How Do I Edit Startup Programs in Windows XP

[Mich 0]

Here is one for the puter geeks. I am presently using Windows XP. I have programs that are loading on "startup" that I want not to load on startup. I have found them listed in the System Information, Software Environment under Startup Programs. When I was using Windows 98 I could edit them at this location. Now I am lost as to where I can go to edit these programs. Can somebody tell me where to edit the startup programs? My Start Menu, Startup folder is currently empty. Where are these little devils located then? Edited October 4, 2010 by Mich (see edit history)

[Maggot 1]

Go to run type msconfig and hit enter....Go to startup and u can tick all that you want to load up during startup and untick the rest....

[BuffaloHelp 24]

Nice and simple, Maggot. +1 for that one.

[Quatrux 4]

To put programs in Startup, usually it's enough to put a shortcut in the Startup directory, which you can find in the START menu, which is usaully in your user folder in documents and settings.. You also can remove them from there..As it's been said, you can use msconfig and control the startup programs with checkboxes, but sometimes it gess messy, as when you uncheck it, it may appear again and you'll have two the same values..I personally use CCleaner to control the Startup, it has a feature in Tools, to control Startup.. It works both on Win7 and XP quite good, you can get it here: http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

 

[bluedragon 0]

Here is one for the puter geeks. I am presently using Windows XP. I have programs that are loading on "startup" that I want not to load on startup. I have found them listed in the System Information, Software Environment under Startup Programs. When I was using Windows 98 I could edit them at this location. Now I am lost as to where I can go to edit these programs. Can somebody tell me where to edit the startup programs? My Start Menu, Startup folder is currently empty. Where are these little devils located then?

 

 

Type 'gpedit.msc' at run and look under that - This is when you are managing programs from a group policy

 

Otherwise, Just type 'msconfig' at run and look under that.

 

Hopefully one of these would help you

[web_designer 7]

Go to run type msconfig and hit enter....
Go to startup and u can tick all that you want to load up during startup and untick the rest....

good answer maggot, and i will add, from the command tab notice the path of programs. i always prefer not to uncheck anything with the path of (c:\windows\system...). to avoid anything that may affect the operating system. except "ctfmon" because this file is related to microsoft office so if you unchecked it, it will be fine. also make sure not unchecking the folowing: stsystra, because it is for the audio device, and the one for bluetouth and your antivirus. good luck.

[mahesh2k 0]

You can use MLIN control panel to edit the items from the startup panel. It works with all the versions of the windows. You can even modify or delete the items from the startup list. Other than that you can even find the startup editor in CCLeaner. You can download both these by googleing : - Mlin control panel- CCleaner. Mlin control panel is more useful and shows more information which you want. Startup edit on CCleaner has limited functions and you may not get anything else than startup edit and you can't do much in ccleaner. But it's still useful if you want to edit startup entries.

[magnafrost 0]

I'm not able to recollect exactly right now but I am getting the feeling that msconfig is not fully transparent. That is, it does not provide us the complete list of Programs that'll be running at startup. Does anyone have any program running at startup that's not listed in msconfig ? Maybe it could be listed in the registry and not here ?

[web_designer 7]

I'm not able to recollect exactly right now but I am getting the feeling that msconfig is not fully transparent. That is, it does not provide us the complete list of Programs that'll be running at startup. Does anyone have any program running at startup that's not listed in msconfig ? Maybe it could be listed in the registry and not here ?

i don't think so, for me. i always find exactly the same programs that are running when the windows starts in the startup list in msconfig window. and i think there are some programs are found in the registry too. because sometimes when i remove a program, and i couldn't till i remove it from the startup list and the registry.

[Maggot 1]

I'm not able to recollect exactly right now but I am getting the feeling that msconfig is not fully transparent. That is, it does not provide us the complete list of Programs that'll be running at startup. Does anyone have any program running at startup that's not listed in msconfig ? Maybe it could be listed in the registry and not here ?

Msconfig has all the information of every startup item....

If you are referring to stray programs like spyware, adware or a virus..... These are even undetectable by some antivirus programs.....

Thanks guys.... And one more thing if you do run msconfig please do not play around with the Microsoft programs..... Disabling wrong programs could disable audio, video and others like cd burning......

[Mich 0]

THANX Maggot and all others. Duh, how simple. Went there, did that, problem solved. Hurray! Guess we can close this topic.

[inea 0]

An option is to click on the buttons called control, alt and delete at the same time. The windows that opens has a tab with the list of the programs that start when Windows start.

[Strikee 1]

There are several easy ways to edit your Windows Start Up. The most user-friendly and that any one can do is to use a third party software. I prefer Tune Up Utilities (it's shareware - 30 days try out). Not only for Windows Start up but it has many features for the maintainance of your PC like reg clean up , clean unecesary files , defragmentation ,s candisk , scheduled maintainance , etc.You should try it , it's very usefull.

[inea 0]

There are several easy ways to edit your Windows Start Up. The most user-friendly and that any one can do is to use a third party software. I prefer Tune Up Utilities (it's shareware - 30 days try out). Not only for Windows Start up but it has many features for the maintainance of your PC like reg clean up , clean unecesary files , defragmentation ,s candisk , scheduled maintainance , etc.
You should try it , it's very usefull.

What happens after the 30 days trial. Suppose that you want to change some changes back to how they were before you started to change the start up function.

[Saint_Michael 3]

I have a far better and quicker solution then the MSconfig option, download and installl Soluto, restart your computer and let the program run. Once it tells you how long it takes for your computer to boot up, open up the program and it will lists all the processes that are run during boot. I would go through the list carefully but it should be fairly easy to see which processes you will pause and which ones to delay. Best way to use this is see what is being recommend for each program and by the time your done going through the process you should see a faster boot.