Improve XP start time

  • Section(s): Booting
  • Published on Nov 17, 2005.
  • Last Modified on Nov 17, 2005.
  • Last Modified by Mitch Tulloch.
  • Rated 3.4 out of 5 based on 28 votes.
Speed XP startup by removing unneeded autostart programs.

If your company gets their desktop computers from a big vendor like Dell, you may find that you have a lot of unneeded autostart programs on your desktops. By removing unneeded autostart programs (programs that start automatically when Windows boots) you can improve the startup time for your desktop computers. Here are two ways to do this:

Run msconfig.exe, select the Startup tab, and clear the checkboxes beside those programs you no longer want to start automatically on startup.

Get the autoruns tool from Sysinternals, which does an even better job than msconfig of ferreting out those pesky autostart programs hidden away in various corners of the Registry.

About Mitch Tulloch

Mitch Tulloch was lead author for the Windows Vista Resource Kit from Microsoft Press, which is the book for IT pros who want to deploy, maintain and support Windows Vista in mid- and large-sized network environments. Mitch was also the author of Introducing Windows Server 2008 and technical project lead for the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Resource Kit, both books also from Microsoft Press. For more information on these and other books by Mitch, see www.mtit.com .

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