Startup starts EVERYTHING

by Bill McKenzie May 24, 2009 3:03PM PDT

My computer running XP opens every item on startup. I've been through run>msconfig>startup and disabled all but three things, clicked 'apply' and then re-started. But when I check, it hasn't had any effect and they're all still there. I've tried disabling everything, then re-starting and ticking those I wanted and but to no avail. Help please!!!!!!

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You'd be better served disabling the XP services...

by Paul C May 24, 2009 8:40PM PDT

...you don't want or need. you do this by clicking Styart/Run and entering "services.msc" (no quotes) in the box and pressing Enter.

You'll then see a list of services. Some you can safely disable and others you cannot. How to know? Go to http://www.blackviper.com/Articles/OS/OSguides.htm to find out what you can do for your situation. NOTE: All this assumes that you've updated your XP installation to the latest configuration; if you've not done that, then I suggest you visit Windows Update and make sure your OS is fully updated before even thinking about messing with any services.

Hope this helps,

Paul

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Thanks Paul

by Bill McKenzie May 25, 2009 12:56PM PDT

I did all that and find, after re-booting, that the startup tab in msconfig still shows everything ticked. Should this be so?
Bill

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That should work....there's another tool called

by VAPCMD May 25, 2009 2:14PM PDT

"Startup Control Panel" by Mike Lin.

http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml

Very easy, very handy.

VAPCMD

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Yes, it should be so.

by Paul C May 28, 2009 10:04PM PDT

When you disable a service using the method I posted about, it does NOT change the check mark in MSCONFIG, but rather stops the service from ever loading unless you run services.msc again and reenable that service.

Just don't worry about what MSCONFIG reports.

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Helpful link

by jeff_windows_team May 27, 2009 2:57AM PDT

You may be able to pull something from this CNet article too: http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6121_102-0.html?threadID=22053&start=15&tag=forums06;posts

Jeff
Windows Outreach Team

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Autoruns. exe

by Zouch May 29, 2009 1:41PM PDT

You might like to try Autoruns.exe, originally from Sysinternals until Microsoft bought them and now from Microsoft themselves. Very easy to use and more comprehensive than some tools. You don't need to install it, just run it.

You also migth want to try going to admin tools services and setting the services you don't want to Manual startup and then stop them. Your system should then restart with the services available but not running.

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startup...

by ikswortso May 29, 2009 2:05PM PDT

Something no one has asked.....
What is in your startup menu?....click start>>all programs..startup

Is anything listed there?..if so..just delete them.
The other thing you might want to check is...see if there is a 'preferences' on the programs you are talking about. A lot of programs will have a box to 'run when windows starts'..
Uncheck that.

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That's true as far as it goes, ikswortso.

by Paul C May 30, 2009 9:06AM PDT

However, Start/All Programs/Startup only shows those programs not in Windows that start upon boot. It does not show those services within Windows that start upon boot. The only reliable way to stop those services is to disable them by running services.msc as I suggested.

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Thanks Paul and others..

by Bill McKenzie Jun 4, 2009 8:19AM PDT

I've done services.msc as suggested. How do I find out what programs are now running at startup?
Bill

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The easiest way...

by Paul C Jun 6, 2009 6:50PM PDT

is to give your machine the three-fingered salute (CTRL-ALT-DELETE)immediately after you start it. That will start the Windows XP Task Manager. Then click on the various tabs to see what's running. If any of the entries are hard to figure out (as is likely), just enter them into your favorite search engine for an explanation.

Paul

Startup starts EVERYTHING

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