How to disable PC-doctor Toolbox startup?

[WillyK]

Hi.

I appreciate the PC-doctor Toolbox, but I only want to run it manually on demand.

Currently it's loading automatically on Windows 8.1 startup and even though it's showing up on the system tray every time, it doesn't show among the startup items in Task Manager. It also doesn't offer an option to choose if I want it to start along with Windows or not. I've disabled all scheduling, online options etc. but it still showing up on the system tray each time I start Windows. Why is that?

Please advise.

[Kris_PCD]

Hi WillyK,

Sorry for any confusion, but PC-Doctor Toolbox doesn't actually start when your system boots into Windows. There are only a couple of things that our software does that may have led you to believe that it was automatically loading, and I have provided a quick explanation of each along with instructions to disable them below.

The first item is the PC-Doctor Toolbox icon that is created on the desktop toolbar. This icon is actually designed to only function as a way to quickly launch the software, and also notify you of any existing error conditions. If you feel it is necessary, here are the steps to remove the Toolbox icon from your toolbar:

  1. Right click on an open area of the toolbar
  2. Select the "Toolbars" option from the list
  3. Click the "PC-Doctor Toolbox for Windows" item to uncheck it

The second item is actually a collection of three scheduled tasks that will perform the following actions, and I have included a breakdown of what each does:

  * PCDEventLauncherTask - Simply monitors for a certain event that is created when running PC-Doctor Toolbox from the start menu shortcut. It's purpose is to prevent UAC from asking if you want to run this program every time you click on the shortcut.
  * PCDoctorBackgroundMonitorTask - Runs the regularly scheduled scan once a month. This task will not start running if you're currently using the system, and will notify you with a pop-up message that the scan has begun.
  * SystemToolsDailyTest - Checks daily for system/software notifications, and if it finds any items that require user attention it displays the corresponding PC-Doctor icon on the toolbar.

If you would like to remove these automatic tasks from your system, please follow these steps:

  1. Open Run
   (For Windows
     a. If not on the desktop, click the desktop icon
     b. Move the mouse cursor to the lower left corner of the desktop
     c. Right click to bring up menu options
     d. Click on Run
   (For Windows 7)
     a. Click the Start Button
     b. Type Run in the Search box
     c. Click on Run
  2. Type taskschd.msc and press OK
  3. Delete the scheduled tasks that you don't feel are necessary

I would like to add that neither of these features are auto-loading when you boot your system, and if disabled our software will be unable to automatically scan or notify you of issues.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or issues.

Thanks,
Kris

[WillyK]

Hi Kris and many thanks for your quick and thorough response. It explains it all, and provides useful setup information (perhaps it deserves a section in your Help menu?).

Quick Q2: If I want to run a particular HW test, e.g. RTC Accuracy uninterrupted for a longer period of time (as you recommend in your documentation), how do I do that? Is it possible at all? I mean continuously (running the entire motherboard test pack 100 times is obviously not the same). Thanks!

[Kris_PCD]

Unfortunately Toolbox doesn't allow the level of granularity required to run a single test for multiple passes, but you can run any of the available test options for multiple passes (but I would guess that you are already aware of this, as your comment about running all the motherboard tests 100 times would indicate).

Alternately, if you need to run testing on multiple computers and would like that level of control over your test scripts, then you may want to take a look at our Service Center product (www.pcdservicecenter.com). Service Center is designed to be run on multiple computers (the number of concurrent systems that can be tested is limited to the number of licenses, but it can be transferred at will), and also provides additional testing environments beyond Windows (i.e. DOS, Android, our Bootable Diagnostics (Linux based)).

I hope that this answers your question, but let me know if you have any others.

Thanks,
Kris

[WillyK]

Ok, thanks. Much appreciated!