[videojc]

Anybody else notice that there are tons of startup commands in your startup list that you don't want to load every time you start up your computer? I'm no expert, but I know how to disable these items by running msconfig and selecting the startup tab and unchecking the things I don't want to keep running in the background. What I don't know, is how to permanently remove items from this vast startup list. Anybody out there who does? I appreciate any info.

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As you have discovered, you can uncheck them to keep them from starting up. That is all that is required. They will not reappear till you recheck them or reinstall the program.
If you have lines in the msconfig that do not belong to anything, then you can use a program called MSCONFIG Cleanup (in my signature).

Warning: I would not use this to remove those items that all you want to do is keep from starting up. After all there may be a time when you want to recheck them.

[123Runner]

As you have discovered, you can uncheck them to keep them from starting up. That is all that is required. They will not reappear till you recheck them or reinstall the program.
If you have lines in the msconfig that do not belong to anything, then you can use a program called MSCONFIG Cleanup (in my signature).

Warning: I would not use this to remove those items that all you want to do is keep from starting up. After all there may be a time when you want to recheck them.

[1101doc]

Standard wisdom is to control startup processes with msconfig. This can be effective, but sometimes
has unwanted consequences. Msconfig is sort of a master control panel for Windows.

Here are a couple of guides to msconfig:
http://www.perfectdr.../msconfig2.html
http://www.sb-cg.com...equest=msconfig

Since msconfig can have such a profound effect on my system, I much prefer to control what starts with Windows with the free WinPatrol: http://www.winpatrol.com/ Use the "Start-up" tab to turn off anything you don't really have to have start with Windows. It has other benefits as well. Some of the names listed there may not be familiar, and you will need to find out what they are, and how they work.

I think that Sysinternals free Process Explorer is very helpful with all this. It is what Taskmanager wants to be when it grows up. Get it here: http://www.microsoft...ssExplorer.mspx
(Download link at bottom of page)

For information about the various processes, here are some good places to check:
http://www.ppedia.com/
http://www.fileresearchcenter.com/
http://www.answersth...es/tasklist.htm
http://www.kephyr.com/filedb/index.php
http://www.what-process.com/lists.aspx
http://exelib.com/
http://www.processlibrary.com/

Of course, you can always google'em.

Here is a place to check any questionable file. It gets scanned by almost all available "anti-" tools:
http://www.virustota.../en/indexx.html

When using Process Explorer I'm sure that you will begin to notice that there are several instances of svchost.exe listed. When you hover over a svchost, a small box opens with other stuff inside. A double click opens a "Properties" dialog. These are XP "Services," and they run in the background also. But before you start making changes to your Services, go to : http://www.theelderg...vices_guide.htm and have a good read. I almost always set any Service that I don't want to start with Windows to "Manual" (except for those listed as default-disable for XP). With a manual setting, if your system needs the service for any reason it can be started. If Disabled you're out of luck.

If you have recently installed IE7, you may have the troublesome ctfmon.exe working in the background: Go to :Control Panel>Regional and Language Options>Languages>Details>Advanced, and check the box that says "Turn off advanced text services." If that creates problems, go back and turn it back on. Ctfmon can use a lot of CPU time.