Using selective startup without causing problems

[Dudley Henriques]

Is there an article or site somewhere that has a REALLY good tutorial on
what can and what shouldn't be taken out of the startup menu check boxes if
you want to go from normal startup to using selective startup?
What I need to know isn't so much how to use msconfig, but rather what's
safe to take out and what should be left in those check boxes. I'm always
worrying that certain programs NEED to be running in the background and
shouldn't be taken out, but there doesn't seem to any one place where the
answers to this question can be obtained due to the many different programs
that can be installed on any given system.
I know there are generalities, but how do you ACTUALLY know what to leave in
and what to uncheck?
Many thanks as always
Dudley Henriques

 

[JS]

For info on what runs when Windows starts:
http://www.pcreview.co.uk/startup
http://www.castlecops.com/StartupList.html

For Windows services that are not needed see:
See: http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm
or http://www.beemerworld.com/tips/servicesxp.htm

For controlling what starts:
Try Autoruns from SysInternals:
http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Autoruns.html
This will show all apps/etc. that load/run when you first boot and
selectively allow you to stop any that you don't want.

Note: You may need to highlight an item (right click) and use the Google
option on some entries to get the details for more obscure items in the
list.

JS

 

[Dudley Henriques]

Thank you JS; this will keep me busy for a while
DH

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Is there an article or site somewhere that has a REALLY good tutorial
on what can and what shouldn't be taken out of the startup menu check
boxes if you want to go from normal startup to using selective
startup? What I need to know isn't so much how to use msconfig, but rather
what's safe to take out and what should be left in those check boxes.
I'm always worrying that certain programs NEED to be running in the
background and shouldn't be taken out, but there doesn't seem to any
one place where the answers to this question can be obtained due to
the many different programs that can be installed on any given system.
I know there are generalities, but how do you ACTUALLY know what to
leave in and what to uncheck?

There's nothing that Windows needs to start up that way. The only question
is what *you* need (or want) to start automatically. Obviously you want your
security-oriented software (anti-virus, firewall, etc.) but th erest is up o
you.

Here's my standard post on this subject:

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.

 

[Dudley Henriques]

That's a great site Ken and thanks for reminding me about it. I'll make a
list of what's showing on the msconfig startup menu and check out each one
then make the decision on what to do with each.
A very intelligent approach.
Thanks
Dudley Henriques

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

That's a great site Ken and thanks for reminding me about it. I'll
make a list of what's showing on the msconfig startup menu and check
out each one then make the decision on what to do with each.
A very intelligent approach.
Thanks

You're welcome. Glad to help.

 

[Ayush]

Replied to [Dudley Henriques]'s message {REPLY BELOW} :
-----------------------------------------------------------

Is there an article or site somewhere that has a REALLY good tutorial
on what can and what shouldn't be taken out of the startup menu check
boxes if you want to go from normal startup to using selective
startup?

http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/


--
Ayush [ Be ''?'' Happy ]

For any query, search - www.Google.com
Want to know about a term - http://en.wikipedia.org
Snip your long urls - http://snipurl.com/
Must have tool for OE - http://snipurl.com/quotefix

 

[Dudley Henriques]

Thanks very much for this link.
DH

Replied to [Dudley Henriques]'s message {REPLY BELOW} :
-----------------------------------------------------------

Is there an article or site somewhere that has a REALLY good tutorial
on what can and what shouldn't be taken out of the startup menu check
boxes if you want to go from normal startup to using selective
startup?

http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/


--
Ayush [ Be ''?'' Happy ]

For any query, search - www.Google.com
Want to know about a term - http://en.wikipedia.org
Snip your long urls - http://snipurl.com/
Must have tool for OE - http://snipurl.com/quotefix

 

[Ayush]

Replied to [Dudley Henriques]'s message {REPLY BELOW} :
-----------------------------------------------------------

Thanks very much for this link.
DH

U R WelCome !


--
Ayush [ Be ''?'' Happy ]

For any query, search - www.Google.com
Want to know about a term - http://en.wikipedia.org
Snip your long urls - http://snipurl.com/
Must have tool for OE - http://snipurl.com/quotefix