
> Associate Expert
> ExpertZone - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
> --------------------------------
> Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
> Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.
>
> "ggff" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I have a computer running XP that over time has gathered a bunch of
> > viruses, including the latest "blaster" virus. I patched the XP OS
> > with Window's Updater and also updated Norton Anti-Virus to get rid of
> > the viruses. At least I thought I got rid of everything. The
> > computer was still acting funny so I decided to reinstall XP. This
> > seem to go fine. I did not reformat the hard drive before
> > reinstalling the XP.
> >
> > One of the issues that kept coming up was that I could not uncheck
> > programs (like Real Player or MS Office Startup) that were in the
> > Start-Up folder (run/msconfig/startup folder). I would uncheck a
> > program, reboot the computer, and on startup I got a message saying
> > that the computer started in the Diagnostic Mode and that I would need
> > to go to the General Tab and check the "Normal" button. When I
> > checked the "Normal" button I had to reboot and when I went back to
> > the Startup folder the programs that I unchecked were once again
> > checked. I am not able to deactivate anything in my startup folder.
> >
> > So, my question is, does anyone know if a virus is causing this to
> > happen? I run XP on other computers and I can easily check and
> > uncheck programs in the Startup Folder. Perhaps because I did not
> > reformat the hard drive there is still a virus lingering.
> >
> > Any thoughts would be appreciated.
> >
>
>