Bare Minimum Startup

[Guest]

My computer has been used for two years and has "accumulated" a number of
programs that I seldom use (such as my Nokia phone interface for instance).
These programs sit in the background just waiting for smothign to happen (to
use the phone example again, if I enable IR comms on my phone and place it
near the PC, the software launches). I don't really want to uninstall the
software as I do use it occassionally--but I want to disable it. My computer
seems to have gotten slower over time, and startup/shutdown seems to take
forever. Norton Professional also seems to have chewed up heaps of processing
power

There are 37 items in my msconfig, startup tab---I am not sure what they all
are. Some are obvious from their name, others more obscure.
What would be the bare minimum I have to keep checked to still have a
functional computer?
Can I uncheck them all, then turn on one at a time?
If a program is not started at startup (ie I uncheck my Nokia software), can
I start that software without re-starting the PC (if for instance I sudenly
decide to download a photo from my Nokia)?

 

[Michael D. Alligood]

Correct. You are on the right track. Disable them all. You can always
turn them back on if you need to; as you said, one at a time.