how can i find and edit which programs start automatically on starting up my computer?

Question

do i have to go through each program individually or is there a list in xp somewhere?

Answer 1

go to
start
run
type in , msconfig
go to startup,
select your options
and yer done !!

Answer 2

Your "Start-up" folder may be a good place to start. But be aware it may not show everything that loads on startup... but it does show applications... some of which get put in your StartUp folder when you install programs.

Here's an easy way to find your "StartUp" folder:

Right-click the "Start" button and select "Explore" (that puts you into the Windows Explorer "Start Menu" folder)

Click on the "+" sign in front of "Programs" (This displays all the programs you see when you click on "All Programs", except the programs are listed alphabetically)

Scroll down till you find the "StartUp" folder and click on it.

The "StartUp folder contains shortcuts to the application programs that load when you start Windows.

Now you may right click on the programs you do not want to load and click on "Delete" to remove them from your "StartUp" folder. Now they will not start when Windows does.

Note that deleting the program this way does not actually remove the program from your computer -- instead you are just deleting the shortcut icon to the program -- anytime you see a little white box with an arrow in the lower left corner of the icon it is a shortcut to the program and shortcuts can always be deleted without affecting the program itself.

If this is not what you are looking for you should probably use the "msconfig" recommendation already made by a prior poster because it includes more than just application programs.

All the best to you.

Answer 3

the manual way, and often more accurate way is to do this.

1. Goto the 'Start Menu' and click 'Run'
2. Type 'regedit' and press 'Ok'
3. An 'explorer' like program will open, look for the following path:

\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\...
...Microsoft\Windows\...
...CurrentVersion\Run\

4. Voila you have a list of everything that runs on startup.
5. Just as an extra, if you go here:

\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\...
...Microsoft\Windows\...
...CurrentVersion\Policies\System

putting a 'REG_DWORD' in here called 'DisableTaskMgr' and setting the value to '1' will remove CTRL+ALT+DEL if you wanna muck about.

Answer 4

I think programs that start up automatically often add a key to your registry which you may need to edit. This is why you might delete the program from your start up menu, and it pop back up again. Be careful editing your registry, though. You can really screw up your computer.

Answer 5

fire up the Run command box from the start menu and type: "msconfig"..
it should open the system configuration utility, the last tab on the right is called "start up", there you'll see a list of each and every program that is set in the registry to start when windows starts.. you can uncheck anyone to disable it, recheck it to enable it back...

Answer 6

there is program called Tune Up 2006 it can help you by accessing the hard to find controls in windows. you can download it from the net and use it for 30 days free.

Answer 7

go to

Start Menu --> Run --> Type "msconfig"

Go to the startup tab and all the programs that start up when windows open are there... you can pick which ones to get rid of and so on.

Answer 8

Search "Start Up" Theres a file

Answer 9

http://www.winpatrol.com/
use that, u can disable any startup program, and it asks u b4 adding any other program to startup. tis very good

Answer 10

in the run box type msconfig then click startup. it shows you what items run on your pc when you start it up.