What is the taskbar section by the clock called, and how do I remo

[Guest]

What is the taskbar section by the clock called, and how do I remove items
from it? Does it affect system performance if there are too many programs
here? Does it affect how fast the computer boots up?

 

[DanS]

There are several ways to disable at startup, the most popular being
the Msconfig.

With the most correct way being to check each individual start-up programs
preference first, then Start Menu 'Startup' group, THEN msconfig.

 

[WTC]

What is the taskbar section by the clock called, and how do I remove items
from it? Does it affect system performance if there are too many programs
here? Does it affect how fast the computer boots up?

This area is called the Notification tray. Use the program's options to stop
the program from loading onto the tray by a Startup entry. If you cannot
find the Program's option then use the System Configuration Utility
(msconfig) as a last resort. The System Configuration Utility is design for
troubleshooting purposes only. There are much better techniques to disable a
program from starting up when not found in the Program's options either by
removing a registry entry or shortcut in the Startup folder.

Common Registry Start-up entry that programs will use:

[HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
[HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

Startup folder locations:

C:\Documents and Settings\<UserName>\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Now if the program is listed as a Service then disable the service from
starting. You will find all the service on your computer at this location:

Control Panel (Classic View) > Administrative Tools > Services.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

What is the taskbar section by the clock called,

It is officially called the "System Notification Area," but most people
informally call it the "System Tray."

and how do I remove
items from it?

On each program you don't want to start automatically, check its Options to
see if it has the choice not to start (make sure you actually choose the
option not to run it, not just a "don't show icon" option). Many can easily
and best be stopped that way. If that doesn't work, run MSCONFIG from the
Start | Run line, and on the Startup tab, uncheck the programs you don't
want to start automatically.

Does it affect system performance if there are too
many programs here? Does it affect how fast the computer boots up?

First, note that you should be concerned with *all* programs that start
automatically, not just with those that go into the tray. Not all
autostarting programs manifest themselves by an icon in the tray.

How *many* programs you have that start automatically is iorrelevant. What
is significant is which programs they are. Some of them can hurt
performance severely, but others have no effect on performance.

Don't just stop programs from running willy-nilly. What you should do is
determine what each program is, what its value is to you, and what the cost
in performance is of its running all the time. You can get more information
about these at http://castlecops.com/StartupList.html. If you can't find it
there, try google searches and ask about specifics here.

Once you have that information, you can make an intelligent informed
decision about what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of.

 

[Rock]

What is the taskbar section by the clock called, and how do I remove items
from it? Does it affect system performance if there are too many programs
here? Does it affect how fast the computer boots up?

That is called the Notification Area. Depending on the system specs
what is loaded at startup can influence boot time and performance. You
need to decide what of those loading at startup you want/need. Research
each program with google and the other resources listed below to find
out what they do, then decide if want it to run at startup.

www.google.com
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
http://castlecops.com/StartupList.html
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm
http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php
http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm
http://smallvoid.com/tweak/winnt/services.html

To eliminate a startup program first step should be to check in the
options for the program you don't want to start and see if there is a
setting to tell it not to run at startup. The next step is to remove
any entries you don't want from the two startup folders:

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

For anything else uncheck their entries in the startup tab of msconfig:
Start | Run | Msconfig | Ok


Another option is to remove the reference to them from one of these keys
in the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

Make sure you have a backup of the registry using a program like ERUNT
before making any changes to the registry.

ERUNT
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/erunt.txt

Installing and Using ERUNT
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_eruntuse.html
http://www.winxptutor.com/regback.htm

 

[Bruce Chambers]

What is the taskbar section by the clock called,...

"Notification Area" or "System Tray>"

and how do I remove items
from it?

In most cases, with "well-mannered" applications, it's usually as
simple as opening the undesired program and deselecting the option to
"display icon in the system tray" or to "start when Windows starts."

Additionally, Look in the C:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Start Menu\Programs\Start Up and C:\Documents and
Settings\username\Start Menu\Programs\Start Up folders, and in the
system registry, primarily in the
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run and
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run keys.

How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;310560

Does it affect system performance if there are too many programs
here?

Yes, there can sometimes be an adverse performance affect. For each
icon appearing, there is an application running, consuming CPU cycles
and memory. Just how much these applications slow a computer down
depends upon the cumulative affect of each individual application; some
consume more resources than others.


Does it affect how fast the computer boots up?


No, these items cannot affect boot time, but they might cause a delay
between the time you log in, and the time you can actually start doing
things.


--

Bruce Chambers

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