Answer:
The wrong startup programs can slow down your PC at boot time and beyond. Unnecessary startup applications not only bog down the boot process, but they also run (often hidden) in the background and consume valuable system resources. Too many background applications will eventually leave nothing left for active programs.
If your computer came with some irritating little program that runs at startup (i.e. MSN Messenger is one particularly annoying example for some people), you can get rid of those—and add your own startup items, such as your favorite joke program or Internet connection.
The major problem with getting rid of startup items is that they can be in four different places on your PC. The easiest place to find and remove startup applications is in Windows’ Startup folder. From the Start menu, select Programs (All Programs in Windows XP) and find the Startup folder. Delete anything that doesn’t absolutely need to run automatically all the time. Firewall and antivirus applications are two of the very few types of programs that should always be running on your PC. Not all vendors are up front enough to place their applications in the Startup folder, however. Use Windows’ System Configuration Utility to remove hidden startup applications. From the Run prompt (in the Start menu) type msconfig and click OK. Select the Startup tab to check out what other apps are launching at boot up. Uncheck anything nonessential. Many processes and programs have cryptic or obscure names. It may be difficult to tell which program is which when you’re trying to remove them. (MSN Messenger, for instance, appears as “msmsgs.”) Remove programs from the startup list with caution. When in doubt, search the Web to find out what a particular process is supposed to do.
If the offending program isn’t in there, try going into My Computer, double-clicking your hard drive, then choosing Documents and Settings, All Users, Start menu, Programs, and Startup.
If you still haven’t found the program, it’s time to check your Registry. Open the Registry Editor by going to the Start menu, choosing Run, typing regedit and pressing ENTER. (NOTE: Use caution whenever you edit your Registry. Some tips in the following articles involve editing the Registry, a critical file in your OS. Always back up your system before making any Registry changes. Registry errors may render your computer unusable, so tips involving Registry changes are for more advanced users.)
Now click the little plus sign (+) next to HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Scroll down and click Software, then Microsoft, then Windows, then CurrentVersion, then Run. Scroll through the panel on the right. One line should show the file name of the offending program. Scroll back to the left, click the beginning of the line and press Delete.
Still looking? There’s one more place to check. Go up to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, then choose Software, Microsoft, Windows, CurrentVersion, and Run. That’s the last place a startup program might be hiding.
Finally, close the Registry Editor and restart your computer. The program will no longer run at startup.
Adding new startup items is much easier than removing mysterious ones. Just go to All Programs on your Start menu and choose Startup. Make a shortcut to the program you want to run at startup and drop it into the Startup folder window that appears. In the future, it will run when you log in. If you don’t want it to run at startup, remove it from the folder.
For additional information, please refer to the articles in the "See Also:" section below. |