If you have used Windows for more than a few days you have probably noticed that as you install more software your computer begins to get slower, especially when you first log into Windows.

On most computers this is because you have lots of programs trying to start up every time you login. Here’s how to eliminate unnecessary programs from your startup.

Step 1:
Identify which programs are running on startup. There are couple ways to do this. Before you begin, you should restart your computer to make sure you haven’t already closed some programs that would normally run on startup.

Many of the programs will have icons located in the taskbar (beside the clock) that shows they are running. Simply hover your mouse over the icon to see what it is.

You could also open the task manager by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del. This will show you a list of all the current processes that are running. If you look at the very bottom of the task manager window it should show the number of current processes. If you have over 40 processes after you login, you probably have too many programs running on startup.

You may not be able to identify what all of the processes are but some of them will be very obvious (Ex: iTunes.exe, AIM.exe, etc)

Step 2:
Once you have identified which programs are running on startup, decide which ones you don’t need to start every time you login to Windows. If you decide a program is not needed on startup that does not mean that it will be uninstalled or unusable.

It will help to make a list of the programs that are currently running and the programs that you wish to have running on startup.

Step 3:
There are a couple ways to keep programs from running on startup.

The first is by opening each program that currently runs on startup, and changing its preferences so that it no longer runs when you login to Windows. This is typically the best solution but will require different instructions for each software.

The second way is to use MSCONFIG. This system utility will allow you to disable certain programs from your startup.

To open MSCONFIG, first click on the start menu and then Run. Type in ‘msconfig’ and press enter. Once the MSCONFIG window appears, click the Startup tab on the top.

Here you will probably notice there are tons and tons of programs listed with check boxes by each of them. To disable a program from running on startup, simply un-check the check box. If you don’t recognize what the program is by the name, try looking at the file path.

Computers from manufacturers such as Dell and HP are likely to have several programs installed by these companies. Usually most of them can be disabled.

TIP: Be careful to not disable programs that control your wireless connection, unless you use the Windows utility or a 3rd party program for this.

If you still aren’t sure what a certain program is and whether or not it is needed, check out this comprehensive list of startup applications. On this site, programs with an “N” or an “X” can safely be disabled. Programs with a “Y” should be left alone and those with a “U” are left up to the user to decide.

TIP: Disable only a few programs at a time and then restart. This way if you realize you disabled a program that you need, it will be easy to identity. Also, if you need to enable a program you can do this by simply checking the box next to the program name.

Some startup programs might actually be due to viruses or spy-ware. If you are having trouble disabling a certain application, try scanning for viruses and spy-ware. It could take you several restarts to finally disable all of the unnecessary programs.

Step 4:
Once you have disabled all the unnecessary programs from running on startup, check the task manager again to see how many processes are running when you login. This number should be lower than when you started. Again, anything less than 40 is ideal. The less processes the better.You can see the number at the bottom left corner of the task manager.

One of my biggest pet peeves about Vista is that it asks you for permission to do just about everything.  I don’t really need to be notified that I’m about to execute a file and ask if it’s OK to continue.  Of course it’s OK to continue, I’m the one that told it to in the first place!!!

I understand that this is a security issue if you don’t have permission to run certain things, however, does it have to be so annoying?  Why couldn’t there be a ‘if  you don’t want to be notified again, click here’ option that only admins can access???

Anyway, if you are just as annoyed by the ‘User Account Control’ (thats what causes all the security confirmations) as I am, you are in luck, here’s how to disable it.

Method 1:

Click on the ‘Vista’ icon in the bottom left corner of the screen.  When the start menu pops up, click Control Panel.

Once the control panel opens, click the User Accounts button.

When the User Accounts window appears, click on User Accounts (yes again!, thanks Vista).

Now that you are finally in the User Accounts menu, click Turn User Account Control on or off located at the bottom of the page.

At this point you will be prompted with a confirmation dialog (imagine that!). Make sure to uncheck the check box to turn off the User Account Control.  Then, click OK

You will need to restart for the changes to take effect.

Method 2:

Start by clicking on the ‘Vista’ icon in the lower left corner.  Now, search for ‘msconfig’ and then click on the program at the top of the start menu.

Once the System Configuration window is open, click the Tools tab and then scroll down until you see ‘Disable UAC‘.  Make sure to click on this line as shown in the picture.  Then, click Launch to execute the command.

Once the command is finished you will see a command prompt pop up and tell you the operation was completed successfully. At this point you can close the command prompt and then click OK to close the System Configuration window.

You will need to restart for the changes to take effect.