removing programs from XP's startup list
 

Anyone know how to remove a file/command from the list of calls XP executes on startup? Norton got installed on my box and starts on boot, but I can't find a way to prevent it from loading. The icon in the task bar doesn't have anything, it's not listed in Start | Programs | Startup. The Norton Group doesn't have anything, and I can't find any settings in Norton itself.

Anyone know where the list of calls XP runs through on boot is located? I gotta get this off my system.

XP starts programs at boot from a variety of locations. Go get this tool; http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/fr...autoruns.shtml and it will reveal all of them to you and allow you to kill them if you so desire.

Jackson, run msconfig.
Make a shortcut on your desktop with this command.
C:\WINDOWS\PCHEALTH\HELPCTR\Binaries\msconfig.exe

I use that to turn off stuff I do not need running.
Just look for the Start Up menu which is on the right tab when you fire up the program.

Drag the shortcut down by your Start button.
That is where I keep mine, always handy.

Some more shortcuts.
Drag these also to your task bar.
PC shut down:
%windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -s -t 0

PC reboot:
%windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -r -t 0

THAT'S just what I was looking for - thanks man.

removing programs from XP's startup list
 

If running sp2 you might want to run services.msc

There is a good website for figuring out which services you need, and do not need running.
http://www.blackviper.com/winxp/servicecfg.htm

Use the command that 1leg1der gave to access them.

This link is listed in this months CPU magazine in the XP Tweaking article.
He lets ys know which are safe to turn off.
Turning a lot of these off can free up some ponies under the hood.

I have done this in the past, and plan on sitting down tomorrow and doing some major tweaks with his page, and my BIOS.

To peek at the startup items click:
START>Run>Type in "msconfig">got tab Startup
Now uncheck stuff you dont want to startup and click Apply... Oh if you uncheck something here by accident just re-check it next boot up.
:bigok:

An easy tool that I use that most of you probably already have or should have installed is SpyBot. If you switch the program to advanced, go under tools and you can manually delete the startup entries to where they won't come back.

I like this a lot better than just unchecking the box using msconfig.

If I don't know what a program is by the weird name it gives, I'll just do a google search on it and 99% of the time it'll show up.

Actually that guy in the link I provided says not to use msconfig for Windows stuff running.
I only use it for programs I have installed that have entered a start up entry in the Registry, so I am using it right.

For Windows services, use Black Vipers info and use the services msc command.

Yeah I usually suggest the msconfig to the less computer literate folks so they can always put something back if they break something but I just usually go into the registry and wipe mine there as to never again to see it return :laugh:
I know I worked on some peoples machines and I find 10-30 items that don't need to be there that got left by some virus or spyware program.

Corey, thanks for the Black Viper hookup. I did all the suggested changes earlier tonight and it's running great now. I've never run a PC without a swap file...now with half a gig and not being a gamer, I removed it, along with all the other suggestions, and it's a HUGE difference in performance...thanks!

:rockon:

Greg, you took off your swap file?
I did not read that there on his site yet.

I did not get around to doing these mods yet on his site, although I did mess with my swap file today.

According to the new issue of CPU magazine I mentioned above, the swap file has two settings in it if setting it manualy instead of letting Windows handle it.
A low and high setting.

I have 512 MB of RAM, and they say to set your low side to tripple your RAM, do I didicated 1,500 MB of RAM to it.
They said to set the high side to tripple your last setting, so I set it to 4,500 MB, but a message popped up stating I could go no bigger than 4,029 MB, so I just set it to 4,000 MB.

Corey, yea, I removed it entirely. In my many years of experience in computers, professional and otherwise, I'd never heard of removing it completely. So I thought what the heck, I'll give it a shot. So far, it's been great. Like when we mod our cars/trucks, it's hard to say what 'really' made a difference when more than one change was made, but IMO, removing the paging file was probably the single biggest change that I made among all the 12 or so changes that were suggested by Black Viper. And it's running like a champ. I have a 2gig AMD with half a gig. Everything seems more crisp and fast. I had just upgraded to XP Pro from Win2K pro about 1 1/2 months ago. I was already starting to have the infamous creeping slowdown...now that I've made these changes, it seems to be back to what a fresh install of Windows is like. And given that I don't do THAT much intense stuff with my PC (just light image editing and other mundane tasks...and no games that 'require' a swap file), it's running far, far better.

I removed it more as an experiment, but at least at this point, I'm going to keep it without a page file. I've got plenty of disk space, but I know that trolling through a giant file on a hard drive is time-consuming. I'd rather flush that stuff and let it either find it in RAM or let it go back to the hard drive. Seems to be working great...you should try it if you don't have apps or games which require more RAM than you have or those that require a swap file.

Good stuff...

All the other changes were turning off BS services, such as themes, indexing and other stuff that just creates unneeded overhead. I did all the changes suggested by Black Viper...the difference now is striking. I'm pretty amazed, actually. :)

I read the info on his site about this, and he recommended having 2 GB of RAM if I were to do this.

Plus I am pretty heavy into some graphic intense games, so it is best to leave my page file intact.

Glad it is working OK for you though.