The Tech Diary

When I was trying to troubleshoot some XP startup issues, I decided to rename the Start->Programs->Startup folder to "_Startup", thinking it would disable any startup programs.

Turns out the folder is somehow flagged as a startup folder, and no matter what it's called, the programs will still start up.  In addition, Windows will create a new Startup folder.  Now I've got both a "Startup" and a "_Startup" in my Programs.  I can't delete either one since Windows complains with:

<FOLDER> is a Windows system folder and is required for Windows to run properly. It can not be deleted.

To fix this, I had to move the _Startup folder, rename it, then move it back.  The folder actually reside in "C:\Documents and Settings\[user]\Start Menu\Programs".   I dragged _Startup up to the "Start Menu" folder, renamed it back to "Startup", then dragged it back to "Programs".  I clicked okay when Windows asked if I wanted to copy on top of the current folder.