Ghost entry on startup tab

I have an unchecked entry on the msconfig startup tab for AOL 6.0 trayicon.exe that I have been unable to remove. Have looked in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\microsoft\windows\current version\ all run and run-, and in HKEY_CURRENT USER...............all run and run- , have searched the registry for AOL and America Online and have searched with regseeker but still find no reference to the 6.0. Any suggestions on finding this GHOST?

 

Try Startup Control Panel and delete it:
http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml

 

Is aol still installed ? if it is leave it there

if not Abraxas's suggestion will work. or simply open msconfig to the statup panel and hit the cleanup button
Lonny

 

AOL is still installed, but not 6.0- upgraded to 9.0. I don't remember seeing a cleanup button there but will check tomorrow (PC at workplace). If that fails I'll try Startup Control Panel. Saw that recommended in another thread just days ago and checked it out.

Thanks! I'll post back results.

 

Hi

could it be that version 9 still uses ver 6 tray utility ?

 

Either way, that tray utility is an unnecessary background task that makes the AOL browser pop up more quickly leading the uninitiated to believe that it is superior software to that of other browsers.

Probably not a bad idea to shut it down, anyway.

 

There is also a tray utility for 9.0, which I quickly shut down after upgrading. This is a disabled ghost entry, which as I said, doesn't show itself anywhere else, even in a registry search.

Will be trying out suggestions in about an hour.

 

Hey! There is a cleanup button there. Funny I never noticed it before. Too bad it didn't remove the entry. Startup control panel didn't find it either, so couldn't delete.

Any other suggestions?

 

Hi
the cleanup button is great, it wont remove anything if the program /programs seam to it to still be on the pc though

Ive never used startup Control Panel does it look everywhere ?

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
run , run- run-disabled , runonce ,runonceEX,runservices, runservices- , runservicesEX.

\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
run , run-, runonce


My guess is its in the runservices
aol trayicon.exe ,, is that the actual name as shown in ms config?

Lonny

 

Hi Lonny,

Startup CPL looks in HKCU\Run, HKLM\Run, Run Once (I assume any run once), Startup (user), Startup (common), and Deleted (which I assume are all the run- keys). If you follow the link from Abraxas, there is a good image on the download page of that program. I did manually check all of the keys you mentioned with no luck. Not there to check now, but if memory serves me correctly the name is aoltrayicon.exe, path or location is C:\America Online 6.0\aoltray.exe which does not exist. There is an aoltray.exe in the registry but it's for the 9.0. BTW, PC was not just upgraded to 9.0, 6.0 was uninstalled first. I did a search of all files and folders for any reference to AOL 6.0, America Online 6.0, and every other configuration of names I could think of including wildcards and found nothing.

 

maybe Autostart Explorer will help(its free)
http://www.misec.net/aexp.jsp


Looking back on the topic title
"Ghost entry on startup tab "
Do you mean there is a empty space or entry on the startup page of msconfig ? becouse that would be normal(I think)
Mine has one on the top, its simply blank
also first one on the addremove utility is blank to
.

correct me if im wrong but doesnt aol usualy just add its tray item to the startup folder.
Lonny

 

Lonny,

Thank you. Saved Autostart to floppy and will give it a run in the morning.

This is an entry on startup tab of msconfig. I will double check the startup folder in the morning also.

 

Well, I installed Autostart Explorer and it didn't find the entry either. On a whim, I rechecked the entry to start up and rebooted. Got an 'application not in specified path' error on restart (which was expected) and when I checked Startup Control Panel, there the rascal was on one of the startup tabs. Highlight, right click and delete and finally it's gone.

Thanks guy's for the help.

 

Thanks for the followup. I guess I forgot that StartupCPL doesn't seem to refresh its contents until a reboot. But it is a handy little app.