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My computer is taking too long to boot up. With my very limited knowledge i gather that i may have a lot of programmes running on the start menu. when i tried to delete some programmes using the msconfig utility, i was faced with a list of programmes. How can you tell which ones i can safely remove without damaging the system?

Victor,

You can use SysInfo which lists all the items that can be found in the startup list and tells you whether you need them , can leave them or disable them.

http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php?filter=&letter=

Just scroll down to the search box and type each item in and see what it says about it.

The only things listed in my Startup list are:
Realtek Audio Control Panel (because I want it running)
Comodo Internet Security Suite
WinPatrol System Monitor.

Remember that a lot of things that you may have listed are only there because they 'put themselves there' when you installed something.
Most of the things listed will not be essential and will start by clicking the shortcut on the desktop or in the All Programs list when you do need them.

Just out of curiosity, time your computer booting up now, before you do anything. Then time it again when you have done some housekeeping.


dave

thanks Dave.m
I tried the link you supplied and cleared a lot of things on my start up list. It works and i can see a marked improvement in start up and it seems to be also closing down quicker

You can remove safely your program. You should follow this.
Go to Control Panel > Select Add/Remove Programs.
Now select program which you want to remove.
Click on remove button.
With that you can easily remove and no effect on other program.


Please ignore this irrelevant post mod 1

smithdwsn wrote:You can remove safely your program. You should follow this.
Go to Control Panel > Select Add/Remove Programs.
Now select program which you want to remove.
Click on remove button.
With that you can easily remove and no effect on other program.

Wtf are you on about? The OP wanted to remove items from his startup list, NOT uninstall programs.

Hi

You maybe are happy now with the speed you have with the work you've done already, if that's so, great stuff.

However if you're still finding it all a bit slow or would like a deep-clean feeling, I would highly recommend you doing a bit more housework.

EasyCleaner [by Toni Arts] has to be my favourite cleaning utility as it is so easy to use and what it cleans up is safe and reliable.This is the Dyson of clean-up software. Oh, and it is 100% free to use.

Follow this link to get it safely:
http://download.cnet.com/ToniArts-EasyC ... 29179.html
Then download and install "EasyCleaner" from that page.

Install and run it.

Your first port of call should be 'Registry', the top left button.
Your registry quickly gets really mucky and if you don't keep it neat it will stuff your whole system.
Click 'find';
It will take a little while, no doubt.
Once it has found all the useless entries it will list them for you.
Unlike other software that does this service you don't need to fret which you should keep and which you can rid, just use the 'delete all' button and watch the junk fly off your system.
Once done hit the red, close button to go back to the main window.

Next you may want to look for 'unnecessary' files; so click top right button.
Lots of temp files accrue when you go on-line, create documents etc. and they build up and clog your hard-drive and that can slow things down. If your cautious and not hugely PC savvy, limit the search to things you know are safe, especially those '.tmp' files, they can all go with no fear. To be honest I let it find everything and and I delete them all but I'm quite used to doing this and have found no problems with it.

Unless you really want them or heavily rely on the 'Internet History' I would always advise getting shot of the cookies you have and the temporary internet files wasting space. Use the three buttons associated with these: 'clear files', 'clear cookies' and 'clear History'. These don't take you to a new window, they just delete the files when you push the button. So you know, you may find that you have to enter log-in details for sites you regularly visit and Tesco's may not recognise you at first, or you won't auto-login to Hotmail, for example. On the up-side anyone watching your internet use by way of a dodgy cookie will be thwarted, amongst the other security benefits of not collecting cookies from sites. BUT if that bothers you don't clear these things out.

Lastly, have a look on the 'start-up' section and see what's still running at boot-up. You can stop any you don't want from this window. [So you know if you use iTunes, you may rid the associated apps that run to so called 'help' it but they will return very soon by themselves. Not much you can do about these permanently. In short it's collateral damage in the Mac/Windows war and you're in the cross-fire].

Easy-cleaner is way better, easier and safer than any other method I've found thus far, especially Windows own 'Msconfig' utility [in my opinion, of course ].

Once you've liberated yourself of all the junk, re-start and enjoy a smoother ride.

Redo all the above about every 2-3 months, depending on how much the pc gets used- more frequent if you use it daily or do a lot of browsing on-line.

Good luck...