Speed Up Computer XP – A Guide to Disabling Programs at Startup

Some Common Messages

When you use Google to search for the different Startup items, here are some things to observe:

Many of the items use upper and lower case in the names. I recommend typing in the search item exactly as written, because the search may be case sensitive. This could lead to incorrect or misleading results.
As you search, you’ll notice some common messages, which include information such as:
A description of the file
Concepts (which tends to list keywords associated with the startup item)
A summary (which gives you information about the startup item, what it does and whether or not it can be disabled without adversely affecting computer performance).
You might need to look at several sites to get a better idea of what a startup item does. Sometimes one item can appear to be innocuous while on another site the same name could be the name of a computer virus. Careful reading of the documentation is necessary. In the end, though, what to turn off is up to your discretion. If you have any doubts about your ability to do this safely, consult a qualified professional.

When you’re satisfied with the changes in the Startup menu, click on Apply at the bottom of the dialog box, then click on Close. You’ll then be presented with the following dialog box. Click on Restart to apply the changes.

When the computer restarts, you’ll see the following, which tells you that you’ve used the System Configuration Utility to make changes to the way that Windows starts. To accept these changes, enable the checkmark beside the statement, “Don’t show this message or launch the System Configuration Utility when Windows starts” and click on OK. Your new settings have been applied and your computer will run faster.

From time to time, as you accumulate more programs (and potentially more programs that run on startup), you’ll need to run this utility again to speed up your computer.

This article is an excerpt from my book, as listed below.