Author Topic: Trimming Down System Startups?  (Read 1599 times)

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Offline Fineus

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Trimming Down System Startups?
Hey all...

...recently took a look at my MSCONFIG and discovered a whole load of crap I really don't want to start up, for example:

Nerocheck.exe
Bluetooth Authentication Agent
Quicktime Task

However I don't actually want to uninstall the associated programs - I just don't want them running each time I start the computer. I rarely use Quicktime and Nero - and I haven't used any Bluetooth devices on this system for ages. So the applications are just taking up time and space.

Does anyone know a safe way of removing them? I recall all the techys on the net shouting the from the roofs that one should not just uncheck the appropriate box in MSCONFIG.

 

Offline Kosh

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Trimming Down System Startups?
Unless you want to hack the registry, the only other way to keep programs from starting up is to uncheck the appropriate box in MSCONFIG. It doesn't uninstall the program, it just keeps it from running at startup.



EDIT: And the techs should know that. If they don't know something as basic (from a techs point of view) as that they should be fired.
"The reason for this is that the original Fortran got so convoluted and extensive (10's of millions of lines of code) that no-one can actually figure out how it works, there's a massive project going on to decode the original Fortran and write a more modern system, but until then, the UK communication network is actually relying heavily on 35 year old Fortran that nobody understands." - Flipside

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Offline Bobboau

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Trimming Down System Startups?
the guys are probly saying that because it gets rid of the symptom (program running at start) without takeing care of the cause (program being installed)
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Offline Zarax

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Trimming Down System Startups?
Bobboau, with the exception of spyware i'd usually say people install stuff because they want or need it...
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Offline Bobboau

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Trimming Down System Startups?
yeah... and...?

does unchecking the box in MSCONFIG uninstall the program? remove the mess from the registry? eraise all the unneeded files?
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Offline Zarax

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Trimming Down System Startups?
Bob, the question was about how to remove them from the startup, not how to remove them for good...

Do you install all your software only for the timeframe when you need it?
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Offline Fineus

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Trimming Down System Startups?
Calm down guys :)

I must admit, I do want to keep programs like Nero and Quicktime around. I just don't want them to rear their heads at system startup.

That said, I don't want any bits of the registry or un-needed files hanging about if I can help it either...

 

Offline Inquisitor

Trimming Down System Startups?
I usually remove them directly from the registry-->

hkey local machine-->Software--> Microsoft--> windows--> Current Version--> Run and RunOnce (sometimes there are a couple run related keys, all right there).

but that's me :)
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Offline redsniper

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Trimming Down System Startups?
Isn't that... bad. :nervous:
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Trimming Down System Startups?
Unchecking a program in msconfig will keep that program from loading on startup. If you mess up, reboot in safe mode and fix it. Don't disable something if you don't know what it is/does. Don't say I didn't warn you. ^_^

 

Offline Zarax

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Trimming Down System Startups?
Usually you can safely disable everything on MSCONFIG as long as it's not Microsoft stuff.
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Offline Admiral LSD

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Trimming Down System Startups?
Quote
Originally posted by Bobboau
does unchecking the box in MSCONFIG uninstall the program? remove the mess from the registry? eraise all the unneeded files?


"uninstalling" the program doesn't do that either ;)
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Offline Sesquipedalian

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Trimming Down System Startups?
I disabled a bunch of startup stuff using msconfig, and I've never had a spot of trouble.

For added startup goodness, I also recommend this.  I use it to make a simple script of the programs I want to launch at startup, and specify how long to wait between each one.  Then I add a link to the script to the run key in the registry.  

This has a serious benefit over Windows way of handling startup applications:  Windows tries to launch all of the startup apps at once, which results in a lot of CPU time being spent on task switching as all the apps fight each other to start first.  Using this method, apps launch sequentially, and so my system starts up much more quickly and smoothly.
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Offline WMCoolmon

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Trimming Down System Startups?
Heh. Ironically, the big thing in Linux is getting everything to start up at once, rather than sequentially, to improve load times.

Anyway, you can
- Disable services you don't use (or make them start only when needed)
- Defrag your HD
- Get rid of startup entries
- Installing a different shell might help a bit
- So would making icons only load when needed, instead of all loading at startup (This means that menus in the start menu will take slightly longer to display, because Windows takes an absurd amount of time when it loads an icon for the first time.)
-C

 

Offline Kamikaze

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Trimming Down System Startups?
I use two utilities on Windows to manage startup junk.

http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml <-- To manage startup programs

http://www.mlin.net/StartupMonitor.shtml <-- Tells you when programs are trying to add stuff into startup and lets you choose to add it or not.
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Offline Kosh

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Trimming Down System Startups?
Quote
Originally posted by Kalfireth
Calm down guys :)

I must admit, I do want to keep programs like Nero and Quicktime around. I just don't want them to rear their heads at system startup.

That said, I don't want any bits of the registry or un-needed files hanging about if I can help it either...




Just follow my advice, and you'll be ok.
"The reason for this is that the original Fortran got so convoluted and extensive (10's of millions of lines of code) that no-one can actually figure out how it works, there's a massive project going on to decode the original Fortran and write a more modern system, but until then, the UK communication network is actually relying heavily on 35 year old Fortran that nobody understands." - Flipside

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Offline ICE

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Don't slow down your system
As people have already mentioned, just unchecking programs from start-up in msconfig should not cause you any problems. If your computer has problems under start-up next time just reboot in safe-mode (under F8) and recheck that service.

In my opinion you should unckeck everything that you don't need at the moment, like I normally open programs manually when I need them. I have found that it makes quite a difference in performance especailly when it comes to games when you have less programs running in the background.

www.blackviper.com

is a very good webpage that explains in XP about the boot up process, it also explains about how to efficiently remove programs for good(meaning how to remove every trace of them from the registry). [page currently down-give it a day]

 

Offline Nuke

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Trimming Down System Startups?
its amazing the amount of services, that run by default, the average user does not need. there are alot that can be disabled.

also simplifiy your network setup. the only thing you need to connect to the net is tcp/ip, the rest may be uninstalled (unless your running a home network). you can shave off 10 seonds alone by disabling dhcp, but you can only do that if you run a static ip.

the startup list is something i always check when i install a new piece of software. oem software (the crap that comes with hardware), is notourious for running on startup. norton runs 3, and my saitek profiler runs 3 as well, both are pretty effietient so i dont remove them. it pisses me off when removing a startup item prevents a piece of software from working. bs like this makles me not want to buy software.
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Offline Admiral LSD

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Trimming Down System Startups?
I'd put some effort into trimming down my system startups/tray icons etc but with a 3000+ processor and 1Gb RAM, I don't really have to care either way :D
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Offline Fineus

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Trimming Down System Startups?
Meh, I have a 2.8 and a gig of RAM but that doesn't stop me trying to sort things out. Also, Battlefield 2 seems incredibly system intensive, so I'm really trying to sort that out.

Nuke, could you give me a bit more info on simplifying networks? :)