Speed Up Windows - part 1.
(Disabling unnecessary applications)

I will give some suggestions that you can do in Windows that should help to speed up your computer and improve overall performance. These suggestions are for use in Windows XP, but should probably work the same way in most other versions of Windows as well. I will give more related suggestions in future posts as well.

Disable unnecessary applications from running when you start-up Windows.

When you turn on your computer, Windows loads in various programs in the background automatically so they will be already running by the time your main desktop finally loads in completely. However, the more programs that Windows loads in, the more it can slow-down the overall loading in and starting up process, the more memory and resources will be used which tends to bog things down and can cause an overall reduction in speed and performance.

Some programs when you install them, they will often try to place themselves on the Startup list of programs that Windows will load in automatically when you turn on your computer. Some programs we WANT to have automatically starting up, such as Anti-Virus, graphics-drivers, Firewall, etc... But some programs we don't want or are unnecessary to have starting up every time we turn on our computer.

So what we want to do is to disable the unnecessary programs from starting up. Some of these programs when you run them, hopefully they will have some option or configuration settings that will give you a choice of if you want that particular program starting up every time Windows loads in.

For example; if you had an instant chat messenger program such as Yahoo Messenger, you could navigate through the menus, I think it's "Messenger" then "Preferences" then on the "General" settings area, you'll see a line that reads like "When I start up my computer - Automatically start Yahoo messenger". So if you really want the Yahoo Messenger program starting up each time, then sure, leave it checked. But if you don't need it starting automatically every time you turn on your computer, you could simply un-check this option.
If you leave that option un-checked, then Yahoo Messenger would no longer automatically run each time you turn on your computer, but you can still run the Yahoo Messenger program at anytime you wanted by simply choosing to run it yourself when you want to use it.

However, and unfortunately, there are some programs that we install that does not appear to have a built-in option to prevent it from automatically loading each time we turn on our computer. And perhaps this is a program or application that really is unnecessary to have starting up each time. So in this case, how do we prevent such programs from starting up when it doesn't appear to give us that option? One simple way is through the System Configuration Utility. An easy way to access this would be to click on "Start" in your task-bar, then select the "Run" command. In the line, type in then enter the following command: msconfig

The System Configuration Utility box should now appear. There are several tabs along the top, but the tab we want to click on is the "Startup" tab.
See the picture below of what this might looks like (picture taken from my own computer):


Looking at the items on the Startup list, the ones that have a check-mark in the box next to it will have that program load in automatically each time. The programs that you want starting up each time, just leave the check-mark in the box. But as you scroll through the list and look at the various items on the list, if you see programs that you don't need or want starting up each time, then simply un-check the box next to that item.

There may be some items on the list that you don't recognize though. You could un-check it, but then it might be an important application that is required for something to work properly. In this case you could simply re-check that item again later if you find that something has appeared to stopped functioning properly.

A good site I found that you can use to look up many common and known programs or files that might be on a start-up list is over at the Task List Programs page at the AnswersThatWork.com site. You can find that particular page at the following link:
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

So, for example; I see on my start-up items list an item I don't recognize, I see the file or application name is "smc.exe". I can then go to the AnswersThatWork page that I mentioned above, click on the letter "S", then scroll down and look for "smc.exe" on their list to see if they have any information and recommendations about that particular file. On their page for the "smc.exe" listing, I see they have some information and a recommendation that reads:
" This is the Sygate Personal Firewall program which runs either as a Task under Win9x/ME, or as a service in WinNT4/2000/XP.
Recommendation :
Essential – if this task is terminated the firewall is not running."

Aha! So now I know this is my Sygate Firewall program and it would be important to have it starting. But some other items on my list may be unnecessary to have starting up and I found the AnswersThatWork.com site a good source of information in finding out what some particular files and programs are that may be on the start-up list or might be running as a task in the background when Windows is running.

When you are finished un-checking all of the unnecessary items on your startup list, you should re-boot your computer for the new changes to take effect. When the Windows loads back in and the desktop returns you, will be presented with a window that reads something like "You have chosen Selective Startup." Just Check the little box next to the "Do not show this window again" option and click OK.

Okay, that's it for now. Following these suggestions you will probably notice a faster boot-up time and bit of an overall improved speed and performance from your computer.

Direct2Drive