Startup Programs - Change

The Sony engineer says removing the Sony folders in Program files will uninstall the software. This is a dodgy way to do it so I'm kinda shocked to read that, especially on a Facebook page which apparently is their Support for PC Companion ~LL

I'd uninstall all the Sony bloatware in Programs and Features and see what that does first. Then you can try deleting the folders as suggested by Sony, but I'd save them in the Recycle Bin for awhile, or rename.

Thanks for that advice. So I set about un-installing PC Companion and towards the end it "blue screened" on me and I couldn't re-boot my PC!

After using my Windows recovery disc I managed to get things running again and found that PC Companion was in some odd state, neither installed nor un-installed. I then re-installed it and found that the old problem was still present.

To cut a long story short, the "Re-starting PC Companion" issue turned out to be caused by my copy of "Soluto" running in the background. I had set PC Companion to a "delayed" start, rather than "paused", i.e. stopped. In other words it did not run at startup, but was delayed until some time after boot had finished. This is why it kept coming back! I then changed its Soluto setting to "paused" and it no longer runs unless I ask it to.

By the way I can recommend Soluto to anyone interested in analysing and optimising their startup processes. It's a free download from here:
Soluto

Thanks again gregrocker

Note that Soluto is in beta and really appreciates any feedback on these anomalies as they are actively shaping the program's database.

In your position I would wipe the HD to clean reinstall after making sure any Sony utilities (mainly hotkeys) are available for download on their Support Downloads webpage for your model and your Recovery Disks are made.

A clean install of just the WIn7 OS gives the best performance unhindered by sponsor's bloatware and useless factory utilities which have superior versions built into Win7.

If/When you're ready here's how to get a perfect clean reinstall of factory OEM: Reinstalling Windows 7

Another prompt response!

Yes I agree that for the ultimate in performance a clean re-install of Windows is probably the best bet. However for reasons explained previously, I don't think I'll be doing that unless I really have to.

My current best boot time is just over one minute (considerably less without Kaspersky AV running), which I don't thank is too bad. I've also replaced the hard drive with a Seagate Momentus XT 500GB, which is a hybrid drive with 4GB of flash. This has also speeded things up, as it puts commonly used files (e.g. bootup and favourite apps) onto the flash section for extra speed.

Thanks one more time!

OK thanks for that. My current KIS licence runs out in a couple of months, so I might give Avast a try.
I've also heard that Trend Titanium is a very good AV/Firewall package and is not too resource hungry. Do have a view on this one?

OK sorry about that.

Hey there, I've still got a problem with StartupCop Pro on my Windows 7 installation. I can install and run it, but if I activate UAC, the program will refuse to launch on startup - no error messages or anything. I've checked everywhere, and there isn't any reason it shouldn't work, but if I disable UAC completely, it works fine. Is there any way to keep the program running on startup while also running UAC? I like the measure of security that UAC supplies, but I have been unable to use UAC for months since StartupCop pro is a necessity.

Thanks.

- 2 Bunny