Control Panel appears automatically

Hello, I'm running Windows XP Media edition, Service Pack 2. Some time ago my control panel disappeared completely from the Start menu, in fact I couldn't find it anywhere. Curously, this only happened when I logged in as me but when I logged in on my girlfriend's account it was still there. Anyway, my friend searched Google and downloaded something that seemed to fix it. Job done, or so I thought. Now, the control panel now appears automatically. I log in on my account, my desktop appears and then, a few seconds later, the control panel pops up. Once again, this doesn't happen when i log on via my girlfriend's account. It's not a major problem but it is becoming quite annoying. Can anyone help me? Thanks.

See if Control Panel is being started by one of the registry entries at boot time.

Click on Start then Run, type msconfig and press Enter.
Click on the Startup tab and see if there is anything in there that looks like a link to the Control Panel.

Also look in your Startup folders, see if a link to Control Panel is there. It can be in several different locations, so check all of them

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
C:\Documents and Settings\youruserid\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Thanks Ztruker,

Well, I think I've found the problem, only to be faced with another one (ain't that always the way!).

Have checked all the Startup folders - no links to the Control Panel there.



I typed in msconfig and unchecked the box that mentioned control panel. Now, every time the computers starts up this message appears:

You have used the system configuration utility to make changes to the way windows starts. The System Configuration Utility is currently in Diagnostic or Selective Startup mode, causing this message to be displayed and the utility to run every time Windows Starts.

Choose the Normal Startup mode on the General tab to start Windows normally and undo the changes you made using the System Configuration Utility.

There is then a box that you can check with a message next to it, saying: Don't show this message or launch the System Configuration Utility when Windows Starts.

What should I do about it? I typed in msconfig again into Run but now the only thing that happens is the message appears again.

Thanks for your time in helping me.

Hi percylovely You just place a check-mark in "don't show this message again", and that should be it. (Its a message displayed by default after reboot whenever you have used msconfig.) Regards Abydos

Abydos, Have done so now and it's working fine! Thanks