When you boot your Windows XP computer, the operating system looks to see if there are programs marked to load on startup. The computer may have come to you with programs configured in this way, and if you install other programs yourself, even more programs may set themselves to load automatically. Each loading operation takes time, and with a sufficient load of startup tasks, your computer will take longer to get going.
Difficulty: Moderately ChallengingInstructions1Modify the Startup folder by locating it in the Start menu, right-clicking on it and choosing "Explore." Remove any programs you like from this folder by right-clicking on it and choosing "Delete." You can't harm the system by deleting anything in this folder -- the icons are only shortcuts.
2Check the System Configuration options by clicking "Start," then "Run," then typing "msconfig" in the resulting dialog box and clicking "OK." In the System Configuration editor's Startup tab, examine the list of programs. If you see one that you would like to prevent from loading on startup, click on its check mark on the extreme left to disable it.
3Close any open programs and restart the computer. If you find that one or more programs have reappeared in the Startup folder, open the program and check its options or preferences to see if it is set to run on startup. If so, disable the startup from the program. Restart and check again.
4Remove and reinstall the program as a last resort. Use the Control Panel's "Add or Remove Programs" routine to locate and uninstall the offending program. Reboot, then reinstall the program. Try this step only if you have the installation file or disc to reinstall the program.
Tips & WarningsIf you have run through the remedies suggested here without luck, the system registry may contain the answer. In this case, the System Configuration editor (msconfig) may show registry keys in the "Location" columns of the offending programs. If you suspect registry problems, consider help from Windows experts rather than trying to edit the registry yourself.Editing the registry can result in problems with Windows. Before making any changes to the registry, be sure to back up the registry by clicking "File," then "Export" and saving a backup. References O'Reilly: How to Remove Startup Programs CNET: Insider Secrets: Microsoft: Where are the Startup files? Microsoft How to Manually Remove Programs from the Add/Remove Programs List ResourcesCNET: Insider Secrets:Microsoft: Where are the Startup files?O'Reilly: How to Remove Startup ProgramsMicrosoft How to Manually Remove Programs from the Add/Remove Programs List