Windows Vista Problems with disabling startup items using msconfig?

In order to try to speedup my startup time, I went to msconfig and unchecked adobe reader and quicktime and rebooted and got the message that I was using selective startup, I rechecked the two items and rebooted and got a black screen, brought up taskmanager and it very slowly brought up my desktop with the same message that I was using selective startup, so I checked normal startup, rebooted, and it now appears to be working ok again. However, all of the startup items are now checked and it startups as slow as ever, about 2 minutes. Why does it consider items such as adobe reader and quicktime essential? And, is there a way to uncheck these and other unnecessary items for startup, without getting the message that I am using selective startup? I don't understand this.

 

Marv6

I don’t have vista, but in XP there is a small box in that pop up that says
"don’t show this again" or something like that. Just select it and you should not get it again.

Sven

 

You WANT to use selective startup! Just ignore the popup. There's no problem, just windows telling you what you already know!

Winpatrol.exe (just google it) will let you remove what is unchecked and may stop the stupid message.

 

Sven and Sparrow,

Thanks for your replies and info. In Vista, I see in help that unchecking the startup items in regular startup may make the system unstable. How does one know what to uncheck and what to leave checked. When I unchecked adobe reader and quicktime and rebooted, my screen came up blank. I had to hit control alt delete to bring it back up. In help it says to go to windows defender and disable the programs there. What are your thoughts on what to uncheck and what to leave checked?

Thanks,

Marvin

 

It's always best to disable programs from loading on startup within the program itself...if it offers that option.

For those that don't offer the option, next look in Start>All Programs>Startup. Delete anything there you don't want loading on startup. Poke around in the Preferences/Options/Settings (whichever terminology each uses) in every program currently loading on startup that you don't want loading on startup for a way to disable that feature.

Msconfig is for anything left that doesn't let you disable it from loading from startup within the program nor appears in the Startup folder on the Start Menu. The key to staying out of trouble using msconfig is never disable anything in the Startup list that you're not 100% sure and certain can safely be disabled. When in doubt, get on the net and do some research...or ask here, of course.

For example, in QuickTime, what's loading is its "checking for updates." To disable that, open Quick Time from the Start Menu. Then click on Edit>Preferences>Quick Time Preferences. In the window that opens, select "Update Check" in the drop-down list. Then uncheck the box that appears for "Check for updates automatically," click OK. Then next time you boot up, QT's updater won't load.*

If Adobe isn't in Start>All Programs>Startup, open Adobe Reader from the Start Menu. Click on File, then Preferences. In the left-hand pane, click on "Updates" and then over in the right-hand pane, check the box for "Do not automatically check for critical updates," click OK.

*I solved the problem of QT's insisting I update everytime it opens by uninstalling it and installing QuickTime Alternative. It plays everything QT does without the annoying update nag.

 

Miz,

Thanks for the detailed info. I like your suggestions about going to the programs first and disabling their auto updates there. This is what I will do first.

Marv

 

Agree with Miz, but have found that many programs aren't so helpful (rhe latest Adobe reader, for example). Try winpatrol suggested above (just right click the icon and choose 'display startup info'). Also, another useful trick where you can tell what program is starting at boot is to rename it, e.g., change program.exe to program.exe.bak. That way, if you change your mind, you can easily find it and change it back.

In all previous editions of windows, one can disable ALL the startup programs without any problem; in fact that's part of what safe mode does!
If that causes problems in vista, it's another programming error. Haven't seen it personally yet.