Windows XP Startup Methods - Startup Files
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While older versions of Windows had many startup file locations, this is much less common in Windows XP. Again, they are provided for reverse compatibility, but in my experience are much less reliable than registry entries.
%windir%systemautoexec.nt
%windir%systemconfig.nt
These are essentially the Windows NT equivalents of the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files found in older versions of Windows.
%windir%system.ini
%windir%win.ini
As in older versions of Windows, these files house some basic startup configuration settings. In win.ini pay close attention to the [load] and [run] sections. In system.ini you’ll want to watch the [boot] section.
Again, the possibilities don’t stop here, but unfortunately I’m out of space. For more information about Windows startup methods, check out these very informative links:
http://www.diamondcs.com.au/index.php?page=autostarts
http://gladiator-antivirus.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=24610
Thanks for reading. I hope you found this article at least a bit informative. For every one of the dozens of startup methods available there is probably at least that many viruses that target it.
Educating yourself with the inner workings of Windows is the only true way to become a power user. Until next time…
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