Controlling program loading on startup

[Joe Bachman]

Just bought a new 'puter that runs WinXP. (The old machine ran
Win98.)

The old machine was plagued by applications that insisted on loading
up and hogging my free memory and crashing the machine. After some
discussion with the tech support at my ISP, I learned about MSConfig,
which allows me to have some control over what programs launch on
starup. With XP, as I've installed new programs and some old
favorites, I'm starting to get junk launching at startup and hogging
my RAM, stuff that I don't really need. However, the Windows XP help
is no help at figuring out how to control this.

So how do I do it?

Thanks in advance,

Joe

 

[Wesley VogelX]

Joe;
Unchecking these programs in the Startup tab of msconfig is not a fixall.
That should
be done within the programs themselves, if possible.
Look to see what programs you have listed under the Startup tab. Open
those
programs, one at a time, and look in Options, Settings, Preferences, Properties
or
similar. Look to see if there is an option like: Load at startup, or: Start
when Windows
starts or similar. Uncheck or de-select these options.
It seems almost every program that is installed is so important that it
has to start
at startup. Every new program I install wants to run at startup and I have to
stop this
with most programs. Some programs should run at startup. For example, if you
have a
cable modem and are on-line all the time, a virus program and firewall should
run at
startup. With some programs there is no option to stop this. The only way is
with editing
the Registry. My suggestion would be to download, install and run Startman.
"""StartMan is a startup manager created to address some of the shortcomings
in
Microsoft's original System Configuration Utility (MSCONFIG.EXE). MSCONFIG is
primarily a
troubleshooting tool, not a startup manager, and as such it does not permit the
permanent
removal of startups - they can only be disabled."""" Startman will show what the
startup
programs are and allow you to disable their startup properties. It shows how or
where a
program is started. If a program is started from Registry entry, it shows the
path, so
you can go there and edit (delete) the entry. There is also an option that
sends you to
Pacman's Portal to show a recommendation if a particular program should or
should not
start at startup.
Startman 1.3.96 is available here:
http://www.pt.lu/comnet/desc/startman.html
Like I mentioned before download, install and run Startman. Also read the
Help for
Startman.
Here is a link to Pacman's Portal:
http://www.pacsportal.co.uk/startup_pages/startup_full.htm
Pacman's Portal is not all inclusive, but there is a lot of
valuable, useful info there.

 

[Kelly]

Hi Joe,

Go to Start/Run and type in: msconfig. Go to the Startup Tab and uncheck
accordingly. Then run this script to remove the disabled items from the
registry.

Clear Disabled Items from Msconfig Startup (Line 148)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Or...remove the runkeys from here: Start/Run/Regedit

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

Troubleshooting, Removing and/or Cleaning Add or Remove Programs
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_a.htm#addremove

Troubleshooting the Notification Area
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_n.htm#na

 

[Alex Nichol]

The old machine was plagued by applications that insisted on loading
up and hogging my free memory and crashing the machine. After some
discussion with the tech support at my ISP, I learned about MSConfig,
which allows me to have some control over what programs launch on
starup. With XP, as I've installed new programs and some old
favorites, I'm starting to get junk launching at startup and hogging
my RAM, stuff that I don't really need. However, the Windows XP help
is no help at figuring out how to control this.

So how do I do it?

Start - Run - MSConfig Just as before