How to Disable Startup Programs in Windows-gctid45941

[Ajamu]

How to Disable Startup Programs in Windows - How-To Geek



The more software you install on your computer, the longer it may  seem to take to start up Windows. Many programs add themselves to the  list of programs started when you boot your computer, and that list can  get long.
 Editor's Note: Obviously our more geeky readers already know  how to do this, but this article is meant for everybody else. Feel free  to share it with your non-techie friends!

 Disabling Startup Programs in Windows

 For some programs, it's smart to have them start with Windows, such  as anti-virus and firewall software. However, for most programs,  starting them at boot-up just wastes resources and extends startup time.  There is a tool installed with Windows, called MSConfig, that allows  you to quickly and easily see what's running at startup and disable the  programs you prefer to run on our own after startup as needed. This tool  is available and can be used to disable startup programs in Windows 7,  Vista, and XP.

NOTE: MSConfig can be used to configure several things other than  just startup programs, so be careful what you do with it. If you're not  sure about using it, just follow the steps in this article and you  should be fine.

To run MSConfig, open the Start menu and type "msconfig.exe" (without  the quotes) in the Search box. As you type, results display. When you  see "msconfig.exe," click on it or press Enter, if it is highlighted.

NOTE: If you are using Windows XP, open the Run dialog box from the  Start menu, type "msconfig.exe" in the Open edit box, and click OK.



Click the Startup tab on the System Configuration main window. A list  of all the startup programs displays with a check box next to each one.  To prevent a program from starting up with Windows, select the check  box next to the desired program so there is NO check mark in the box.  Click OK once you have made your choices.



A dialog box displays telling you that you may need to restart your  computer for the changes to take affect. Click Restart to restart your  computer immediately. If are not ready to restart your computer, click  Exit without restart.



The free PC-cleaning utility CCleaner  also has a tool that allows you to disable startup programs. In  CCleaner, click the Tools button on the left side of the dialog box and  click Startup to see the list of startup programs. The Enabled column  indicates whether each program is set to start with Windows. To disable a  program that is enabled, select the program in the list and click  Disable. You can also enable programs that have been disabled.

NOTE: CCleaner does not seem to prompt you to restart your computer, so be sure to do so yourself.



There is a version of CCleaner that costs $24.95 and comes with priority technical support. However, there is a free version available on their builds page as an installable version and a portable version.

Note that some applications need to be configured to stop launching  themselves when the computer boots, or they will just add themselves to  the list of startup programs again. In this case, there is usually a  setting in a program's options to prevent it from starting with Windows.

We have also written about a tool called Soluto, which allows you to pause or delay startup programs to speed up the boot process.