[Rollin' Rog]

Maybe -- just for the heck of it, copy the AOL and Mozilla folders in the "startup" folder that you just discovered to the desktop so that you have more than one backup.

Now, empty the recycle bin and send the two that are in the startup folder to the recycle bin. The startup folder should now be empty.

You can also ensure you have a system restore point just for a third method of recovery.

Now after you have emptied that startup folder, reboot and see what works and what breaks.

If you can't connect through AOL, restore the AOL folder first and test.

[Dawndd]

WOW!! Nice way to start a week. I hope this isn't a fluke, but I seriously doubt it. I restarted my computer THREE times and those weird pages did not pop up!! AOL and Mozilla worked fine. Then I turned it off for 20 minutes. Turned it on with the same result!! Is it possible that you saved me from myself after I messed things up? I had already taken your advice and gotten rid of those little arrows on my desktop icons with TweakUI and I can't tell you how wonderful it is to see my baby doing it's thing the way it is supposed to. How many pages and posts did I cause to fix this crazy thing? I'm going to be uncharacteristically optimistic and assume that the fix is permanent. You know this means that tomorrow I get to actually start typing nasty lawyer letters again with no pesty computer problems. Don't worry, I have to do some work for a guy who got ripped off by a big corporation - very sympathetic. Like you I'm going to do this for him for nothing. When the state gets around to paying me on the 1st I'm going to lay out my budget and send the Tech Guys at least $20 and hopefully more if I can afford it. What can I say? How many people would have stuck with me for this long? You'd make a great law partner. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Dawn

[Rollin' Rog]

Great. that's just what I expected.

Here's the thing -- that particular directory should not contain any FOLDERS -- it is only a location for individual applications which are meant to run for every user.

That is also why HijackThis showed nothing in that location -- it only looks for applications, not folders.

Somehow those two folders got inadvertantly moved or copied there causing Windows to open the folders and then do nothing.

So you should be good to go.

Keep your fingers crossed and if all is well you can mark the thread "solved" using the Thread Tools menu.

Thanks to JW' for prodding me to have a closer look there -- I think we just got a bit confused at the beginning.