Kill my Quicktime, please.

October 23, 2005 11:35 AM

I hate Quicktime. Any time I turn on my laptop, my desktop, my computer at work - it pops up down on my system tray. How do I stop it from doing that?

I know it's easy to exit and close it down. But given that Quicktime is used maybe once every 3 months. It acts like it is the most important program on my computers and I use it the least. My irrational hatred for it grows every day. How, how, HOW do I kill the little bastard?

posted by Ber to computers & internet (20 comments total)

I know that there are built-in ways of dealing with this in Windows, but the best way I've found is using Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel.

Once installed, it appears as a Control Panel Applet, and allows you to enable or disable the various programs that are set to run on startup for your account and for all users.

http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml
posted by Dekaritae at 11:40 AM on October 23, 2005

Assuming you're running Windows:

-Click on the start menu.
-Click "run".
-type "msconfig" and hit enter.
-select the "startup" tab.
-look for an entry called "qttask".
-unselect it.
-hit okay.
(you'll probably have to restart)
posted by selfnoise at 11:41 AM on October 23, 2005

Isn't it in the Quicktime preferences? I'm on a mac, so I can't test it, but I believe there's an option for that in QT. Start Quicktime, and look for the preferences menu?
posted by slater at 11:42 AM on October 23, 2005

In the Control Panel, under Quicktime. Browser Plug-In settings, "Quick Time system tray icon" checkbox.

In my experience, this setting gets reset every time you reinstall Quicktime, which is usually when you update iTunes.
posted by smackfu at 11:45 AM on October 23, 2005

I share your hatred, that, Realplayer, and every other program that is self important enough to think it should be running at all times....

You can delete it from the startup menu, but I found that every time you run it, it puts a link back in to start qttask on boot. The easiest way I found is to delete or rename qttask.exe, which doesnt seem to affect quicktime as far as I can see.

Alternatively, and better, the eK-Lite code pack, http://www.k-litecodecpack.com/ works well as a free and unannoying replacement for Quicktime, Realplayer, and Windows Media Player. I find it's much better, uses less memory and cpu, and allows keyboard controls (which I could never find in Windows Media Player).
posted by Boobus Tuber at 11:50 AM on October 23, 2005 [1 favorite]

Uninstall QuickTime altogether, and install QuickTime Alternative.

(Also available: K-Lite Codec Pack, which includes lightweight and non-intrusive alternative players for RealMedia and Windows Media. Recommended.)
posted by ori at 11:52 AM on October 23, 2005 [1 favorite]

Although slightly off topic, I got rid of both Quicktime and RealPlayer and instead use Quicktime Alternative and Real Alternative, both of which support most QT and RP formats but without loading your computer up with crap.

Some streaming media isn't supported in the Real Alternative, but that's something I can live without to have my PC free of unnecessary and intrusive programmes.
posted by essexjan at 11:52 AM on October 23, 2005

Uninstall it and use Quicktime Alternative instead. I'm also a fan of Real Alternative, which is a substitute for RealPlayer. Both are included in the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack (all free).
posted by needs more cowbell at 11:53 AM on October 23, 2005

Hah! What Boobus Tuber said.
posted by ori at 11:53 AM on October 23, 2005

Ok, now that was weird.
posted by ori at 11:54 AM on October 23, 2005

Just right-click the icon ---> Preferences --> Advanced --> unclick the checkbox that says something to the effect of "keep icon in tasktray".

Every time you download a new version of iTunes it will reset this setting and you have to do it again.
posted by ryanhealy at 1:05 PM on October 23, 2005

Heh, looks like we're all singing from the same hymn sheet.
posted by essexjan at 1:13 PM on October 23, 2005

Shockingly, Windows is stupid with this. When you use mconfig to remove a program from startup which doesn't provide the option to do it, you have to go into "selective startup" mode which leaves them on the list but unchecked. To actually get rid of a stubborn startup item you can use the registry editor and delete entries in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. Honestly, the fact that some programs put it in the Startup folder and some use the registry is intensely irritating - yet another of Microsoft's triumphs of inconsistency.
posted by abcde at 1:53 PM on October 23, 2005

Msconfig, I should say, of course.
posted by abcde at 1:53 PM on October 23, 2005

If you're on a Windows box, right click on its icon in the tray and unselect the 'system tray icon' in preferences.
posted by rhapsodie at 2:33 PM on October 23, 2005

Deja vu all over again: Here is the link to the September 18, 2005 metafilter Q&A on controlling what programs start up when your computer does.

The Q&A includes a link to a step-by-step procedure on how to use msconfig to control what starts up (plus an addendum on the final step that those instructions left out.
posted by WestCoaster at 2:35 PM on October 23, 2005

I believe that QT is also installed as a persistent pest utility every time you update AIM.
posted by megatherium at 3:44 PM on October 23, 2005

>To actually get rid of a stubborn startup item you can use the registry editor and delete entries in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.

QuickTime gets around this strategy, as someone noted, by surreptitiously reinstalling itself every time you do this. This qualifies it as malware in the eyes of some commentators.
posted by megatherium at 3:48 PM on October 23, 2005

Listen to slater...everyone else seems to think it needs to be nuked out via startup or registry fiddling. Just turn it off in the preferences. Of course, if that doesn't work for some reason, then, yeah, nuke it otherwise.

(Thanks all for the FakePlayer replacement link - just what I need.)
posted by attercoppe at 7:14 PM on October 23, 2005

megatherium: I posted a comment there - QuickTime behaves correctly by fixing the registry to match its settings. You can turn it off in the preferences easily.
posted by abcde at 8:54 PM on November 2, 2005