Am 19.03.2017 um 00:40 schrieb Kenneth:
> Hmm, I don't *think* I did that, although I probably did agree to the installer
> putting a link in my startup menu. Even so, I don't think a window should pop up
> like that on a computer re-start (the only window that does); my many other
> installed programs don't do so.

... and neither does a freshly installed 3.7.1-beta.4, to the best of my
knowledge.

A PEBKAC event -- accidentally dragging the installed link from the
start menu into the "startup" folder -- would be the most plausible
explanation.

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Mike Horvath <mik### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> On 3/19/2017 2:29 AM, omniverse wrote:
> > Does Windows 7 allow drag and drop from within the Start Menu? I sure don't
> > remember if so. Maybe try that, or have a look at:
> >
> > http://www.wikihow.com/Change-Startup-Programs-in-Windows-7
>
> Yes it does. You should only need to drag the folder out of Startup and
> put it back in the Start menu.
>
> Mike

YES, that worked! I didn't know that I could just drag-and-drop the offending
folder. Thanks guys (and also thanks for the links to the Windows info; very
useful.)

For clarity, I've attached an image to show my desktop, and the opened folders
of the Windows START menu (*before* I moved the offending folder.)

To clarify things for myself, I did a test: I un-installed the complete beta 4
on my system, re-started the computer, then re-downloaded beta 4, and
re-installed it-- paying *careful* attention to what the beta 4 installer's
dialogue boxes said. One of them asks where to put shortcuts to the program (see
the next image; I'll post that separately.)

With the previous beta 4 installation, I *may* have chosen "startup" there,
thinking that it was the Windows START menu. (A dumb mistake if true, as I never
like apps to launch when I start my machine.) When I re-installed beta 4, I made
sure NOT to select "startup" (or anything else); yet the beta 4's icon/shortcut
was still placed in my START menu anyway, AND on the desktop (but happily,
nothing was placed in the "startup" folder this time.) The wording in the
installer is kind of confusing, IMO; it asks where to install a *shortcut* --not
if you want the program itself to launch when the computer "starts up" (which it
didn't do previously anyway, it just opened the folder that I originally posted
the screenshot of.)

I have to admit that part of this confusion comes from my own un-clear
understanding of Microsoft's use of wording in Windows-- the "Start" menu,
the"startup" folder there, and the launching of "startup" programs (re: using
msconfig.exe to choose what apps actually launch when the computer starts up.)

Anyway, all is OK now.

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Attachments:
Download 'before_moving_the_folder.jpg' (478 KB)

Preview of image 'before_moving_the_folder.jpg'

Here's beta 4's installer dialogue...

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Attachments:
Download 'installer_dialogue.jpg' (204 KB)

Preview of image 'installer_dialogue.jpg'

On 3/19/2017 8:20 PM, Kenneth wrote:
> Here's beta 4's installer dialogue...
>

Yeah, that's the way it should be. Just don't click on Startup next time.


Mike

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"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> Here's beta 4's installer dialogue...

Yeah, a press of Next button is all that's needed unless you want to change the
name or use existing place, probably just a case of thinking too much.  :)

Can see from that picture you didn't uninstall the previous beta, unless that
folder got left in there. I can't recall if the installer requires it be removed
before the install, thought it did.

I would take a look myself via a reinstall, if I weren't too lazy right now to
do so, but I think there should be a couple checkboxes for Start Menu and
Desktop shortcuts before you get that far into the install. Or I could be
thinking of earlier version installs if that changed.

Good to know you found the trouble with that, would be bad if the beta were
actually trying to go into Startup!

Bob

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Am 20.03.2017 um 01:11 schrieb Kenneth:

> With the previous beta 4 installation, I *may* have chosen "startup" there,
> thinking that it was the Windows START menu. (A dumb mistake if true, as I never
> like apps to launch when I start my machine.) When I re-installed beta 4, I made
> sure NOT to select "startup" (or anything else); yet the beta 4's icon/shortcut
> was still placed in my START menu anyway, AND on the desktop (but happily,
> nothing was placed in the "startup" folder this time.) The wording in the
> installer is kind of confusing, IMO; it asks where to install a *shortcut* --not
> if you want the program itself to launch when the computer "starts up" (which it
> didn't do previously anyway, it just opened the folder that I originally posted
> the screenshot of.)

The installer bears no blame for the confusion at all: The locations it
offers are just all the existing folders in "Start Menu: All Programs",
in case you want the POV-Ray entry (which is also a folder) to reside in
a subfolder rather than "All Programs" itself. (For instance, imagine
you had manually created a subfolder there earlier, called "3D Rendering
software", then you might wish to install POV-Ray in there.)

The /confusion/ comes in there merely due to the fact Windows happens to
assign special functionality to one of the existing subfolders, namely
"Startup": Anything residing immediately in there (whether it is a
program, a document, a directory, or a link to any of those) is opened
whenever you start Windows.

> I have to admit that part of this confusion comes from my own un-clear
> understanding of Microsoft's use of wording in Windows-- the "Start" menu,
> the"startup" folder there, and the launching of "startup" programs (re: using
> msconfig.exe to choose what apps actually launch when the computer starts up.)

Yeah, there's about a gazillion ways of causing programs to be run at
startup.

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"omniverse" <omn### [at] charternet> wrote:
> "Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> > Here's beta 4's installer dialogue...
>
> Yeah, a press of Next button is all that's needed unless you want to change the
> name or use existing place, probably just a case of thinking too much.  :)

You're probably right, ha! I probably thought I was being 'clever' (by picking
"startup" in POV's installer, for the link location), when I had *never* done
that before.
>
> Can see from that picture you didn't uninstall the previous beta, unless that
> folder got left in there. I can't recall if the installer requires it be removed
> before the install, thought it did.

I always trash a previous beta before installing a new one, so no problems
there. The extra "POV-Ray 3.7" link that's still in my START menu is my original
3.70 install (which is still on my machine.)

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clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:

>
> The installer bears no blame for the confusion at all: The locations it
> offers are just all the existing folders in "Start Menu: All Programs",
> in case you want the POV-Ray entry (which is also a folder) to reside in
> a subfolder rather than "All Programs" itself. (For instance, imagine
> you had manually created a subfolder there earlier, called "3D Rendering
> software", then you might wish to install POV-Ray in there.)
>

Ah, so *that's* what the installer means (ha)! OK, I think I'm finally starting
to understand how to use the Windows OS (after using it for 17 years!!)
Honestly, I have never installed a link to a program in a START-menu *subfolder*
and never thought about doing so. OK, now I'm much smarter :-) Who says old dogs
can't learn new tricks?!

> The /confusion/ comes in there merely due to the fact Windows happens to
> assign special functionality to one of the existing subfolders, namely
> "Startup": Anything residing immediately in there (whether it is a
> program, a document, a directory, or a link to any of those) is opened
> whenever you start Windows.

Hmm, Windows is trying to be too clever (or too irritating!) But I get it now.
SO... in POV-Ray's installer (or *any* installer for that matter), when it asks
where to put a link to the app (or rather, a link to the folder containing the
app), and I happen to choose "startup" in the dialogue, it's the "POV-Ray for
Windows v3.7-beta" FOLDER that gets placed in "startup" (not solely the
pvengine.exe app itself)-- which is why only the FOLDER opened up when I
restarted my machine (see my first posted screenshot), not POV-Ray itself.
Eureka!

(*** lightbulb goes on in brain ***)

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There's a minor detail about all of this, that I didn't understand at first; but
I  just realized the answer (!)

When I first noticed my computer-restart problem (the opened  3.7.1 beta 4
*folder* that appeared), one of the first things I did was look at the Windows 7
"System Configuration" box, using msconfig.exe. Being clueless at the time, I
wanted to see if the installer had put something there by mistake, in the
"startup" section. I expected to find something POV-related, but found nothing
(see the attached screenshot)... even though the START menu's "startup" folder
did show the 3.7.1 folder *there* (which turned out to be the cause of the
problem.) So I was scratching my head, wondering why it appeared in one place
but not the other. It finally occured to me that System Configuration's
"startup" window only shows actual .EXE executables-- NOT any enlosing
*folders*, which don't show up.

Another discovery!

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Attachments:
Download 'startup_apps_before_the_fix.jpg' (290 KB)

Preview of image 'startup_apps_before_the_fix.jpg'

On 3/20/2017 4:23 PM, Kenneth wrote:
> clipka <ano### [at] anonymousorg> wrote:
>
>>
>> The installer bears no blame for the confusion at all: The locations it
>> offers are just all the existing folders in "Start Menu: All Programs",
>> in case you want the POV-Ray entry (which is also a folder) to reside in
>> a subfolder rather than "All Programs" itself. (For instance, imagine
>> you had manually created a subfolder there earlier, called "3D Rendering
>> software", then you might wish to install POV-Ray in there.)
>>
>
> Ah, so *that's* what the installer means (ha)! OK, I think I'm finally starting
> to understand how to use the Windows OS (after using it for 17 years!!)
> Honestly, I have never installed a link to a program in a START-menu *subfolder*
> and never thought about doing so. OK, now I'm much smarter :-) Who says old dogs
> can't learn new tricks?!
>
>> The /confusion/ comes in there merely due to the fact Windows happens to
>> assign special functionality to one of the existing subfolders, namely
>> "Startup": Anything residing immediately in there (whether it is a
>> program, a document, a directory, or a link to any of those) is opened
>> whenever you start Windows.
>
> Hmm, Windows is trying to be too clever (or too irritating!) But I get it now.
> SO... in POV-Ray's installer (or *any* installer for that matter), when it asks
> where to put a link to the app (or rather, a link to the folder containing the
> app), and I happen to choose "startup" in the dialogue, it's the "POV-Ray for
> Windows v3.7-beta" FOLDER that gets placed in "startup" (not solely the
> pvengine.exe app itself)-- which is why only the FOLDER opened up when I
> restarted my machine (see my first posted screenshot), not POV-Ray itself.
> Eureka!
>
> (*** lightbulb goes on in brain ***)
>
>

Not quite. The "POV-Ray for Windows v3.7-beta" folder only contains 
_shortcuts_ to the program. The actual program files are safely 
installed in "C:\Program Files\POV-Ray\v3.7\" (unless you chose a 
different location).


Mike

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