Click your Start Button, click Run,
type: msconfig
click the OK button. When the System Configuration Utility opens click the
Startup tab. There you'll see what's loading on Startup. You can stop any
of the listed items from loading on Startup by removing the check to the
left of it with a left mouse click. Make sure you know what the item is,
before you stop it from loading. When you first reboot after disabling
items from Startup, you'll get a dialog box saying that you've chosen
Selective Startup, click the box that says: Don't Show This Message Again.
Before you do any of the above, Create a System Restore Point (Start
Button/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Restore "Create a
Restore Point"), in case you stop something from loading that's critical to
your system, and then can't boot back into Windows XP in Normal Mode. In
the event that occurs, you can press the F8 key after powering on, but
BEFORE the Windows logo appears, and select the option to boot into Safe
Mode. Before the Safe Mode desktop option fully loads, a dialog box will
ask you if you want to go directly to System Restore. Opt to go to System
Restore, then opt to Restore My Computer to an Earlier Time, and select the
Restore Point that you created just prior to the problem caused by your
editing the Startup items.
