Removing items from startup.

[Happy]

This has probably been asked a dozen times, but I can't locate the answer.
How do I remove items / programs from my startup, so only the ones I need
are open, and I can open the others if / when I need them? When I look
under Start> startup, there are only 6 items listed, but I think there are a
lot more. Under CTL+Alt+Del> Processes, there are 67. Is that normal? How
do I find out what they are all for?

 

[bxb7668]

Use Start > Run and type in msconfig. Go to the Startup tab. Be a bit
careful. Some of those programs that have totally meaningless names
are needed. You can google the names to see what they do.

Brian

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Now this link will make you happy, albeit bewildered.

Autoruns is a programme, which list everything starting and
where it starts from.Try downloading and installing:
http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Autoruns.html

You can save the output of the Everything tab to a txt file.
Place the cursor on any item in the list and it gives a save
as option on the File drop down. Post a copy of suspect
entries giving details of the start location.

You will find further information on Services here:
http://majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=12

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

This has probably been asked a dozen times, but I can't locate the
answer. How do I remove items / programs from my startup, so only the
ones I need are open, and I can open the others if / when I need
them? When I look under Start> startup, there are only 6 items
listed, but I think there are a lot more. Under CTL+Alt+Del>
Processes, there are 67. Is that normal? How do I find out what they
are all for?

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.

 

[Happy]

Thanks all! I will work through these, being cautious as suggested. This
will be a great learning tool- and I feel my start list was getting away
from me.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks all! I will work through these, being cautious as suggested.
This will be a great learning tool- and I feel my start list was
getting away from me.

You're welcome. Glad to help.

 

[Stan Brown]

This has probably been asked a dozen times, but I can't locate the answer.

Not a dozen times, but hundreds or thousands of times.

How do I remove items / programs from my startup, so only the ones I need
are open, and I can open the others if / when I need them? When I look
under Start> startup, there are only 6 items listed, but I think there are a
lot more. Under CTL+Alt+Del> Processes, there are 67. Is that normal? How
do I find out what they are all for?

Right-click on anything in system tray, and select Options or
Properties or Settings (_not_ Exit). A well-behaved application will
give you the option not to start on startup.

Then download and run the free Autoruns from sysinternals.com. It
will tell you everything (remaining) that runs at startup.

Don't be too aggressive in unchecking things, particularly if you
don't understand them. It can help to right-click on an entry in
Autoruns and read what Google finds about it.

 

[Stan Brown]

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 19:52:40 -0000 from Gerry Cornell

Now this link will make you happy, albeit bewildered.

Autoruns is a programme, which list everything starting and
where it starts from.Try downloading and installing:
http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Autoruns.html

You can save the output of the Everything tab to a txt file.
Place the cursor on any item in the list and it gives a save
as option on the File drop down. Post a copy of suspect
entries giving details of the start location.

Better advice, IMHO -- right-click on any suspected entry in Autoruns
and read what Google finds about it. Then post only if the available
info isn't adequate.

 

[kenchi]

This has probably been asked a dozen times, but I can't locate the
answer.
How do I remove items / programs from my startup, so only the ones I
need
are open, and I can open the others if / when I need them? When I
look
under Start startup, there are only 6 items listed, but I think there
are a
lot more. Under CTL+Alt+Del Processes, there are 67. Is that normal?
How
do I find out what they are all for?

Link on startup programs and disabling them
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php