Blank entries in msconfig

Recently I checked in msconfig to see what all was checked to start when the computer starts. There were two entries checked that had no info listed under Startup Item and Command. It was just blank there. Under location it says, HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVer...
What might this be?

 

Check the Registry Key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Compare that with what msconfig is telling you. Post back if you find any unexplained entries, especially ones with no names/ listed.

 

How do I check the registry key?

 

If you aren't well versed in using the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) then it's best left to some means that will be safer.

Download this Run List Tool - unzip it and run the batch file by double clicking it.






It will create a text file copy of the Key in question.

You can copy/paste the contents here for further review if you like.

 

I forgot to mention that the file created will be found on your Desktop and named run.txt. Perhaps you've found it already in spite of my poor directions.

 

My apologies for taking so long to get back to this. I've been tied up in some other things, mostly with trying to resolve spyware issues on my in-law's computer. Below is the text file.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"IgfxTray "= "C:\\WINNT\\System32\\igfxtray.exe "
"ccRegVfy "= "\ "C:\\Program Files\\Common Files\\Symantec Shared\\ccRegVfy.exe\" "
"AdaptecDirectCD "= "\ "c:\\Program Files\\Roxio\\Easy CD Creator 5\\DirectCD\\DirectCD.exe\" "
"HotKeysCmds "= "C:\\WINNT\\System32\\hkcmd.exe "
"Symantec NetDriver Monitor "= "C:\\PROGRA~1\\SYMNET~1\\SNDMon.exe "
"Zone Labs Client "= "\ "C:\\Program Files\\Zone Labs\\ZoneAlarm\\zlclient.exe\" "
"ccApp "= "\ "C:\\Program Files\\Common Files\\Symantec Shared\\ccApp.exe\" "
"KernelFaultCheck "=hex(2):25,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,72,00,6f,\
00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,\
5c,00,64,00,75,00,6d,00,70,00,72,00,65,00,70,00,20,00,30,00,20,00,2d,00,6b,\
00,00,00
@=" "
"ATI DeviceDetect "= "C:\\Program Files\\ATI Multimedia\\main\\ATIDtct.EXE "
"MSConfig "= "C:\\WINNT\\PCHealth\\HelpCtr\\Binaries\\MSConfig.exe /auto "

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\New Key #1]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\OptionalComponents]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\OptionalComponents\IMAIL]
"Installed "= "1 "

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\OptionalComponents\MAPI]
"Installed "= "1 "
"NoChange "= "1 "

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\OptionalComponents\MSFS]
"Installed "= "1 "

Thanks in advance, and if any replies take as long to come as mine did, I deserve it!

 

Bucksone, You have a couple of little glitches there - perhaps even three.

Do this:

Run MSConfig and uncheck those items with the blank data strings. Then click the "Apply" button. Then click the "Close" button. When asked if you want to restart, decline to do so. Then run MSConfig again and verify that those two items are now gone.

The third item that is not quite right is the entry for:

Code:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\[COLOR=Black]Microsoft[/COLOR]\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\[COLOR=Red]New Key #1[/COLOR]]

You can either delete that key (NewKey #1) from the Registry or leave it alone. It is not really causing any problem so do as you like. If you're comfortable running Regedit you can do the job easily. If not, I'd advise letting it alone.

 

I'm having a problem in msconfig determining which two of the three blank entries I'm supposed to uncheck. The first entry is HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVer...
The other two blank entries are the same except the first part is HKCU instead of HKLM.
When I'm in the System Configuration Utility under the Startup tab, there doesn't appear to be a way to make the window bigger so I can read the rest of each entry after the ...

 

You're making this harder than necessary. It's actually not necessary to even know which ones to uncheck.

Uncheck ALL of the items in the Startup Tab, every swingin' one, click Apply and close. Decline the Reboot offered. Reopen and check all items and click Apply. The blank ones will not be there anymore.

There's nothing whatever to fear since you'll be turning all items back on.

 

Dude
I've got one of these too but I know what it is. For the heck of it though, I tried your suggestion but it didn't work for me so in case it doesn't work for Bucksone I thought I'd post this.

The easiest way to run it down is to just have a look at those two registry keys (first make sure the blank entries are checked in msconfig). The ones that show up blank in msconfig will be the ones that have no value in the data column. There will be an entry in the name column but nothing to the right of it under data. In my case it's a program that I had set to not run at startup from within the programs options. My guess is that it's a bug in the program that doesn't remove the entry in the registry properly. No harm is really done though. You can delete them from the registry or uncheck them in msconfig or you can leave it checked and just ignore it. There's no data value so nothing gets loaded from the entry anyway.

You can check this out by creating a new DWORD value in one of those two keys. Just leave the default name. That's good enough for what we're doing here. Don't give it any data value, just create the DWORD. Now open msconfig and have a look at the startup tab. You'll see you now have blank entry with the box next to it checked.

 

Hi Zander, I think it will work fine for him since I deleted my Run Key and all subs and merged his as he posted in order to troubleshoot the issue. It seems that someone has edited his default string value to add a value data to it and then deleted the value data. That leaves you with a corrupt default value string. The solution is as I outlined or else you can actually delete the default string and it will instantly recreate itself and have the proper string value.

 

Ok Dude. Guess I have to plead guilty quickly skimming through the last few posts (it's not the first time I've been guilty of that). Sorry.

 

Not at all Zander, I always appreciate your input. I'll be sure and check on the issue you brought up in case it applies in some future case.

There never is a slam dunk with these one-eyed monsters and they'll make fools of us all at one time or the other.