How do I get esoniq mixwer out of startup?

[yalamo]

I have Win98SE.

In my unrelenting effort to maximize resources at startup, I am trying to get rid of esoniq mixer (starter.exe). How? I don't need it at startup (it opens anyway when I call an audio file) but unchecking it in MSConfig doesn't help, since apparently some application tells it to load on startup anyway.

Which? Any suggestions?

 

[Rob2806]

Use msconfig and do it by a process of elimination. Make a note of the programs that are loaded. Uncheck everything except the systray and scanreg and reboot. Gradually add one by one those that you need to find out which is the culprit.

 

[yalamo]

Rob2806, thanks for the suggestion.

However, as I said, I know which program is responsible for Ensoniq Mixer startup - Starter.exe. Unchecking this doesn't help, because some some other application is telling the system to open starter.exe on startup. There are no other applications at startup that have anything to do with starter.exe.

 

[wolluf]

Anything in win.ini, system.ini, config.sys, autoexec.bat?

 

[yalamo]

Wolluf, thanks, I checked:

Looking at MSConfig, plenty of stuff in these files, but nothing that I recognize as having anything to do with Ensoniq Mixer, and I'm reluctant to start playing with these files.

 

[Rob2806]

I picked up on one of the other threads (can't find it as I would like to give him a star) about a program called Hijack this?

I downloded it from

http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/

When I ran it I could see all the programs that are running and where it is being derived from in the registry. It may help you.

 

[yalamo]

Rob2806, thanks for the input.

I downloaded the file and ran the scan, and I'm afraid that I'm no wiser than I was before.

I want to reiterate that I don't want to delete Esoniq Mixer from my system, I just want to prevent it from starting when I boot.

The file itself is in the /windows folder, but I can't find any options or preferences that would let me enable or disable it at startup.

 

[Rob2806]

I've looked on my computer and I have no program called starter.exe, so it may not be a critcal file for Win98SE.

When you ran hijack, did you see any references at all to starter or ensoniq?

you could try renaming the file so that windows can't find it and see what happens. It may give some clues of where this request is coming from.

 

[edemiere]

Double click the mixer in the systray. In the far upper-left hand corner of the maximized mixer you will see the "icon" of the mixer. Click on that, choose preferences, and then uncheck "Show Ensoniq Mixer in System Tray" (or something to that effect).

Once you uncheck that, it should no longer show up in the system tray.

Good luck!

 

[Greatgazzoo]

Is it in the windows startup folder? if yes then delete it from the startup folder and reboot.

 

[yalamo]

This is beginning to get complicated.

1. It was not in the startup folder
2. Yes, there were references to "Starter" and "Ensoniq" in the Hijack folder, but as I said, they didn't tell me anything about where I can remove it from startup.
3. I doubleclicked on the mixer in the system try, but the icon in the far upper lefthand corner was grayed out, and just gave the stantard "restore, minimize, close, etc". However, I noticed that the top bar said "SBPCI128", so I went to that folder.
4. I pressed "Sbpcisetup", and voila! IT REMOVED MY SOUND CARD DRIVER! (It was very early in the morning, and I was in a rush).
5. I later installed a driver from the Creative site (Sbpci128setupus_w9x, which I assume is the correct driver). Now my speakers make a lot of noise all the time, and I can barely hear music if I try to play it.

So, to sum up: I removed Starter.exe from my startup file, but now I do not have listenable sound. Presumably, I have to uninstall the sound card driver, remove all traces of it and the previous driver manually, and install again. Any advice on this process will be greatly appreciated.