I went to see my start up in msconfig, i gave so many things I don't know what they mean or if they are necessary where do I go to see if they are necessary or can someone out there help me? Things like atiptaxx, cekey, cemtray, ezbutton, apoint and the list goes on and on. Thank you would this help in speeding up my laptop? ******************************************************************* 01-13-07, 09:03 AM bedstor Hi LL This is a most confusing area for Many people but take your time and you'll see some improvement
First off what this does is stop the Icons appearing next to the clock ( stopping "run all the time" programs)
Untick all the listings which start "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows..." Next check the items which have Common Startup All of these can be unticked too unless its a task you want running all the time Such as the Seti/Boinc program which is labelled as SETI or BOINC in the program column and last but not least Click on the "General" Tab and change the setting to Selective Startup and press the Apply button Thats all there is to do Wink ******************************************************************* 01-13-07, 10:21 AM luckyladee From what I see they are all written KHLM/software microsoft except for the very last one in common start up adobe reader, so does that mean i uncheck all of the microsoft software ******************************************************************* 01-13-07, 11:12 AM bedstor Do Not Untick any Items marked HKLM\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\...!
The "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows..." items that can be unticked are below these scroll down the list to see these
The Adobe Reader Item is Ok to untick. This only runs the PDF file viewer Program You'd only use that once in a while And you'll be selecting that manually from the Start Menu anyway, if not clicking on the icon link to open the viewer Smile ******************************************************************* 01-13-07, 12:05 PM luckyladee thank you bestor what about hkcu? ******************************************************************* 01-13-07, 12:10 PM bedstor
quote: Originally posted by luckyladee: thank you bestor what about hkcu?
Anything that starts with a "code" leave alone and you'll be fine Smile Mike ******************************************************************* 01-13-07, 04:46 PM GarColga Hi luckyladee -
This is a site where you can look up each startup item and see if it is necessary. For instance I looked up your 'atiptaxx' and found the entry - "Added by the Troj/Small-ED TROJAN!".
It is a utility program file for ATI video cards. It seems that it's not required, but this is why this can quickly get so complicated.
Any malware can be named anything - so you should check where the files of the running processes are located on your disk. If a "non-Microsoft" .exe file is located in the C:\Windows or C:\Windows\System32 folder, then there is a high risk for a virus, spyware, trojan or worm infection!
I always try to get at least two sources of file information if I'm not sure. Another source that I like is: Windows Startup Applications
In my mind all this hassle is why it makes since to just avoid the majority of the problems in the first place. See this post.
I hope this helps!
Dwight ******************************************************************* 01-14-07, 07:57 AM luckyladee Now I am really scared! I downloaded adaware from your site and ran a full scan and this is my results which all look *@#@# to me: OBJESTS SCANNED 164398 58 RUNNING PROCESSES 12 OBJECTS RECOGNIZED 12 NEW CRITICAL OBJECTS 5 REGISTRY KEYS IDENTIFIED 2 REGISTRY VALUES IDENTIFIED 5 FILES IDENTIFIED 33 NEGLIGIBLE OBJECTS What do I do now? ******************************************************************* 01-14-07, 08:38 AM Dwight Ad-Aware, Spybots and SpywareBlaster are all very safe to use. You can safely delete anything that either Ad-Aware or Spybots finds. In the case of Ad-Aware, you should check each item you wish to remove (right-click on the list and click the "select all" option if you like). Then click the "Next" button. OK the dialog box. Then close the program.
By the way, the MRU item means Most Recently Used and it refers to a list of most recently used programs, searches or documents. You can choose to leave it, if you like. I find the MRU items to be very helpful, seeing as how forgetful I am!
The SpywareBlaster can also be set to "undo" any actions that you like. Of the three, the SpywareBlaster is the most important because is prevents these problems in the first place. Of course it isn't a 100% effective, but it is very good.
Dwight ******************************************************************* 01-14-07, 10:00 AM bedstor LL The AdAware result you got is actually a good number for a first scan ...Have seen several report over 50 critical items on the first scan Another line of defense you can install is Windows Defender ...This is really good, updates itelf...good for somebody who does not scan on a regular schedule Details here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Defender
Download from here click the Orange button www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx (File size is 5 MB) ******************************************************************* 01-14-07, 12:37 PM luckyladee Yes I have had Windows defender for quite a while. Thank you for all the input. I am a smarter woman today because of all of you. Thanks again. ******************************************************************* 01-14-07, 08:40 PM bedstor I Haven't done an AdAware scan since October Have several other programs looking after the Security... Ran It and got 55 critical and 10 others Frown
Most will be "false positives" but it doesn't harm it if these are deleted Most spyware and to a lesser extent Antivirus programs report these..They are looking for patterns that resemble spyware and virus Pests Only positive call will be if 2 or more programs agree with each other .
This message has been edited. Last edited by: DorianGreyed,
