startup

Microsoft is to warn Windows 10 users when an app will start up automatically when they start their computer. The move is designed to prevent the start up process being slowed down against the user's wishes. Users already have the ability to ... manually decide whether an app starts up automatically when they switch on their computer. The change is to the way apps are set when they are originally installed. Which apps should start up automatically is a balancing act. With some it's important to start up automatically for functionality purposes, such as having anti-malware software running right ... (view more)

A former Facebook executive says the site is responsible for "ripping apart the social fabric of how society works." Chamath Palihapitiya says the problem isn't restricted to the US. Speaking at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Palihapitiya ... said he felt "tremendous guilt" about his role as Facebook's vice president of user growth. Talking about the way Facebook tried to get users to stick around on the site, he echoed the comments of former colleagues in likening it to psychological manipulation. Social Media Works Like Drug He referred to "dopamine-driven feedback loops", referring ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jason B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I recently upgraded my laptop to Windows 10 from Windows 8.1. After a few days of the upgrade, I keep getting a strange DLL error message stating that 'SysMenu.dll could not be found'. The error ... message always seems to appear right after I boot or reboot the computer, and about 2 or 3 minutes after I gain access to the desktop. The error message is: 'There was a problem starting C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\System\SysMenu.dll. The specified module could not be found.' I have searched Google from high to low on how to fix this error, but the solutions ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jason B. writes: " Dear Dennis, Thanks for all your excellent articles! Somehow my PC got infected with the Trojan: Trojan.Agent.Gen - it was detected by Malwarebytes Antimalware after I ran a scan. Malwarebytes said it needed to ... reboot to clean the infection; I did that, but after another scan, the Trojan is still on my system - I can't remove it! The filename and path of the Trojan is located at %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\windows.vbs. I have also tried removing Trojan.Agent.Gen using Microsoft Security Essentials and ADWCleaner, but neither program will remove it and ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Bill S. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just upgraded to Windows 10. Every time I boot my computer, I receive an error message that says 'Windows Command Processor has stopped working'. There are at least 3 of these notifications ... whenever I sign into Windows 10, and they only happen after I login. I have searched high and low to try and figure out why I keep receiving this error message but I'm completely stumped. Can you help? " My response: This is a good question. When I first upgraded to Windows 10, I also received the error message that 'Windows Command Processor has stopped ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'TNStumbler' writes: " Dear Dennis, I'm running Windows 7 Pro and my computer takes too long to start -- upwards of 85 seconds or so. I am running Malware Bytes Pro (paid version) and it has not found any malware. So, it must be ... that too many programs are being loaded during boot. Which programs can I remove from my startup? " My Response: There are plenty of utilities out there that can help you remove items from the startup. I personally prefer to use msconfig because it's already part of Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8. It's very simple to use, though figuring ... (view more)