Unwanted files in startup

I was wondering if anyone had a solution for me.. my computer takes along time to start when turned on... .. when I go into programs/accessories/system tools/system information/start up.. I have millions of files in there.

I have put msconfig into run and disabled what looks like I dont need however this has not helped.

I was told that this could happen from adware/spyware/virus and my computer almost crashed a while back as was very infected but after following a step by step guide from you guys it was saved. However maybe this previous problem caused it..

Please help, a technician I rang said he had a disc which can clean this, would anyone know what I need as he wants to charge me 65 bucks just to run this disc on my computer..

thanx in advance

 

Hi-

DCS (Diamond Computer Sys) has a free application called Auto Start Viewer. That might be a good place to start. If you see something starting that looks suspicious you can just do a search on it and see what it is. Probably best to not shut down a lot at the same time, that way you can verify if it needs to start or not.

Uniblue makes a program called "WinTasks Pro" which I find convenient. It shows you what is running, most of what is autostarting, and it has a built in process library to help you identify them. Very likely there is a free trial which might see you through the worst of it

Other than that Run > Services.msc is pretty good for viewing "Services" that autostart with windows. It is considered safer to disable programs here than MSConfig, because it shouldn't allow you to shut off anything that is critical to run the computer, plus there are some explanations of what they do and what they depend on...Again, you can check the internet, or just find a site that already has listed advice on what should be running.

Hopefully, that could help some.


- HandsOff

 

instead of paying you can post your startups here, or probably a better idea you could post a HijackThis log at a forum which analyses them, not here though, they stopped reading them because too many people were posting for help. you can download HijackThis from the link below incase you want to post the log it generates at another forum.
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/supportfiles/HijackThis.exe

and you can post the log in a HijackThis forum at one of these places
http://castlecops.com/forums.html
http://www.spywareinfoforum.com/index.php
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/index.php


if you want you can download StartupList, run it, then save the results and post them here. i think you're still allowed to do that.
http://www.spywareinfoforum.com/~merijn/files/startuplist.zip

 

Hi flowerpea,

Adding to iceni's post, the latest version of HJT (direct download above) has Startuplist included inside it's miscellaneous tool's section. Important to note in case you're unaware, HJT need's to be placed inside it's OWN folder somewhere on your hard drive (drive letter:\HJT or drive letter:\Program Files\HJT).

If push come's to shove, save the sixty-five buck's (which I'm sure would be better spent) by having a log file read at one of the forum's ICE suggested.
You'll learn a few thing's in the process.


GF