can't stop explorer from loading at startup

[severdhed]

hey guys, i need some help.  for a long time, i have been running MALA as my frontend, which works great.  i configured it to run as the shell, so the windows desktop never loaded.  however at some point in time, that stopped working right.  It still boots up and loads mala, but then explorer loads also.  i have searched everywhere i can think but cannot find any reference to explorer.exe to load at startup.  I even went so far as to format the hard drive, reinstall windows xp sp2, and set everything back up, but still..it boots up, loads mala, and then explorer loads. 

i changed the following registry settings:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\IniFileMapping\system.ini\boot

changed Shell from SYS:.....   to USR:...

then went to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

and changed shell to: "c:\games\mala\mala.exe"

but it still loads explorer also.

i then tried setting the first key back to "SYS:..."
and changed

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

changed shell to: "c:\games\mala\mala.exe"

when i reboot now, it still loads mala as the shell, but then explorer opens.  this time, instead of the explorer desktop..just the file browser opens up.   

i dont know what else to do.  i did not run any windows updates, and there is currently no antivirus or antispyware software installed.

the only things running are:

tweakui
bootskin
logitech mousware (so i can invert the axis of my homemade spinner)
and Mala

i thought maybe mala was callign explorer somehow, so i set my shell to notepad.exe, but the same thing happens.  it boots up, notepad opens, then explorer loads.

it is really frustrating...i really need help.

[gonzo90017]

Try this program http://www.marcianitos.org/tutoriales/loader.zip It's a sort of frontend for your frontend. Here's the tutorial http://www.marcianitos.org/tutoriales/loader.php just copy and paste this link in http://world.altavista.com/ and translate it from spanish to english.

[severdhed]

thanks...actually i figured it out late last night.  turns out it was the wireless utility for my usb wireless adaptor i had installed a while back.  I uninstalled the utility and explorer stopped loading.

however since then, i am unable to run any games..even via command line.  it just says osd_init failed.  i couldnt seem to get it to work, so i formatted the hard drive and reinstalled windows last night.  i am going to try it again tomorrow to see if i can get it working