Windows XP doing its own thing? at DVinfo.net

Jason Brunner · April 27th, 2005, 10:30 AM

I'm not very familiar with Windows XP. When I log on, I always have to wait while Windows opens the "my documents folder". I don't want it to do this, and I can't figure out how to stop it. Anyone know whats going on? Thanks. Everything else is fine.

George Ellis · April 27th, 2005, 10:44 AM

uggh. The solution may not be all that pretty. Usually, this means some application created a blank entry, did not correctly create an entry, or did not correctly delete an entry in one of the Run sections of the registry. Checking and editing the registry may be the solution to this. Not a big deal, if you know what is good and what is bad. Since it is My Documents, it is not a blank entry (which would open a System32 folder usually).

In HKey_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run or Hkey_Current_User\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run will be an entry that has My Documents in its path. The exe or object of that item will not exist in the My Documents directory. When it trys to run it, it will fail and just open the folder. The uggh part is that there are wierd entries in there that may not seem to make sense, but deleting them will prevent stuff from running.

I hate recommending deleting entries in the registry as it can be hazardous to the point of having to rebuild a system from scratch.

Rob Lohman · April 30th, 2005, 03:50 AM

Another perhaps safer way might be to do this:

Start -> run -> msconfig

It has a tab called something like (auto)run or startup and it can show you
the programs it tries to run. Here you can disable them without removing them,
so you have a bit of trial and error.

Also look into Start -> All Programs -> Startup in your start menu.

April 27th, 2005, 10:30 AM	#1
Jason Brunner Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Salt Lake City. Utah Posts: 68	Windows XP doing its own thing? I'm not very familiar with Windows XP. When I log on, I always have to wait while Windows opens the "my documents folder". I don't want it to do this, and I can't figure out how to stop it. Anyone know whats going on? Thanks. Everything else is fine. __________________ Kindest regards, Jason Brunner jason@aros.net http://www.jasonbrunner.com http://www.fleurpost.net (Thats just, like, my opinion, man)

April 30th, 2005, 03:50 AM	#3
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	Another perhaps safer way might be to do this: Start -> run -> msconfig It has a tab called something like (auto)run or startup and it can show you the programs it tries to run. Here you can disable them without removing them, so you have a bit of trial and error. Also look into Start -> All Programs -> Startup in your start menu. __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

April 27th, 2005, 10:44 AM	#2
George Ellis Trustee Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Suwanee, GA Posts: 1,241	uggh. The solution may not be all that pretty. Usually, this means some application created a blank entry, did not correctly create an entry, or did not correctly delete an entry in one of the Run sections of the registry. Checking and editing the registry may be the solution to this. Not a big deal, if you know what is good and what is bad. Since it is My Documents, it is not a blank entry (which would open a System32 folder usually). In HKey_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run or Hkey_Current_User\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run will be an entry that has My Documents in its path. The exe or object of that item will not exist in the My Documents directory. When it trys to run it, it will fail and just open the folder. The uggh part is that there are wierd entries in there that may not seem to make sense, but deleting them will prevent stuff from running. I hate recommending deleting entries in the registry as it can be hazardous to the point of having to rebuild a system from scratch.