System Tray issues?

[Phil James]

If I understand correctly, the Task Bar is the gray bar at the bottom of the
Windows screen which has "Start" at the left, and the System Tray is the row
of icons on the right-hand end of the Task Bar ending with the clock on the
right. If that's correct, see below. If not, please correct me.

My question concerns the System Tray, as defined above.

The System Tray appears to contain icons for programs that start when
Windows starts and run in the background until needed. I'd like to stop 2-3
of those programs from starting. How do I do that?

Phil

 

[Don Phillipson]

My question concerns the System Tray, as defined above.

The System Tray appears to contain icons for programs that start when
Windows starts and run in the background until needed. I'd like to stop 2-3
of those programs from starting. How do I do that?

MSCONFIG is the quick way to disable Registry items
set to run at reboot (many of which display their icon
in the SysTray.) Some of these are better deactivated via their
own control panels.

 

[Ken Blake]

If I understand correctly, the Task Bar is the gray bar at the bottom of
the Windows screen which has "Start" at the left, and the System Tray is
the row of icons on the right-hand end of the Task Bar ending with the
clock on the right. If that's correct, see below. If not, please correct
me.

My corrections are very minor, but since you asked....

1. It doesn't have to be gray.

2. It doesn't have to be at the bottom. Although that's the default, you can
drag it to any side of the screen you prefer it on.

3. The thing you call the System Tray is offically called the System
Notification Area. "System Tray" is an unofficial but common alias for it.

My question concerns the System Tray, as defined above.

The System Tray appears to contain icons for programs that start when
Windows starts and run in the background until needed. I'd like to stop
2-3 of those programs from starting. How do I do that?

First, you should be concerned with *all* programs that start automatically.
Not all of them manifest themselves by an icon in the system tray.



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.

 

[JS]

Use msconfig (Start/run/msconfig) is the easiest/simplest way
How to troubleshoot configuration errors by using the System Configuration
utility in Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310560

If you want to dig deeper:
Try Autoruns from the MS Windows SysInternals site:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

AutoRuns will show/list all apps/etc. that load/run when you first boot ...
(the 'Boot Execute' tab),
when you logon (the 'Logon' tab) and other programs that load
(grouped by labeled tabs) for easy viewing.

It also provides the ability to selectively allows you to stop
(use with care) any program that you don't want to load.
You can undo any changes you have made.

Note: To get additional details on an item in the list you can't
readily identify you may need to highlight the item (right click) and use
the 'Search Online' option to get the details,
especially useful for the more obscure items in the list.

JS
http://www.pagestart.com

 

[JD]

If I understand correctly, the Task Bar is the gray bar at the bottom of the
Windows screen which has "Start" at the left, and the System Tray is the row
of icons on the right-hand end of the Task Bar ending with the clock on the
right. If that's correct, see below. If not, please correct me.

My question concerns the System Tray, as defined above.

The System Tray appears to contain icons for programs that start when
Windows starts and run in the background until needed. I'd like to stop 2-3
of those programs from starting. How do I do that?

Phil

The three replies you received are very good but out of curiosity I'd
like to know what the programs are? If you hover your mouse over each
icon you should see see a pop-up with a brief description of what each
icon is.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

If I understand correctly, the Task Bar is the gray bar at the bottom of the
Windows screen which has "Start" at the left, and the System Tray is the row
of icons on the right-hand end of the Task Bar ending with the clock on the
right. If that's correct, see below. If not, please correct me.

My question concerns the System Tray, as defined above.

The System Tray appears to contain icons for programs that start when
Windows starts and run in the background until needed. I'd like to stop 2-3
of those programs from starting. How do I do that?

Phil

In most cases, with "well-mannered" (meaning, "properly designed")
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:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

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

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[Phil James]

For starters, one is "Kodak EasyShare" system which uses up a lot of space,
and I don't need except when I'm using it to do something with pictures.
Another is the Amazon Unbox, which I downloaded so I could get Michael
Moore's latest movie, but I could never figure out how to download the movie
from Amazon. Maybe I will someday, but not for a while.

I suspect I could stop Norton Ghost until I need it also.

There may be others, but I'll follow some of the other suggestions in order
to determine which ones -- later, after the holiday season, when I can
devote some time to it.

Phil

 

[JD]

Thanks Phil..

The other replies certainly will help you disable programs from loading
at startup. For programs like EasyShare, you can always create a
shortcut on your desktop for easy access. I know what Ghost is but I
don't know if it needs to run in the background. I'm sure you'll figure
it out.