Removing icons from taskbar

I know these are probably easy questions but I am a new computer user. How do I delete the icons on my taskbar to the right of the bottom of the screen? For example I have a modem icon (even though I have a cable connection) and task manager icon. If these icons appear on the taskbar at startup does that mean they are running on startup? Does this slow down the PC? Thanks.

 

andsands,
Yes, these are programs that are set to start when you start or reboot the PC.
They can be started from a number of places.
Let's start with an easy one . . .
Click the Start button, then click Programs, then click Startup.
Do you see anything there that you do not need started ?
If so, right click the item, choose Delete from the menu and then
"Yes "
Post back with your latest news,
regards

 

Many of the programs that put icons in the "system tray ", thats what you are looking at on the lower r/h corner of the screen, have settings in the "Options" that let you turn off/on the system tray icon.

Before you start removing programs that run at startup have a look for these settings.

Usually you can right-click on the icon in the system tray and it will take you to the "Options ".

Another place to get info on what runs at start up is from: Here or Here .

Be careful what you turn off, best to make a note so you can go back and turn on if something doesn't work.

 

Thanks Merlin and John for your prompt answers.

Merlin, the tips you gave were not relevant as the icons did not have the "options" choice you spoke of, but thanks anyway.

John, I used the links you supplied and got exactly what I was after. I also found some viruses and spyware programs running in the background which I was able to eliminate and now my startup is much quicker. Thank you.

 

Hello,andsands

Have you used Ad-Aware if no & would like
to try this

Ad-aware 6, build 0162, full setup:
http://www.lavasoft.de/res/aaw6.exe

Once you've installed 6, you must update the reference-file through WebUpdate;

Open Ad-aware (by going to Start > Programs > Lavasoft Ad-aware 6)
Click the "WebUpdate" button at the top of the Ad-aware screen (picture of a world globe).
Click "Connect "
Ad-aware will then download the latest reference file for you. To make sure it is updated , look at the main
Ad-aware screen,and look under "Initialization Status" and it should say "Reference File 0R 138 26.04.2003 loaded "

but please make sure that you Uninstall
all other Ver's of Ad-Aware before Installing
the new Ver

Good luck

 

Hi andsands. Good to hear you got things tuned up and working better. Lots of programs install things in the startup that you don't really need running in the background. After installing any software I usually look at the startup list in the System Configuration Utility, commonly known as "msconfig" and check for uneccessary stuff and then uncheck it. Even well known software such as HP printer installs etc. put uneeded programs in your startup. Most of these can be run from the desktop or start menu if you need them.

Good Luck, and BTW welcome to the boards.