App. automatically launches, but not listed in accounts/startup items

Question

I have a pesky application which automatically launches on start-up, yet it's not listed in accounts/startup items. It's called Microtek scanner finder. I seem to remember it started doing it when I originally got the scanner and installed software, and although it's always niggled I didn't mind when I was using the scanner. However, I'm not using the scanner anymore so want to be rid of it in my dock. Where the heck is it coming from? I don't want to chuck all the software as there may be an occasion where I need to scan a transparency, when I'll need to get the old scanner down from the loft... any ideas? It definitely launches as there is a little black triangle beneath the icon in the dock. If I quit it, it disappears but is back there again on another start-up grrrrr.

Answer 1

Hi, Kathykate. I have a similar Epson Scanner Monitor application that starts up each time I restart my computer. (Mine does appear in Sys Prefs > Accounts > my account > Startup Items, so I could delete it from there if I wanted to.) It runs all the time in the background, using a tiny amount of CPU and memory, and it has no user interface at all: If I quit it, nothing visibly changes, and if I open it again, there's no visible sign that it's open (including no icon in the dock for it). Its only function is to detect my Epson Scanner when I plug it in and turn it on. I ignore it the rest of the time, because whether it's running or not has no impact whatsoever on anything I do. I suggest that you take the same attitude toward your Microtek app.