Command prompt runs on startup

This is on a Win XP machine: When the computer is booted, it runs a command prompt that stays open. I have checked the Startup, registry run, msconfig, autoexec.bat and config.sys. I am totally out of ideas as to why this command prompt window loads. Any ideas of software to use or ways to determine what is making it run at startup? Thank you for any suggestions.

 

Hello and welcome to WindowsBBS Forums.

Does the prompt stay up, indefinately? When you close it does it stay closed?

Try Autoruns:
Download Autoruns by Sysinternals from here and save it to your desktop.

Extract the files to your desktop, open the Autoruns folder, and double-click autoruns.exe to run it.

Post the log so we can see what may be going on. Malware comes to mind of course. Any other odd symptoms, when did the command prompt begin to load?

 

Is the machine running Trend Micro AV by any chance? I had a system that was displaying the command prompt and it turned out to be in the settings for the Trend Micro Office Scan Client. The prompt window would open at the same time as the Windows desktop and stay open until the system had been scanned completely. The fix was to uninstall and reinstall the client software. Hope this helps

 

It is running Trend Micro AV. I will do as you suggest and see what that does. Thank you!

 

I will try that and send the results. Thank you!