Guest Chris Posted October 1, 2007 Posted October 1, 2007 I have a utility program installed. When windows starts up, I get a message from my firewall that "<program> is trying to access the internet". Ok, I know what it is trying to do and why (update its data), and I know it's not anything dubious and I can easily block it, but just HOW does it do this? It is not installed as a service. It is not listed in my startup folder. It does not appear in the registry under any of the Run, RunOnce, RunOnceEx or RunServices keys even under an alias (all entries are accounted for). It does not appear in Services section of WindowsXP Admin tools. So just how does it "run itself" at windows startup? Chris.
Guest Smirnoff Posted October 1, 2007 Posted October 1, 2007 Re: How does a program "run itself" at windows startup? "Chris" <chris@nosuchdomain.eu> wrote in message news:memo.20071001091508.2344A@chris.chris... > I have a utility program installed. > > When windows starts up, I get a message from my firewall that > "<program> is trying to access the internet". Ok, I know what it is > trying to do > and why (update its data), and I know it's not anything dubious and I > can easily > block it, but just HOW does it do this? > > It is not installed as a service. > It is not listed in my startup folder. > It does not appear in the registry under any of the Run, RunOnce, > RunOnceEx or > RunServices keys even under an alias (all entries are accounted for). > It does not appear in Services section of WindowsXP Admin tools. > > So just how does it "run itself" at windows startup? > > Chris. > Is the <program> a secret? What is it called? Have you looked in its options (untick "run on start up") What about Start>Run>msconfig>startup?
Guest Gotde T Shirt Posted October 1, 2007 Posted October 1, 2007 Re: How does a program "run itself" at windows startup? "Chris" <chris@nosuchdomain.eu> wrote in message news:memo.20071001091508.2344A@chris.chris... >I have a utility program installed. > > When windows starts up, I get a message from my firewall that > "<program> is trying to access the internet". Ok, I know what it is trying > to do > and why (update its data), and I know it's not anything dubious and I can > easily > block it, but just HOW does it do this? > > It is not installed as a service. > It is not listed in my startup folder. > It does not appear in the registry under any of the Run, RunOnce, > RunOnceEx or > RunServices keys even under an alias (all entries are accounted for). > It does not appear in Services section of WindowsXP Admin tools. > > So just how does it "run itself" at windows startup? > > Chris. > Try running HiJackThis on your system... http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/tools/security_tools/hijackthis
Guest Chris Posted October 1, 2007 Posted October 1, 2007 Re: How does a program "run itself" at windows startup? On Mon, 1 Oct 2007 09:35:17 +0100 Smirnoff <someone@nospam.invalid> wrote: > Is the <program> a secret? What is it called? > Have you looked in its options (untick "run on start up") > What about Start>Run>msconfig>startup? No, it's not a secret, just not relevant. I don't want to know about this program specifically, or start an off-topic discussion about how good/bad it is, or how I should be using something else! :-) I just want to know how a program (any program) can start itself up *without* appearing in any of the usual places. I am assuming I have missed one of the ways a program can start itself up at windows startup. > Have you looked in its options (untick "run on start up") Yes, and it is NOT ticked to run at startup or to automatically update itself. If it was, then surly it (or its updater prog) should appear in my "startup folder" or in one of the usual registry "run" keys, and would also appear in msconfig\startup. It does not. Chris.
Guest Chris Posted October 1, 2007 Posted October 1, 2007 Re: How does a program "run itself" at windows startup? On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 08:37:10 GMT Gotde T Shirt <me@invalid.com> wrote: > Try running HiJackThis on your system... > http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/tools/security_tools/hijackthis Thanks. Just tried that. There is no mention of the program, and nothing else in the log that I cannot account for. Chris.
Guest Detlev Dreyer Posted October 1, 2007 Posted October 1, 2007 Re: How does a program "run itself" at windows startup? "Chris" <chris@nosuchdomain.eu> wrote: > When windows starts up, I get a message from my firewall that > "<program> is trying to access the internet". Note that malware knows how to bypass these toy firewalls and won't show up there in most cases. You might be better off when using the WinXP firewall (stateful packet filter) instead. > Ok, I know what it is trying to do and why (update its data), and I > know it's not anything dubious and I can easily block it, but just HOW > does it do this? There are several automatic startup locations. In addition, any driver and loaded software is capable to launch any other programs at any time. > So just how does it "run itself" at windows startup? See above. You might see its startup location via MSCONFIG > Startup tab or when installing this utility: "AutoRuns for Windows" http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Utilities/AutoRuns.mspx -- d-d
Guest Daave Posted October 1, 2007 Posted October 1, 2007 Re: How does a program "run itself" at windows startup? Chris wrote: > On Mon, 1 Oct 2007 09:35:17 +0100 Smirnoff <someone@nospam.invalid> > wrote: > >> Is the <program> a secret? What is it called? >> Have you looked in its options (untick "run on start up") >> What about Start>Run>msconfig>startup? > > No, it's not a secret, just not relevant. I don't want to know about > this program specifically, or start an off-topic discussion about how > good/bad it is, or how I should be using something else! :-) Telling us the name of the program would be the opposite of off-topic! By mentioning what it is, we could help you configure it so that it doesn't start automatically at bootup -- or at least explain how it happens (if you choose to keep it this way).
Guest Chris Posted October 1, 2007 Posted October 1, 2007 Re: How does a program "run itself" at windows startup? On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 09:55:29 GMT Detlev Dreyer <detdreyer@flashmail.com> wrote: > See above. You might see its startup location via MSCONFIG > Startup > tab > or when installing this utility: "AutoRuns for Windows" > http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Utilities/AutoRuns.mspx Many thanks. AutoRuns is a very interesting utility, and it showed my program had inserted an "at startup" entry into the Windows task schedular. Never thought of looking there. Problem solved! Chris.
Guest Detlev Dreyer Posted October 1, 2007 Posted October 1, 2007 Re: How does a program "run itself" at windows startup? "Chris" <chris@nosuchdomain.eu> wrote: > Many thanks. > AutoRuns is a very interesting utility, and it showed my program had inserted an > "at startup" entry into the Windows task schedular. > > Never thought of looking there. Problem solved! You're welcome! -- d-d
Guest Ramesh, MS-MVP Posted October 1, 2007 Posted October 1, 2007 Re: How does a program "run itself" at windows startup? Adding to Detlev's excellent note: You'd like to visit the link below, which covers all (or most of) the startup launchpoints in Windows. http://silentrunners.org/sr_launchpoints.html -- Regards, Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User] Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com "Chris" <chris@nosuchdomain.eu> wrote in message news:memo.20071001142014.2344D@chris.chris... On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 09:55:29 GMT Detlev Dreyer <detdreyer@flashmail.com> wrote: > See above. You might see its startup location via MSCONFIG > Startup > tab > or when installing this utility: "AutoRuns for Windows" > http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Utilities/AutoRuns.mspx Many thanks. AutoRuns is a very interesting utility, and it showed my program had inserted an "at startup" entry into the Windows task schedular. Never thought of looking there. Problem solved! Chris.
Guest Poprivet Posted October 1, 2007 Posted October 1, 2007 Re: How does a program "run itself" at windows startup? Chris wrote: > I have a utility program installed. > > When windows starts up, I get a message from my firewall that > "<program> is trying to access the internet". Ok, I know what it is > trying to do and why (update its data), and I know it's not anything > dubious and I can easily block it, but just HOW does it do this? > > It is not installed as a service. > It is not listed in my startup folder. > It does not appear in the registry under any of the Run, RunOnce, > RunOnceEx or RunServices keys even under an alias (all entries are > accounted for). > It does not appear in Services section of WindowsXP Admin tools. > > So just how does it "run itself" at windows startup? > > Chris. A program doesn't "run itself". Something calls it to run. There are many more paths to accomplish that than you have mentioned. Thus, without the name of the application you're referring to, it's not logical or easy to answer you since there could be many different answers depending on what the application is. It could of course even be malware. It's also possible for something that you DO see as having started to have started something else that in turn is starting the app you're wondering about. Get the idea? For an accurate answer you have to identify it or put up with guesses and gafs until you find one you believe or like. Most applications start other programs as part of their normal operation. It could even be malware which wouldn't be in any of hte places you looked. Perhaps what you really need is to ask for some way to monitor what is starting the various apps on your machine. Pop`
Guest Chris Posted October 1, 2007 Posted October 1, 2007 Re: How does a program "run itself" at windows startup? On Mon, 1 Oct 2007 09:06:24 -0400 Daave <dcwashNOSPAM@myrealboxXYZ.invalid> wrote: > Telling us the name of the program would be the opposite of off-topic! > By mentioning what it is, we could help you configure it so that it > doesn't start automatically at bootup -- or at least explain how it > happens (if you choose to keep it this way). Thanks for your input. However, I was not asking for help in configuring a particular program, but rather for ideas of how any program could run at startup when it did not appear (to me) to be in any of the normal registry keys or startup folders. I deliberately did not mention the programs name because I did not want to start a discussion about how good/bad that particular program was, and why was I using it, etc. The mystery has been resolved now. The program had put a "run at startup" entry into the Windows task schedular, and I had not thought of looking there! Thanks anyway. Chris.
Guest Chris Posted October 1, 2007 Posted October 1, 2007 Re: How does a program "run itself" at windows startup? On Mon, 1 Oct 2007 11:10:28 -0400 Poprivet <poprivet@devnull.spamcop.net> wrote: > A program doesn't "run itself". Something calls it to run. There > are many more paths to accomplish that than you have mentioned. > Thus, without the name of the application you're referring to, it's > not logical or easy to answer you since there could be many different > answers depending on what the application is. It could of course > even be malware. It's also possible for something that you DO see as > having started to have started something else that in turn is > starting the app you're wondering about. Get the idea? For an > accurate answer you have to identify it or put up with guesses and > gafs until you find one you believe or like. Most applications start > other programs as part of their normal operation. It could even be > malware which wouldn't be in any of hte places you looked. > Perhaps what you really need is to ask for some way to monitor > what is starting the various apps on your machine. > > Pop` Ok thanks. I do realise that something has to start a program and that they don't "just run". I also now appreciate there are far more ways for a program to be started up than I was aware of! My particular mystery has been resolved now. The program had put an entry into the Windows task schedular, and I had not thought of looking there! Chris.
Guest Chris Posted October 1, 2007 Posted October 1, 2007 Re: How does a program "run itself" at windows startup? On Mon, 1 Oct 2007 19:17:49 +0530 Ramesh, MS-MVP <ramesh@XOX.mvps.org> wrote: > Adding to Detlev's excellent note: > > You'd like to visit the link below, which covers all (or most of) the > startup launchpoints in Windows. > > http://silentrunners.org/sr_launchpoints.html > > -- > Regards, > > Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows Shell/User] > Windows® Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com Thank you for that link. Chris.
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