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Startup Items

The purpose of this page is to give you an overview of startup items. Many programs start running as soon as you boot up your computer. This uses resources that can slow down your computer. So disable the unnecessary programs from running until you call upon them to do so.

Don't get me wrong. Some programs you want to run right away such as an antivirus program. After all you want to always stay protected. But even some of these now days have features you may want to disable.

But usually the items that cause a resource issue are from programs you install. Every one thinks they are so good you can't live without them running immediately. And usually they will install an icon in the system tray so you can click it instantly. And over time they add up.

Some programs automatically run sub-programs whether or not the program itself runs at startup. Perhaps an appointment reminder from a greeting card program. Perhaps an automatic update check. Perhaps a "phone home" to the program vendor when you open a program while connected to the internet which I consider ad/spyware. Perhaps more.

I can't possibly guess which programs you have or what you want to run. And I won't be held responsible if you disable a function that may be usefull down the road. Some functions should never be disabled in my opinion. Such as "ScanRegistry" or "StateMgr" listed in msconfig.

For much more information then I am going to get into here I suggest going to this web site. Pacs-Portal. My page is just for giving some general information and mainly how to use msconfig. So let's begin with the basics.

Startups Folder

First of all view your programs by clicking "Start". If you see a StartUp folder listed then the programs in it may be running from the shortcut there. Delete the shortcuts in the folder or move them to the Disabled Startup Items folder if your not sure you need them. Create the folder if it doesn't exist.

To create a Disabled Startup folder Right click Start. Click Explore. Scroll down to Start Menu. Below that click Programs. (you might have to click the + sign next to Start Menu to see Programs) Click Programs. Click File. Go to New. Click Folder. Name your folder. Close Explore. You now have a new empty folder in your Start menu programs. Drag and drop your program shortcuts into it.

Disable by using the program settings themselves

Many programs that run at startup display icons in the System Tray which is located at the bottom right of your computer next to the Task Bar unless you've been mucking about with your XP settings. For the life of me I don't know why anyone needs to do that.

As you can see I have the standard speaker and clock icon. The other two are for my Antivirus and Firewall. If I right click those I get options to disable them completely or I can get options to disable specific aspects of them.

This is the prefered method of disabling Startup items. Use the program settings themselves if given the option. If you can't then try "msconfig"

MSCONFIG

msconfig is a Microsoft utility built into Windows that is primarily meant to be used to trouble shoot startup problems. But it can also be used to disable startup programs and functions of programs from running.

Click "Start". Click "Run". Type "msconfig" without the quotes. Click "OK". Click on the "Startup" tab to view startup running programs.

Be careful about using the other tabs or check boxes unless you are sure you know what you're doing. This is the place to to do more but only if you know how.

I suggest leaving the boxes checked as I have. And please don't attempt to modify the System.ini or Win.ini files here. This is not the place or way to do it.

Just click on the Startup tab at the top.

MSCONFIG LIST

This is where you uncheck programs that are unneeded or unwanted from running at startup. The columns at the left and right are what you need to pay attention to. If you uncheck something here that adversely affects your programs simply recheck it later.

I would never uncheck ScanRegistry, *StateMgr, StillImageMonitor or System Tray. These are needed or they are important backup/recovery tools.

Some items may be listed twice. And some items will either re-check themselves or create a duplicate checked entry later. This is by design. It could be spyware or it could be something you want or need. For instance it might be that you have your antivirus program configured to automatically check for updates. If so then un-checking it here without reconfiguring the program itself could cause this.

So you have no idea what you need or what these items are do you? I don't either. I only know those for my computer. But that's OK. Just check yours against a data base.

MSCONFIG DATA BASE

There are quite a few ways to determine what you need or don't need. Such as using a search engine for every single item. That could take forever. Or you could try to figure it out yourself. It can be done if you really know what you're doing. But again it will take some time. Fortunately there are some places to look on the WEB that will give you a short list of startup items.

But there are probably tens of thousands of possible entries by now including viruses and trojans. There is no way anyone would even attempt to create and maintain such a data base today. Or is there? PACS PORTAL Has been keeping their data base as current as possible for many, many years. It's huge and growing. They have much more information then I do on startup items. I suggest you review every aspect of it. They supply different methods of accessing their data. Please use their site and support it. They have worked long and hard for us.

Click on the pacs-portal link and scroll down to THE PROGRAMS
Choose your prefered methothod of accessing the data base.

After unchecking what you don't need click Apply. Then click OK.

You will then see a message box stating that you will need to restart your computer in order for the changes to take effect. Do you want to restart now?

Click Yes.

After restarting your computer you will usually see the picture at the right. Check the box "Don't show this dialog again". Click OK.