C:\windows\system32 Appears On Startup

Hi, my W2K works very well with "System Mechanic" of iolo. I do not necessarily recommend System Mechanic 4 Professional if you have already an anti-virus software on your OS, but can recommend System Mechanic 4, which can clean and optimize registry. Actually I have System Mechanic 4 Professional and have experienced no troubles with it but am having a neat computing experience when I am on W2K.

http://www.iolo.com/sm/

Phoenix, in & of itself this is nothing more than a nuisance...not a cause for worry.

I suppose that running Norton WinDoctor (or other equivalent programs) might fix this. The reason is that WinDoctor searches, among other things, for problems in the registry such as paths to files which don't exist. It doesn't search for viruses or that sort of thing.

If running Norton WinDoctor doesn't fix this, & if you won't be convinced to carefully follow the instructions in that KB article to fix this manually, you could use msconfig. It'll still be a manual process, it just won't come with the same risk as messing about in the registry.

Click Start --> Run, then enter msconfig. Click the Startup tab once the msconfig program opens. Should look similar to this...



That box displays the programs using the registry to make themselves start when Windows boots up. None of them are vital for Windows, so don't feel super worried about removing some of them in experimentation.

Now, the KB article you linked to says that this behavior can occur if a "null [empty], incomplete, or damaged entry exists in the registry."

That's what you're looking for, so uncheck any items listed which fit that description.

If you're not sure, type everything listed in the 'Command' column into this thread & we'll be able to tell you which ones to uncheck. Just make sure to stretch the Command column out so none of the text in it is hidden.

Monger- Thanks for your input.

I have found a site that may help me unload what I don't need:

http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php?filter=&count=&type=

Now for the dumb question- There is no way to copy and paste the command line from the System Configuration Utility, is there? I am just concerned that if I type it, I will make some typos that will screw things up!

I am going to go through the list. If the problem STILL occurs, I'll take the time to type the command lines.

Also, I checked the net, and apparently Norton is not selling a stand alone utility program anymore. They sell it as part of "System Works", which is pricey, has had lousy reviews, and has a lot of stuff that I don't need.

Would there be any problem downloading my old Norton utilities 2000 that I had on Win98? I now have Win XP Pro.

This usually will nail it for you:

download HijackThis from
http://mjc1.com/files/merijn/HijackThis.exe

The entry looks like this...O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [] c:\WINDOWS\System32\
...often more than 1..sometimes 3, entries will show up in the log
I've rarely, if ever...not seen other problems accompanying this nuisance...

so you can d/l it to a folder of your choice......doubleclick to open."Scan"...then "Save Log"...when it opens in notepad.......copy (edit..select all..copy) & paste (CTRL-V) the log into your next reply.......

I think some of the apps from norton utilities 2000 will tell you they're not compatible with your version of windows if you try to run them.

Monger- I attempted to download the Norton. It told me, in no uncertain terms, that the version that I had was a "no go"!

When I have some time, I will type the command lines!