DoShelp.com - How to View startup Items in Windows Registry (like trojans, adware,spyware)

Many people have come to me and asked how do I remove a trojan, most (no all) trojans load from the RUN key in the windows registry.
It all happens in this key:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

Hackers/spammers can install things there which will load every time you boot (like trojans, adware,spyware). All these things including Legitimate things contribute to slowing your computer down. most of these are things that you REALLY do NOT need to have loading every single time you boot up!

In order to maintain your computer's security, you have got to keep an eye on the items loading here. An excellent tool for this which also protects other areas of the registry is
"The Cleaner" by moosoft.com (funny name, GREAT product!) If you keep getting porn ads and your homepage changes, chances are you want to look at the RUN key.

Spyware and Adware programs come with ALOT of "FREE" software as a way for them to track your activity and sell it to marketers who target you with SPAM that oddly enough kinda matches that file you searched for on a peer-to-peer (P2P) network one day!

Software like that is an unwanted intruder which has a potential to hijack homepages, or litterally take over your computer. Although DoShelp.com was setup originally as a security website I do alot of online support and private consultant work providing technical assistance to people (mainly for trojan removal,spyware removal,worm removal).

REGEDIT.EXE is the program you run to enter into the windows registry, just be REAL CAREFUL! mess up in here and your windows
may never start again. So take my advice and go get "The Cleaner" it knows what to do and can prevent future infestation by
greedy advertisers and nosy hackers!

Now on to the good stuff (diagrams for you to follow along).

You can find ALOT of the startup programs Which are running in the background in your Windows Registry. To access the registry is fairly easy, just be sure you make backups of the keys/sections you intend to modify (nothing like an "oops" with no option to do-over!).

Here's How:

Click your start button then select RUN, in the Run box that opens type this simple command: REGEDIT then you get the windows registry editor which looks something like this:

First thing you will want to do is Click on the "+" signs to expand the sections and follow down to each of these two keys:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

These are the two most common registry keys which load applications at start up.

They look something like this:

The Tree on the Left is your navigation, the display on the right is the list of applications loading at startup. If you have any trojans/Spyware or adware this is the most likely place to find them loading. This isn't the same as your Start Menu Programs, so just because it's not there doesn't mean it's not loading here in the registry behind the scenes!

If you have doubts about what's showing in your list here in Run, You can easily export the registry key and mail it to me so I can tell you what each thing is. The fewer things you load here, the better!...but be warned, some things are REQUIRED to load here or certain hardware/software of yours just isn't going to work all that well.

In order to export just the Run section make sure you click on "Run" over on the left side then Click "Registry" from the toolbar menu at the top of REGEDIT application. Then Export, save it where you can find it and then attach to the E-Mail to me.

If You're not comfortable doing this on your own, I can often be reached online in a number of Instant Messenger Chat Programs. Visit my Contacts page to see which ones I use and how to get in touch with me.