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When I start my computer tons of things start up automatically how do I stop
these things from starting when I turn on my computer?

 

[Malke]

When I start my computer tons of things start up automatically how do
I stop these things from starting when I turn on my computer?

That's a pretty vague question. A lot depends on whether the "tons of
things" should be there, are legitimate, or are malware. The normal way
to stop legitimate programs from starting with Windows is by opening
the program and finding its Preferences or Options menu and unchecking
"Start with Windows". If you can't do that, go to Start>Run and type
(without quotes) "msconfig" [Enter]. Look on the Startup tab and
uncheck things that shouldn't be starting, Apply and OK out. When you
reboot, you'll get a dialog box saying you've used the System
Configuration Utility; just check the box that says, "don't bother me
about this again".

Here are some general troubleshooting steps for you to follow:

1) Scan in Safe Mode with current version (not earlier than 2003)
antivirus using updated definitions;

2) remove spyware with Spybot Search & Destroy
(www.safer-networking.org) and Ad-aware (www.lavasoftusa.com). These
programs are free, so use them both since they complement each other.
There is a new version of CWShredder from
http://www.intermute.com/spysubtract/cwshredder_download.html. I would
not install the other Intermute programs, however. Alternately, there
are CoolWebSearch malware removal steps at
http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_cwsremoval.html. A combination of
HijackThis and About:Buster (http://www.majorgeeks.com) works well in
removing homepage hijackers. Always read the instructions before
running a spyware removal tool. Be sure to update these programs before
running, and it is a good idea to do virus/spyware scans in Safe Mode.
Make sure you are able to see all hidden files and extensions (View tab
in Folder Options);

3) If you are running Windows ME or XP, you should disable/enable System
Restore because malware will be in the Restore Points. With ME, you
must disable System Restore completely. With XP, you can delete all but
the most recent (presumably clean) System Restore point from the More
Options section of Disk Cleanup (Run>cleanmgr).

4) delete temporary and Temporary Internet Files;

5) stop unnecessary services/programs from starting with Windows - see
www.blackviper.com for services info and
www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm for programs info;

6) look in Event Viewer for clues;

7) make sure you've visited Windows Update and applied all security
patches. Do not install driver updates from Windows Update;

8) run a firewall.

Malke

 

[Ken Blake]

In

When I start my computer tons of things start up automatically
how do
I stop these things from starting when I turn on my computer?

On each program you don't want to start automatically, check its
Options to see if it has the choice not to start. 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 with 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.