Windows 98SE Start Menu Question

[Monroe]

I have four notebook computers with Windows 98SE installed and I just noticed a few days ago that several are different in this one area. I can't figure out why they are all different since I installed, update and keep them all pretty much the same. In the Start Menu when I click on "Find" I have these choices on one computer:

Find:

Files or Folder

Computer

on the Internet

viruses

people

On another computer I have the same listing except for "viruses", on another computer I have just the first three listings, no "viruses" and "people" listing. How has this happened and how can I fix (delete) the "on the Internet", "viruses" and "people" listings? I only use the "Find" button to locate Files or Folders anyway. Just would like to "tidy" this Find button thing up, if I can. ... "on the Internet" could stay I guess, that may come from the "original" install but where did that "viruses" and "people" listing come from?

thanks ...

Edited December 22, 2009 by duffy98

[Fredledingue]

They could have been installed with "drivers". Hardware makers add wierd stuffs with their drivers sometimes.

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

... Just would like to "tidy" this Find button thing up, if I can. ... "on the Internet" could stay I guess, that may come from the "original" install but where did that "viruses" and "people" listing come from?

Note that we're talking about Win9x here of course. Any program that has a Search/Find application called from a DLL can put stuff in there accessible from the Start Menu. I am unaware of any trick to make an EXE work as a Find Extension.

These Find Extensions are most easily added by creating subkeys under this key:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FindExtensions\Static]

Typically like this:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FindExtensions\Static\[b]Program Named Subkey[/b]]
@="{[b]Program's CLSID[/b]}"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FindExtensions\Static\[b]Program Named Subkey[/b]\0]
@="[b]Program Name (appears in Start Menu > Find)[/b]"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FindExtensions\Static\[b]Program Named Subkey[/b]\0\DefaultIcon]
@="[b]C:\\Somewhere\\SomeProgram.exe,0[/b]"

The actual program is called by CLSID to a DLL though. That EXE there just supplies the icon. So you have to have some more, this is only an example ...

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\CLSID\{[b]Program's CLSID[/b]}]
@="[b]Program Name[/b]"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\CLSID\{[b]Program's CLSID[/b]}\InProcServer32]
@="[b]C:\\Somewhere\\SomeProgram.dll[/b]"
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"

That should be enough info for you to be able to prune out any items that you no longer want to appear under Start > Find. To delete the example I showed above you would delete this key:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FindExtensions\Static\Program Named Subkey]

[Monroe]

Fredledingue , CharlotteTheHarlot .... thanks for the info. I was just looking for some input as to where to start looking to investigate those couple entries. I looked in the registry, using your guide but didn't find anything on one computer but I will look on another computer later today. I am wondering if others with their Win 98SE setup have anything similar concerning those extra entries. I'd like to know exactly what entries should be there when you click on the "Find" button after doing a fresh install. If anyone has just done a fresh install of Windows 98SE or knows for sure what items should be there when clicking on the "Find" button, I'd appreciate that info. I will look some more in the registry for that "viruses" and "people" entry. thanks.

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

...I'd like to know exactly what entries should be there when you click on the "Find" button after doing a fresh install. If anyone has just done a fresh install of Windows 98SE or knows for sure what items should be there when clicking on the "Find" button, I'd appreciate that info...

I just looked at the registries for two Win98se fresh installs. Both were identical with the following ...

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\FindExtensions\Static]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\FindExtensions\Static\WebSearch]
@="{07798131-AF23-11d1-9111-00A0C98BA67D}"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\FindExtensions\Static\WebSearch\0]
@="On the &Internet..."

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\FindExtensions\Static\WebSearch\0\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\shdocvw.dll,-111"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\FindExtensions\Static\WebSearch\0\HelpText]
@="Search the web"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\FindExtensions\Static\WabFind]
@="{32714800-2E5F-11d0-8B85-00AA0044F941}"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\FindExtensions\Static\WabFind\0]
@="&People..."

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\FindExtensions\Static\WabFind\0\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\PROGRAM FILES\\OUTLOOK EXPRESS\\WABFIND.DLL, 0"

EDIT: I also took a look at the SYSTEM.1st file found in the root directory (it is binary like SYSTEM.DAT so you need to use something like RegDat), and I found that the FindExtensions 'Static' subkey does not exist in there yet. This tells me that during a fresh install, setup saves the SYSTEM.1st as a bare core registry snapshot (in fact the timestamp shows that this is done just before it writes SUHDLOG.DAT). Later during the install it decorates Windows with things like MSIE and OE and then, the Find Extensions show up.

Please export and post here the following key from the machine with "viruses" ...

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FindExtensions\Static]

Edited December 23, 2009 by CharlotteTheHarlot

[Monroe]

CharlotteTheHarlot ...

thanks for the info on a fresh Windows 98SE install and what everything should look like, since the two computers match up. I only have the "viruses" thing showing up on one computer. The "people" thing shows up on three computers so that seems like it must be normal on a fresh install. Why it didn't show up on one computer, a mystery ... but I have some nice information to work with, thanks. I will be a little busy but will try to get on this over the next week. I forget which computer has the "viruses" thing on it. Like I mentioned earlier, I try to keep all the computers pretty much the same, all updates and basic software programs ... some software I only put on maybe two computers ... the ones that I use every day, I don't need to have every program on every computer. So they should all be very similar from the start but something seems to have changed along the way.

[Monroe]

CharlotteTheHarlot ... thanks for the info on just where to look for the extra Find entries. I located and deleted the "people" and "viruses" entry in the registry.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FindExtensions\Static\

In the Static area I found "avg7find" which was the "viruses" entry on the one computer. I deleted it along with the "people" entry. Everything is OK and clean on all computers ... thanks again.

** Some additional info on removing two other items from the Start Menu - Settings key.

I also wanted to remove the "Windows Update" and "Active Desktop" items from within the Settings key. If anyone else also would like to do that here are the directions to do so.

I found these instructions on the internet and can say they do work ... on some of my computers there was no "Explorer" folder so I had to create one.

-------------------------------------------

Removing the Windows Update Utility

To remove the Windows Update from the Start menu, simply right-click the utility and select delete. This file is just a shortcut, so you can replace it if necessary. Removing the other occurrences is not so easy. It requires a change in the registry.

Obviously, whenever you’re going to make any changes within the registry, it’s always a good idea to back up the registry before you begin. If you’ve just turned your system on for the first time that day, the registry has already been backed up automatically. If you’re unsure of the last backup and you want to get a recent copy of the registry, go to the Run command under the Start menu and type ScanRegw/Backup. This action will make a backup of the registry, and that copy will replace the oldest backup file in the Sysbckup folder under the Windows directory.

To remove the Windows Update utility shortcut from the Settings folder under the Start menu, you’ll need to access the registry. In the Run command box under the Start menu, type Regedit. When the registry opens, follow this path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.

Once you are in the Explorer folder, you’ll need to add a DWORD value. Click on the edit menu at the top of the window, highlight New, and choose DWORD value at the bottom. Now, type the following into the highlighted area: NoWindowsUpdate

Press [Enter] and double-click the DWORD value. Set the data value to 1. You can leave the base setting at Hex for the numerical value. Now, you should reboot the PC so that the change can take effect. When Windows 98 comes back up, the Windows Update utility will no longer exist in the Settings folder.

To remove the check box for the Windows Update Wizard from the Update Device Driver Wizard, you must use the same path as above in your registry. This time, however, the DWORD value needs to be: NoDevMgrUpdate

You should set the value to 1 for this solution, too, but you can leave the base as Hex. This change will take effect immediately, without a reboot of the system.

If you ever want to reset the Windows Update utility back to its original locations in the Settings folder and the Update Device Driver Wizard, you can change the value of the DWORD from 1 back to 0. You also can return the Windows Update to your Start menu by creating a new shortcut to the Wupdmgr.exe file that’s located in the Windows folder.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Remove Active Desktop From Settings in the Start Menu

Windows 98/Me

To remove the Active Desktop utility shortcut from the Settings folder under the Start menu, you’ll need to access the registry. In the Run command box under the Start menu, type Regedit. When the registry opens, follow this path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Once you are in the Explorer folder, you’ll need to add a DWORD value. Click on the edit menu at the top of the window, highlight New and choose DWORD value at the bottom. Now, type the following into the highlighted area: NoSetActiveDesktop

Press [Enter] and double-click the DWORD value. Set the data value to 1. You can leave the base setting at Hex for the numerical value. Now, you should reboot the PC so that the change can take effect. When Windows 98 comes back up, the Active Desktop utility will no longer exist in the Settings folder.

Edited December 27, 2009 by duffy98