Monday, June 11, 2007

Using Msconfig to shut off Auto-Start programs

So you want to speed up your booting process, well here's a tip for you to shut off those programs that start in your system tray when you first turn on your computer. There are a few reasons why you would want to do this:
  • Speed up your boot time
  • The system tray programs won't be running in the background taking up your processor speed
  • Don't you just hate it when a program does that without your permission, grrrr, I mean, really!

Here's the quickest and easiest way to shut off those annoying programs. Here are the steps:

  • Click Start
  • Go to Run
  • Type in the box msconfig. It will open this Window.
  • Click on the Startup tab at the top, this will show a listing of programs that auto start when your computer is first booted. If you uncheck the box the program will no longer auto start and sit in your system tray when you boot. You'll need to reboot before this takes effect.

There are some programs that you definitely want to launch when you launch your computer, like your Antivirus software, you're firewall, and things like that. Programs like MSN, Realplayer, and things like that, I would uncheck, unless you really like those programs.

Another way to do this would be to go to the program that is in your system tray and you can find the settings to remove them from the auto start, most programs have this listed in the properties section, just another way you can do this. Right click and go to properties, sometimes these setting are buried in the program, so the way above is just a quicker way of doing it.

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