Start up programmes

I have only just upgraded my computer to use Windows XP after using 98SE for several years. One of the first things I did was to run msconfig and uncheck several programmes to prevent them starting up on boot up ie Adobe, FotoStation, Real Player and a few others. However on re boot I got a screen warning about configuration or something and I quickly used the restore facility. However I would now like to try again and was wondering what the correct procedure is to do this. I appreciate this is a pretty basic question but hope someone will take pity on me. Thanks. Roger

 

If you use SpyBot then there is an option in ‘Tools’ that lets you easily turn things on and off. Or try this little app, http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml I can vouch for its reliability.

There are however a lot of startup places in XP that this won’t show, but I would guess it should get most of the ones you are interested in. If you want to go further then this app will take you there. http://www.diamondcs.com.au/index.php?page=asviewer but you need to know what you are doing with this one, so don't mess around with it if you're not sure.

Of course you should check in the app itself first to see if there is an option to not start with Windows.

 

Thanks for those replies. I have now been able to prune my StartUp. I have also downloaded StartUp Monitor as this looks like a very usefull tool. Roger

 

I used to use Startup Monitor in 98se and it worked well. Never tried it in XP so can’t comment on its reliability. I think it only keeps an eye on a very few startup locations in XP and so is limited in effect as there are so many others it does not monitor.

 

Mike Lin's StartUpCPL, mentioned above, is stable in XP, and one of the first things I load after an install. I can't think of anything that starts up that it fails to list, either.

Johanna