Removing programs from startup

[TXHookem]

When I boot up XP, the system loads up a whole bunch of crap I don't need. I can't find where I can go through and remove programs from starting up when I turn the system on. I checked the Microsoft knowledge base and help on Windows. Didn't find anything.

Any ideas?

 

[John Galt]

Go to Run and type in "msconfig". Click on the Start Up tab and uncheck anything you don't want to load. That should do it.

Boomer Sooner!

 

[TXHookem]

Thanks! Now... what the heck is so much of this crap? Does it need to load up all that garbage?

 

[ths71]

This is a nice little freeware program
Windows Start Up Inspector

 

[shorty]

No, it doesn't. In fact I could not get my printer to work a few years ago. I even uninstalled and reinstalled it. I called MS, removed a ton of stuff from the startup, and the printer worked just fine after that.

 

[TXHookem]

I've removed a lot of things from starting up. I think there are others I can safely uncheck but I want to make sure I know what I'm doing before I do. There's just too much crap loaded and I think it slows down the system.

 

[Agent007]

Be very careful - I do it all the time and have never had any problems, but a friend of mine unchecked a box a shouldn't have, and XP wouldn't boot anymore- at that point he decided it was the right time to switch to Linux.

 

[wherzwaldo]

Here's a good overview of all the services and whether you'd need/want them or not:
The Link