MSCONFIG

G

Guest

I believe many unwanded programs are loading upon start up. I have looked at
MSCONFIG from "run" and would like to clean off all programs other than the
ones I need...how do I accomplish this?

Thank you!
 
K

Ken Blake, MVP

Frischer said:
I believe many unwanded programs are loading upon start up. I have
looked at MSCONFIG from "run" and would like to clean off all
programs other than the ones I need...how do I accomplish this?


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.

However, if I were you, I wouldn't do this just for the purpose of running
the minimum number of programs. Despite what many people tell you, you
should be concerned, not with how *many* of these programs you run, but
*which*. 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.
 
B

Bruce Chambers

Frischer said:
I believe many unwanded programs are loading upon start up. I have looked at
MSCONFIG from "run" and would like to clean off all programs other than the
ones I need...how do I accomplish this?

Thank you!


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



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin
 
K

kuyarog

I unchecked several programs in msconfig>startup as there is no need for them
to be running in the background. Defender keeps notifying me to do something.
What should I do as the notification sits in my system tray and I don’t see
an option when I open it up?
Roger
 

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