REGEDIT -- cleaning up the registry

I have spent several hours finding things like "Bargain Buddy" and the rest
of the keys installed by the "bridge.dll"(an adware horror) and fellow
travelers that show up as [now] disabled in MSCONFIG. The files and folders
referred to were deleted many systarts ago.

The offending entries show up in the registry under
My Computer\HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Win dows\Current
Version\RUN-

S'OK, I have never edited the registry. Is there any suspected problem with
deleting these "RUN-" keys?

Thanks,

FACE

If you delete an item from the RUN key then the item will not run at
startup. If other things depend on that application running, they won't
work. Most of the things that appear under Run can be started manually if
required, but not all.

If uncertain, export the relevant key before deleting - if it causes a
problem, import it back into the registry.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (DTS)
"FACE" wrote in message
...
I have spent several hours finding things like "Bargain Buddy" and the rest
of the keys installed by the "bridge.dll"(an adware horror) and fellow
travelers that show up as [now] disabled in MSCONFIG. The files and
folders
referred to were deleted many systarts ago.

The offending entries show up in the registry under
My Computer\HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Win dows\Current
Version\RUN-

S'OK, I have never edited the registry. Is there any suspected problem
with
deleting these "RUN-" keys?

Thanks,

FACE

The minus behind RUN indicates that it is a disabled entry in msconfig. You
can delete the entire key if you desire and that will remove the unmarked
entries from msconfig, startup tab.

--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

"FACE" wrote in message
...
I have spent several hours finding things like "Bargain Buddy" and the
rest
of the keys installed by the "bridge.dll"(an adware horror) and fellow
travelers that show up as [now] disabled in MSCONFIG. The files and
folders
referred to were deleted many systarts ago.

The offending entries show up in the registry under
My Computer\HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\Win dows\Current
Version\RUN-

S'OK, I have never edited the registry. Is there any suspected problem
with
deleting these "RUN-" keys?

Thanks,

FACE

Thanks Ron, I figured that to be the case although it did not say it. All
score or so entries in that section were the disabled items and the section
followed a "RUN" section. I have deleted 4 of them and cleaned the registry
and will reboot in a few minutes to make sure that all is well and if so,
delete the rest. I am sending this now because if all is not
well.....well....G



BTW, the ones i did delete have already disappeared from the MSCONFIG
display.


FACE


On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 20:44:36 -0500, "Ron Badour" in
microsoft.public.win98.performance wrote:

The minus behind RUN indicates that it is a disabled entry in msconfig. You
can delete the entire key if you desire and that will remove the unmarked
entries from msconfig, startup tab.

--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

Ah, just rebooted. That wasn't so bad.

On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 22:00:35 -0400, FACE in
microsoft.public.win98.performance wrote:

Thanks Ron, I figured that to be the case although it did not say it. All
score or so entries in that section were the disabled items and the section
followed a "RUN" section. I have deleted 4 of them and cleaned the registry
and will reboot in a few minutes to make sure that all is well and if so,
delete the rest. I am sending this now because if all is not
well.....well....G



BTW, the ones i did delete have already disappeared from the MSCONFIG
display.


FACE


On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 20:44:36 -0500, "Ron Badour" in
microsoft.public.win98.performance wrote:

The minus behind RUN indicates that it is a disabled entry in msconfig. You
can delete the entire key if you desire and that will remove the unmarked
entries from msconfig, startup tab.

--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

Thanks Jeff. This section is "RUN-" which fairly speaks for what it is as
it follows the "RUN" section. All is OK now.

On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 10:06:15 +1000, "Jeff Richards"
in microsoft.public.win98.performance wrote:

If you delete an item from the RUN key then the item will not run at
startup. If other things depend on that application running, they won't
work. Most of the things that appear under Run can be started manually if
required, but not all.

If uncertain, export the relevant key before deleting - if it causes a
problem, import it back into the registry.

If you have any remaining boxes in the startup tab that are not marked,
there can be other places to clean up. Here is my standard blurb:

There are seven run keys in the registry that are used to start programs:

1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Run

2. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Run

3. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\RunOnce

4. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\RunOnce

5. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\ RunServices

6. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\
RunServicesOnce

7. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\
RunOnce\Setup

If there is an item disabled in the Startup tab, MSconfig.exe, that was in
one of these keys, it will be in an identically named key except that there
will be a minus at the end, i.e., Run- I suppose any key could be
duplicated; however, I have only found keys #1, #2 and #5 duplicated in my
registry with a minus. If you want to get rid of a non-marked entry in
MSconfig, delete the key with the minus sign behind it.

When you disable an entry that is in the startup folder on the start menu, a
folder is created on the start menu called Disabled Startup Items. As
appropriate, delete the item from either the registry key or the Disabled
folder. If the item is the only thing in the registry key or Disabled
folder, you can delete the key or the folder also.

Items can start from the run= and load= lines in the win.ini file. If
disabled, they are placed in a norun= or noload= line. Go into the win.ini
file and change the appropriate line back to the way it was, i.e., change
norun=application name to run= and save the file.

--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

"FACE" wrote in message
...
Ah, just rebooted. That wasn't so bad.

On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 22:00:35 -0400, FACE
in
microsoft.public.win98.performance wrote:

Thanks Ron, I figured that to be the case although it did not say it.
All
score or so entries in that section were the disabled items and the
section
followed a "RUN" section. I have deleted 4 of them and cleaned the
registry
and will reboot in a few minutes to make sure that all is well and if so,
delete the rest. I am sending this now because if all is not
well.....well....G



BTW, the ones i did delete have already disappeared from the MSCONFIG
display.


FACE


On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 20:44:36 -0500, "Ron Badour" in
microsoft.public.win98.performance wrote:

The minus behind RUN indicates that it is a disabled entry in msconfig.
You
can delete the entire key if you desire and that will remove the
unmarked
entries from msconfig, startup tab.

--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 23:03:25 -0500, "Ron Badour" in
microsoft.public.win98.performance wrote:

Items can start from the run= and load= lines in the win.ini file. If
disabled, they are placed in a norun= or noload= line. Go into the win.ini
file and change the appropriate line back to the way it was, i.e., change
norun=application name to run= and save the file.



Curiously there were no noload or norun lines in win.ini. I also checked
the boot section of system.ini.

Yesterday, before i went to the registry, I had checked
The run keys of the system registry
The C:\Windows\Program Menu\startup folder.
The C:\Windows\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp folder.
The Autoexec.bat file (Win95-98)
The Config.sys file (Win95-98)
The load= & Run= lines of the [windows] section in win.ini.
The [boot] section of system.ini.
Winstart.bat if it exists, otherwise this is not a normal place for Win9x to
load programs
(Thanks for the pointer to that list glee29)

The only place these start-up programs appeared was in the registry.
Both of the start-up folders in the list were empty folders, though part of
the win98 tree.

I was keying in on 'ojmf.exe' and 'msbb.exe' in a system wide text search
but they were never located so *apparently* the registry is in a proprietary
compiled format.

I wish I knew the actual name of the registry file(s) but I don't.
I am more of a drop to diskette a good copy of the registry and overwrite
the bad one with that through DOS if a problem. Yes, I am archaic. G I
went straight from Win 3.1 to Win98 Original release and am now on SE
because in the future I expect to need my USB ports.

The reason I was so skittish about making the changes with regedit is
because since Win95 came out i have always heard how fragile the registry is
and most all of the MS web pages on Registry changes end up with 'Do this at
your own risk' and too many people run away screaming when you mention
actually editing system files.

It is interesting to me how we innately trust the installation exe's to rip
the system sideways and up and down yet when it comes to making a manual
change it becomes 'your own risk'.....with the implication "don't do it".

I do have a computer background as a systems programmer but it is mainframe
(over ten years ago) and i see PC's becoming much like TV's in that
"computer literacy" is quickly becoming knowing where the ON button is and
high tech consists of knowing where the installation CD is.

Obviously, I use a text editor with hex edit capability (which I have used).

Will the 'drop in from DOS' of a good registry file(s) work?

Comments appreciated.

FACE

Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

Comments in line:

--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

"FACE" wrote in message
...

Curiously there were no noload or norun lines in win.ini.

The only time you would find this is if a program was being started from the
load= or run= lines and you disabled them from msconfig, startup tab.


The only place these start-up programs appeared was in the registry.
Both of the start-up folders in the list were empty folders, though part
of
the win98 tree.

The registry run keys are the primary places where applications are started
at boot.


I was keying in on 'ojmf.exe' and 'msbb.exe' in a system wide text search
but they were never located so *apparently* the registry is in a
proprietary
compiled format.

Not sure what you mean here. I find no info on ojmf.exe on the internet so
I would suspect it is either a virus or spy/adware. Msbb.exe is spyware
courtesey of web3000.com

I wish I knew the actual name of the registry file(s) but I don't.

The registry files are named system.dat and user.dat.

I am more of a drop to diskette a good copy of the registry and overwrite
the bad one with that through DOS if a problem. Yes, I am archaic. G I
went straight from Win 3.1 to Win98 Original release and am now on SE
because in the future I expect to need my USB ports.

W98 has its own registry back up and restore program. For information on
the registry, go to: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/registry.html

The reason I was so skittish about making the changes with regedit is
because since Win95 came out i have always heard how fragile the registry
is
and most all of the MS web pages on Registry changes end up with 'Do this
at
your own risk' and too many people run away screaming when you mention
actually editing system files.

The reason that caution is listed is because changes in the registry are
made immediately and if a person screws up the change, the system may not
boot. It is merely CYA so a user cannot come back and say, "I followed your
advice and it totalled my system." See my comments about the registry
above.

I do have a computer background as a systems programmer but it is
mainframe
(over ten years ago) and i see PC's becoming much like TV's in that
"computer literacy" is quickly becoming knowing where the ON button is and
high tech consists of knowing where the installation CD is.

It has been that way for some time now.

Will the 'drop in from DOS' of a good registry file(s) work?

See my registry comments above.

Thanks for all the info Ron. I read your registry page. I downloaded
"Regmon" and ran it -- it had an undeniable advantage.....it was free. I am
unsure of is all of the "remote access" keys being read, such as:

Propelac: OpenKey HKCU\RemoteAccess\Addresses SUCCESS hKey:
0xC2A161E0

But since PropelAC is a program from my ISP that I am running, I guess it is
OK. The only other remote access that i saw was from my ISP itself.
So all in all I guess i am comfortable with it unless I see something alien.

And yes i know that PC's have been a lot like TVs for some time but I'm a
stubborn old git.

-- FACE



On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 09:19:26 -0500, "Ron Badour" in
microsoft.public.win98.performance wrote:

Comments in line: