Speed up your computer by optimizing your startup configuration

Speed up your computer by removing programs from the startup configuration

One complaint that I seem to hear more often than any other is, "My computer has become very slow!"  During installation, many programs will add themselves to a list in your startupconfiguration so they can start as your computer is booting.  Over time, an accumulation of programs in the startup configuration can cause your boot times to increase and your system to slow down.
Fortunately, Windows provides  control over which programs start through a utility called "Microsoft Configuration Utility."  To access this utility in WindowsXP, first click on the start button and then run.  In the box labledas "Open:" type "msconfig" and click OK.  If you are using WindowsXP it should look like the box below.  Vista users only need to click start and type msconfig.

Once in the System Configuration Utility click on the Startup tab.

Each startup item is a program that starts when Windows loads.  To prevent a program from loading automatically simply uncheckthe check box next to the program.  It may be hard to distinguish what a program is because of the somewhat cryptic names.  The easiest way I have found to determine what an unrecognized program does is to do a Google search.  It may also help to expand the Command section to see program location. After you have deselected the programs you don't want to load, click OK.  Windows will then ask you to restart your computer in order to apply the changes we made.

If you are in the middle of something you can select "Exit Without Restart" and manually restart your computer later.  When you restart your computer a box will popup notifying you that you made changes to the startup configuration.  Click the check box and hit OK.
That's it!  Next time you hear someone say "My computer is running really slow," you'll exactly what to do.
A word of caution:  Use discretion when disabling programs as some may be ones that you use frequently or expect to load automatically such as Live Messenger.  If you find that a program isn't automatically loaded after you boot your computer that you would like to be, check the startup configuration, you might have disabled it.