Programs in my startup folder running twice...

[Sqube]

I'm running XP Professional; I was trying to add software to my personal startup folder without it being in the All Users startup folder.

In other words, I wanted it to be in C:\Documents and Settings\[My User Name]\Start Menu\Programs\Startup without it being in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup.

Well, after trying to do that (I'm not quite sure how I did it, but I get the feeling I did something wrong), I noticed that everything in my startup folder was running twice. I tried to remove it from just my folder, and it wouldn't run at all. I tried putting it in the All Users startup folder, it started running twice again.

I went into the System Configuration Utility and, under the Startup section, noticed that all of the programs in my startup folder had two entries: Startup and Common Startup. I tried removing one, but it inevitably removes the other.

I'm at the end of my rope and not sure of what to do. If you've got any suggestions besides reformat my computer, that would be really useful.

As always, thanks in advance.

 

[Sqube]

Help?

 

[Slikkster]

Try Mike Lin's "Startup Control Panel". It lets you move things between the different start locations....current user, common, etc. You can delete (safely by just unchecking), etc.

When you install the program, it will put an icon in your Control Panel named "Startup". Access it from there.

Use the "Send to" feature to move between the different startup locations/options.

Download here: http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml

 

[Sqube]

That program doesn't work; it causes the same problem that I was seeing when I went in through the System Configuration Utility.

If I remove something from the Common Startup folder, it disappears from my User folder. If I remove something from the User folder, it disappears from the Common folder. This is really starting to be mind-boggling...

 

[Slikkster]

You haven't really said exactly how you got here in the first place. What were you working on? What program(s) were opened to accomplish this?

The easiest thing now to get back to where you were is to run System Restore in XP and select a date right before you started messing with the startup locations.

Then, I would suggest using Mike Lin's program after that (you will have to reinstall anything you installed after your System Restore date, so this program will have to be reinstalled, too).

Then, you should be good to go.

1. System Restore to date earlier than the day you messed with startup folders.
2. Reinstall Startup Control Panel
3. Now, go ahead and use the "Send to" option in Startup Control Panel to move programs around to chosen startup locations.

System Restore, like many programs in Windows, can be started in various ways. Here's one:

Click Start
Click Programs
Click Accessories
Click System Tools
Click System Restore

 

[Sqube]

Initially, I wasn't using a specific program to mess with what was in my startup folder. I was just taking things out of the common startup folder and putting them in my user folder; everything I was doing was a variation on that theme. The programs I had running were Tiny KeyCounter, NYKO Gamepad Mapping Configuration (configuration software for my PC gamepad), Microsoft Office and the Task Manager.

And umm... funny thing about that whole System Restore....... yeah. I turned it off.

But yeah, I tried using the program again but, instead of putting things in the Startup folder (which was making the wonkiness happen) I went ahead and put the files I wanted in the HKCU/Run folder (which creates registry entries for the current user, aka me). This has worked for everything except for the Task Manager; I had my Task Manager set to run minimized, but it wouldn't run minimized when I put it in the HKCU/Run folder. I don't know how to get around that at all.

As an aside, considering that I'm the only user on my machine and I'm using the Administrator account, could that have anything to do with what was going wrong with my startup account? If I created another account, would that effectively circumvent this issue?

 

[Slikkster]

I'm not sure why people feel the need to turn off System Restore. It can be a lifesaver where Windows is concerned, and with the size of drives nowadays, it's a non-issue. Plus, you can tell it how much to max out at, size-wise. Anyway, I've never quite gotten a good reason out of anyone for not using it.

I was going to ask you if you were using the Admin account. I definitely would just create another account with admin privileges and use that, instead. That's what I do.
Rename the admin account, while you're at it, so as to foil simple hack attacks that might get that far.

I'm betting that using the admin account is really the issue here.

 

[Sqube]

For what it's worth, renaming the Admin account is the first thing that I did. It also sounds reasonable that using it is as the only account on the machine might have something to do with the problem.

Well... yeah, I don't know why I turned off System Restore. Considering I've got 2x250s in this machine (with another on the way in all probability) I really don't have an excuse. Guess I might as well go ahead and turn that on now.

All that said, do you have any ideas as to why I can't get Task Manager to start minimized when putting the shortcut in HKCU/Run?