Why are these unwanted files/folders opening when I log on?
I get called on frequently to do troubleshooting, so I figure I'd share some entries
from my private bag of tricks. (And there are some remarks for programmers hidden
here too.)
Problem 1. A folder like C:\Program Files\LitWare opens each time you
log on.
Reason: Your system contains two sibling directories where one is a strict
prefix of the second. For example,
C:\Program Files\LitWare
C:\Program Files\LitWare Deluxe
If you go to regedit, you will likely find under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
or
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
an entry that refers to a program in the longer directory, like
Reminder=REG_SZ:C:\Program Files\LitWare Deluxe\reminder.exe
What's more, the reference such as the one above will not have quotation marks to
protect the embedded spaces in the name.
What's going on is that LitWare Deluxe wants to run C:\Program Files\LitWare
Deluxe\reminder.exe, but due to the spaces, this first gets parsed as
app = C:\Program
command line=Files\LitWare Deluxe\reminder.exe
This fails, so the system tries again with
app = C:\Program Files\LitWare
command line=Deluxe\reminder.exe
and this succeeds because you have a folder called C:\Program Files\LitWare.
Edit the string and add the quotation marks.
Note to programmers: This is why it's important to quote your filenames if they contain
spaces.
Problem 2. A desktop.ini file opens when you log on.
Reason: The System and Hidden attributes for the file desktop.ini in
the directory
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Startup
or
C:\Documents and Settings\yourname\Start Menu\Startup
have been lost. Alternatively, you went to the advanced Folder Options and disabled
"Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)".
If a file is marked with both the System and Hidden attributes, Explorer will not
enumerate it, thereby hiding it from the user. If you disable "Hide protected operating
system files", then this rule is suppressed.
When you log on, one of the things that Explorer does is enumerate the contents of
your Startup folders and runs each file it finds. If the desktop.ini is not marked
System+Hidden (or you disabled the rule that filters them out), then it will be opened.
What is this file for?
This file is used to support Windows XP's Multilingual
User Interface, which allows you to change the language you use to interact with
Windows, so for example you could say, "I want everything to be in French" and Windows
will translate all its menus, shortcuts, dialog boxes, etc. into French. Specifically,
this file instructs Windows how to translate the word "Startup" into French, German,
Spanish, etc.
Programmatically, you use the SHSetLocalizedName function
to set the multilingual name for a file or folder.
