You can speed up your computer's boot time and improve the overall performance of Windows XP by stopping programs from running at start-up.

Start by cleaning out your Startup folder. Find it in C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Start Menu\Programs\Startup, where username is your Windows logon name. Delete the shortcuts of any programs you don't want to run on start-up. As with any shortcuts, when you delete them, you're deleting only the shortcut, not the program itself. (You can also clear out the start-up items by going to Start > Programs > Startup, then right-clicking items you want to remove.)

Next, clean out your Scheduled Tasks folder. Go to C:\Windows\Tasks, and delete the shortcuts of any programs that you don't want to run automatically on a schedule.

These two steps should keep most, if not all, unnecessary programs from automatically running.

Note: You can bypass all the programs in your Startup folder on an as-needed basis. To stop XP from loading any programs in the Startup folder, hold down the Shift key during bootup. No programs in the Startup folder will run, but the items will still remain there so that they will start up as they would normally the next time you boot.

If you cannot find a program that automatically starts, try under:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Thanks for that Val

When i get home i'll add some more complex ways of ending those pesky start up programs that wont stop[ with the method above

Easiest program I've found to sort these issues out is CCleaner.

It allows you to remove pesky startup entries as well as temporary files, log files, and a ton of other crap. It also has a registry and application cleaner, very handy for getting rid of temp files and the like. Best of all it's freeware and completely spyware free.

Never failed me when I need to do a quick system spring clean

There is also one called AFT Cleaner. It does the same as CCleaner. I have used both.

I like CCleaner because of its small footprint and simple interface.

That, and I suspect that the name stands for 'Crap Cleaner'

Guys can you post a link to download it from

I think i will give it a try

In Rusty's first post there is a link to CCleaner. I didn't post one cause I reckon CCleaner is better than AFT Cleaner.

Click, Start
Goto Run
Type msconfig, press Enter.

Click the Startup tab
You can then manually disable the programs you dont want to run at startup.

The above doesn't work on Windows 2000.

BTW don't use msconfig to disable startup items, it sometimes doesn't work for certain entries and automatically re-enables them. (Especially dangerous if you have a dodgy trojan entry or similar.)

Something your guys may also want to try, I’m sure many of you
have done this but for those who haven’t.
Disable windows indexing service.
Double click My Computer; Left click your Hard drive icon. Select properties.
Remove Allow Indexing Services.
Do this to all your Hard Drives. It should double your access time.
Aslo
Some SATA drives have Acoustic Management enabled. This is bad.
It reduces the RPM on HD’s. You can download a free program called
Ftool.
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
Download the files called “diskette creator for windows 1689 k”
It’s a boot disk.
If you have a laptop this is a must. All laptops (new) have Acoustic Management
Because of heat and battery life.

Thanks Emucade - that works pretty well

And by the way. Welcome to Vault9

So that was he thing that was causing my Pc to act so slow

Thanks

I think you can stop applications on startup by RIGHT CLICK, TASK MANAGER and PROCESSES which you can disable

Sometimes applications ask you if you want to start it on startup



Yeah. When you installl the program it sometimes ask

I edited your posts and deleted mine so it wasn't so pointless.