Removing qttask.exe and preventing it loading in Windows XP

Quicktime installs a very annoying process when you install it on Windows XP called qttask.exe that you may often see running in your taskbar and processlist. There is no way to stop it running from within quicktime’s preferences. Instead, you must:

  • Go to ‘Start’ -> ‘Run’
  • Type ‘regedit’ and click ‘OK’
  • Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Apple Computer, Inc.\QuickTime\ActiveX
  • Find the value QTTaskRunFlags, right click on it and change the value to 0
  • Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
    Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
  • Delete the value pointing to qttask.exe

That should stop it running automatically when you start windows or when you open Quicktime.

If you are also stuck with iTunes then see this post about removing it after you’ve installed Quicktime

17 thoughts on “Removing qttask.exe and preventing it loading in Windows XP”

  1. Startup Control Panel applethttp://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtmla small simple tool for disabling start up junkIt also has the option to permanently delete

  2. On another site, I found this comment: “Quicktime checks to see if the entry is present and restores it if it has been removed. WORKAROUND: place a ; (semi colon)in front of the entry, which turns it into a registry remark rather than a function.”But they didn’t say where to put the colon…. in the registry? where in the entry?PS. If I have iTunes, is there some way to use another tune player to play those files and/or move the files to another player?

  3. My most sincere thanks. I was just about to reinstall windows to get rid of a virus. Actually its 3 hours ago I picked it up at a shop where they should clean my machine, but they failed. So I bring up Windows Task Manager, find this f…… qttask.exe using all my CPU, google it and the rest is history.. Where can I send the 60 USD the computershop could not charge me? Thanks, mate. Owe you!

  4. I think all software that does not have a process for removing it's occurance at startup, should be named, shamed and alternative software used.Those software companies try to dictate how your system will operate, which is going beyond the boundaries of their program's intended use.

  5. Great post! That has bugged me for ages. Another Apple annoyance is the Bonyour application that get's installed with iTunes.

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