[lucien]

i have a few programs that start up automaticaly on startup and i dont want that. is there a way to see what is set to start up automaticaly without looking through all thye programs options ?

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You don't say which version of Windows you are using. So it's a bit hard to give you that information. It can all be done through Windows - but depends on the version.

[ilago]

You don't say which version of Windows you are using. So it's a bit hard to give you that information. It can all be done through Windows - but depends on the version.

[lucien]

sorry bout that.. im using windows xp home edition

[ilago]

Hi Lucien

Lots of software decides that you need it to start up automatically whether you like it or not.

But a lot of the things that you see on startup or running in Task Manager are essential to the running of your system. So you need to be very careful about what you disable.

Go to Start > Run and type msconfig into the box and click on OK. A screen will open up. Go to the Start up tab and read through the startup items. Don't dabble in any of the other screens unless you seriously know what you are doing. The filename is usually listed but sometimes the names are misleading. TKBellexe is really RealPlayer for example. Look up any names you aren't familiar with. Some programs have several startup files and won't work if you disable one of them. Antivirus and firewall programs often have more than one startup file. If you disable anything in the Startup list you will be asked to restart - the changes won't take affect until you do. Not all programs are started from msconfig. If you aren't confident - don't do anything until you are.

When you restart you will get a warning screen that tells you that there are programs disabled. You can tick the box to stop it showing up everytime you reboot. If you change something else - it will come up again anyway.

This site has a list of most of the common startup programs so you can check what the names are. They will be listed by filename rather than program name. The site is organised in alphabetical order and often lets you know if the program is unnecessary. You need to click on the Task List button.

http://answersthatwork.com/

There is also a little freeware program that tells you a little more about what is starting up. It installs into Control Panel.

http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml

Please ask if you are unsure. It's better to be safe than sorry!!

Edited by ilago, 17 January 2005 - 02:57 AM.

[lucien]

thanks ...

[lucien]

hehe.. kinda dumb but once i loook up the files to se what they do . what do i do to disable them ? unckeck the ones i dont want and then press aply ?

[ilago]

If you mean in the msconfig screen. Uncheck one item that you think you really don't need on start up - like quicktime or real player. Click on Apply and OK. A screen will come up that tells you that you need to restart before the changes take effect. You can restart straightaway or leave it till later.

When you restart you will get a warning screen that tells you that there are programs disabled. You can tick the box to stop it showing up everytime you reboot. If you change something else - it will come up again anyway. See if it worked the way you thought and that everything else still works.

If you do one thing at a time then you can easily work out if it caused a problem. If you do lots of things at once you won't be able to troubleshoot very easily.

For example if you disable something and you lose your sound - you will know what it is.

Keep a list of what you disable so you don't lose track - until you are more knowledgeable about this sort of configuration.

There's lots of information on the net about most Windows XP features and how to configure - you'll need to do some reading maybe