"The system cannot find the file specified" when I login

[moe]

Hi chaps,
any help on the following matter would be appreciated. When I login to Windows 2003 I'm getting the following error message

"the system cannot find the file specified"

I've checked in msconfig>startup tab and all the .exe's listed there are present in the windows sub folders. Where else can I look...........possibly in the Registry?

[reverend]

Yeah usually check HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run or RunOnce mate.

What about shortcuts in the startup menu of All Users and your user profile?

[Swiss Tony]

run the scs check command from command line after safe boot, it checks integrity of all the system files

[Possy_99]

I don't think looking for an executable file will help, if I'm not mistaken if there were an exe missing from an entry in startup there wouldn't be any error reported - it would just continue on without prompting you. [quiet at work so tested this on win7 and xp, planting calc.exe into startup and deleteting the exe - confirmed, no error reported]

go through [msconfig] startup AND services (but tick hide all microsoft in services section) untick each one systematically followed by a logoff then log back on, I think a standard log off/on will suffice rather than a restart, but once you login/reboot without the error, the last unticked item will be your culprit.

(try the log off/on theory now, log off and back on and if the error comes up you don't need to retstart after each untick in msconfig, if it doesn't come up, restart after each untick)

[moe]

Thanks for all yor replies guys. Gave me some real direction.

@Swiss Tony
Unfortunately the servers miles away and i'm using RDP.So needs to be in normal mode for me to connect

@Possy_99
Done what you suggested in a round abouts way.

@Reverend
Compared the registry "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run and RunOnce" with whats in MSconfig>startup tab. Saw there was one file under common files not showing in the registry. Took a closer look and noticed it was sqlmangr.exe. However, its executable was present in explorers folder structure." C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\80\Tools\Binn\"
unchecked this from msconfig and logged in and out again. message no longer appeared. Went to explorer and double clicked sqlmangr.exe and the system cannot find the specified file error appeared. SQL manager still launches but cannot connect to SQL services.

Done a quick check on the web andFound this:
"The process known as sqlmangr.exe provides a system tray icon that can be used to start and stop various services within SQL Server. Sqlmangr.exe is not required for Microsoft SQL Server to work correctly and so can be terminated if you do not use it"

O.K. This was all brought about from doing an Sql2000 to sql2005 upgrade. looks like it was left in the startup folder after the ugrade. Not sure if SQL2005 uses SQL manager on the taskbar anymore to stop and start the services. If anyone uses sql2005 maybe they can confirm this, anyway by removing it from startup it's solved my problem

Thanx for your advice guys !