Login items - not in user prefs

Question

My wonderful imac os x - tiger 10.4.7 opens 3 items (safari, mail and ichat) that are not in the startup items list.
As the initial login takes ages I want to remove them, but as they don't appear in the list under accounts/login items I can't.
I have tried adding them so they do appear and then deleting them, but that doesn't fix it, they still open on login.
Any ideas how I can fix this.

Answer 1

"Login Items" can be specified in at least three different places. The usual one (written to by the "Accounts" pref pane) is the "~/Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist" file in each user's "home" folder, but if the items aren't appearing in the pref pane, they are probably listed in one of the other locations.
The other user-specific file is in the "~/Library/Preferences/ByHost" folder, and is called the "loginwindow.xxx.plist" file, where the "xxx" usually represents the MAC address of the built-in ethernet card, so will vary from computer to computer. If present, try moving or deleting that file to see if that prevents the unwanted items from opening.
The computer's main "/Library/Preferences" folder can also contain a "loginwindow.plist" file, but any items listed in that file will open at login for all users. "Admin" privileges will usually be required to remove or make changes to this file.
Also, note that a computer's administrator can set up "login items" for "managed" users, through 'mcx_settings'. Again, this isn't something that an individual user can override themselves.
This probably isn't what you are after, but unless explicitly prohibited in 'mcx_settings', it also is possible during any given log in to prevent login items from opening by holding down the "Shift" key while logging in, but it would be necessary to do this every time.