The PIMEX design team, much like you, has faced the challenges of computer bugs, viruses, and other such annoyances on our computer systems. Even though these problems are not related to our software products, we feel it our responsibility to spread the knowledge about how to stop these annoyances with our windows Tips & Tricks section.

Note: PIMEX Group, L.L.C. is not responsible for any harm/damage done to the user's software, data, or hardware resulting from this tutorial.

Many programs such as spyware or certain viruses, when installed onto your computer by various means, are made to run whenever your computer starts up. The programs that run when the operating system starts up are either found in the start menu (Start->Programs->Startup), or hidden in the registry. Since it is very easy to delete programs from the startup menu, many intentionally annoying programs are placed in the registry. These instructions will help you stop these programs from running when the computer starts up (which should most likely solve the problem, but remember, the program will not be deleted from the hard drive).

Note: this process should work for

• Windows XP

• Windows 2000

• Windows ME

• Windows 98

• Windows 95

To access the registry, click on the start menu and click "Run...".

When the "Run" window pops up, enter "regedit" (without the quotes) into the text field and click OK. This will bring up the registry window, which you can browse on the left hand side and view the contents of the folders on the right.

By viewing the following directories on the left, the right hand side will display the programs which run at startup. If something need be deleted, right click on the title and click "Delete".

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Run

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Run

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ RunServices

There are two parts to every listing in the right pane - the value name (in the left column) and the value data (in the right column). The name doesn't do anything, but can be descriptive - "SystemTray" operates the tray notification area (containing the clock and the volume control by default). The value data is what contains the filename of the program to run - in the case of the "SystemTray" listing, "SysTray.Exe" is run when it's encountered. Note that any application can place a program to run here - look at the description and the folder name for a clue. Some of the other common items that may be found include:

• COMSMDEXE: 3Com networking component

• HP JetDiscovery: HP network printing component

• HPSCANMonitor: HP scanning component

• LoadPowerProfile: Microsoft power management profile loader

• ScanRegistry: Microsoft Registry Checker

• StillImageMonitor: Microsoft component for scanners and cameras

• SystemTray: Battery Meter for portable computers

• TaskMonitor: Microsoft component for keeping Explorer from crashing

• Tweak UI: Portion of Microsoft Tweak UI that performs certain operations at boot, such as clearing the Run history.

Windows Me/2000:

• Select Settings in your Start Menu, and then select Taskbar & Start Menu.
• Turn off the Use Personalized Menus option.

Windows XP:

• Select Settings in your Start Menu, and then select Taskbar & Start Menu.
• Choose the Start Menu tab, choose Classic Start Menu, and click Customize.
• Turn off the Use Personalized Menus option, and click Ok when you're done.

Here's how to disable this wonderful feature, either completely or selectively:

• Open System in the Control Panel (or right-click on the My Computer icon and select Properties.
• Choose the Advanced tab, and click Error Reporting.
• You can disable error reporting entirely here, or enable it selectively for certain programs. Click Ok when you're done.