Start up softwares

[vaibhav24in]

some softwares starts themself as soon as windows logs on. like google talk and msn messenger.. how can i stop it?

[BLiZZaRD]

download and install CCleaner Once installed go to the "Tools" tab, then select "startup" tab then find the offenders and click their name then click the remove button.

Note** If you are uncertain of the program, or do not know what you are doing, do NOT do this, as you can prevent certain essential programs from starting up and thus, making it unable to log in or use your computer.

[vaibhav24in]

download and install CCleaner Once installed go to the "Tools" tab, then select "startup" tab then find the offenders and click their name then click the remove button.

Note** If you are uncertain of the program, or do not know what you are doing, do NOT do this, as you can prevent certain essential programs from starting up and thus, making it unable to log in or use your computer.

Thanks a lot but can't I do it without downloading any software

[jscheuer1]

Generally, these 'start up' programs display somewhere. Usually it is in the system tray. In the default configuration for most Windows OS's, that's in the lower right of the taskbar as small icons. If not all of the 'start up' programs are displaying there as small icons, right click on an empty portion of the taskbar - choose 'properties', deselect (uncheck) 'Hide inactive icons'.

Now you should have all, or at least most of your 'up start' (pun intended) programs showing in the taskbar. By either right clicking, single or double left clicking on each of these in turn, you will be able to find (for most if not all of each of them) a configuration menu or a context menu that will (if properly followed) lead you to a configuration menu for that particular program, where an option will be available to disable its start up activation.

Got all of that?

But be careful, don't get rid of anything you really want/need.

[Twey]

your 'up start' programs

*groan*

These programs may also generally be found in the Startup folder in your Start menu, or in the registry under HK(LM|CU)\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.

[thetestingsite]

Or you can go to the Start -> Run -> msconfig and click on the "Startup" tab and select which programs will and will not run at startup.

Hope this helps.

[BLiZZaRD]

*groan*

These programs may also generally be found in the Startup folder in your Start menu, or in the registry under HK(LM|CU)\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.

After SP2 on XP these were not always the case. the "All Users" or "Default" users have a blank start up folder, and even removing items from those folders doesn't stop the auto run of said program any more.

[Twey]

After SP2 on XP these were not always the case. the "All Users" or "Default" users have a blank start up folder, and even removing items from those folders doesn't stop the auto run of said program any more.

In which case it's probably in the registry as I said above.

[jscheuer1]

There are various ways. The system tray (as I mentioned) is generally the most accessible for the novice. Personally, if I were of a bent to fully optimize a system's startup stuff, I think I would basically follow BLiZZaRD's initial advice of getting a 'power user' type app to access it all from one screen. I would want one that creates a backup though, in case I made a boo boo. Not being familiar with the app BLiZZaRD recommended, I don't know if it has this feature. I have used ones that do, they are a snap!

These days, my strategy is to just get rid of the most offensive ones via the system tray, living and learning with the others (I have a Toshiba, and it has some interesting, if questionable startup utils - some of which, after over a year, I am just beginning to appreciate).

[djr33]

I like Spybot S&D. It has a nice startup utility which lists everything except the harder-to-find viruses/spyware.
It has checkboxes that enable entries, so you can disable them and test how it works without trouble; you can also delete an entry entirely once tested (or before if you're feeling lucky) and add any file/program on your system as an additional startup item.
Spybot also has an option to boot before the majority of windows does, so you can repair things without interference from these auto-startup apps. This is especially helpful in killing regenerating spyware.

Note: it's free, and easy to find at download.com; it also comes in a number of languages, though I think most are western languages.