Does Dead AIM have to run at startup?

[Matt_Smi]

I have noticed though Hijack this and msconfig that Dead AIM runs at startup. Does it need to do this to run properly? Or can I safely disable it with Hijack this and still be able to use it? The same with iTunesHelper, does that need to be run at startup or can I safely disable it?

[EzyStvy]

No they don't. If you're using XP, you can stop the service and set them to manual. They'll load up when needed.

(control panel->admin tools->services)

[kram 2.0]

Actually, you can disable it within AIM - just go to File:AIM Options:Preferences (F3). Go to "load on startup", uncheck it if checked.

kram

[Matt_Smi]

Originally Posted by EzyStvy No they don't. If you're using XP, you can stop the service and set them to manual. They'll load up when needed. (control panel->admin tools->services)

Hmm neither is present in the services menu, is it safe to just “fix” them with Hijack this? It does create a backup so I guess if I notice some kind of problem I could just restore it. I found this on the DeadAIM website “A very small lightweight program is run on system start up to check DeadAIM is associated with AIM correctly.” So I am almost positive that DeadAIM will run fine without this at startup, you can check to see if it’s associated with AIM correctly at anytime by going to its program folder and selecting repair. But I am still not quite 100% sure about iTunesHelper and why it runs at startup.

Originally Posted by kram8806 Actually, you can disable it within AIM - just go to File:AIM Options:Preferences (F3). Go to "load on startup", uncheck it if checked. kram

Do you mean disabling DeamAIM from starting or just AIM itself, because I already have that option un-checked, so AIM itself does not load at startup, but DeadAIM does still.

[Matt_Smi]

For anyone wondering, I disabled DeadAIM from running at startup using Hijack this, the program still works fine, so basically it is useless for it to be running at startup. And I guess if I ever wanted it to again for some reason I can just restore it from the backups. I have not disabled I Tunes Helper yet, because I do not know what it does or is used for.

[Matt_Smi]

For anyone who is interested or wondering if I Tunes Helper needs to run at startup, I have the answer and I think I found out what it is used for. Today I noticed in the services menu that “iPod service” was set to automatic and thus was running every time I booted my computer, since I do not have an i pod this service is useless so I disabled it. I then re-started my computer opened the task manager to make sure it was no longer running and I also noticed that I Tunes Helper was no longer running even though it was still set to run at startup according to msconfig. So I re-booted again and opened the task manager as soon as windows started, I saw I Tunes Helper for several seconds and then it disappeared. So basically what I have concluded from this is that I Tunes Helper is used in conjunction with or by iPod Service, and if it does not see iPod Service running, it shuts it self down, therefore it does not need to run at startup, so I disabled it using Hijack This, and I Tunes is still working fine. I have read here http://www.answersthatwork.com/Taskl...s/tasklist.htm that I Tunes Helper may be used for other things in i tunes, but if i tunes need it, it will start the service automatically. So if you don’t have an I pod it does not need to be running at startup, but if you do have an I pod it may be best to leave it alone. Now I only have about 5 things that run at startup, I think I need most of them such as my anti virus, mouse, modem (if I ever want/need to use dialup), but what about Microsoft Office? I am not sure why that is listed to run at startup, what part of office is it running and do I need it to run at startup?