Speed up Windows XP

Use the following simple steps to Speed up Windows XP

Some Programs at Startup make the system run slow, few programs run because they're part of logon scripts, others because of Registry settings, and so on. But with a little bit of perseverance, you should be able to keep them from running.

     These are the three basic steps that need to be followed:

      1) Remove programs at Startup.

      2) Clean the tasks in Scheduler.

      3) Disabling hidden programs that run on start up using System Configuration Utility.

1) Remove programs from Startup folder.

• Open Window Explorer. Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > Windows Explorer
  

        

• Go to C:\Documents and Settings\username\Start Menu\Programs\Startup, where username is your Windows logon name.

• Delete the shortcuts of any programs you don't want to run on start-up.
  
  Note: When you delete them, you're deleting only the shortcut, not the program itself.
  

Here is another easy way of removing the programs from startup.

• Go to Start > Programs > Startup, right-click items you want to remove.

• Click on Delete.

2) Clean the tasks in Scheduler

• Open Window Explorer. Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > Windows Explorer

        

• Go to C:\Windows\Tasks, and delete the shortcuts of any programs that you don't want to run automatically on a schedule.

         Note: A simple way to stop XP from loading any programs in the Startup folder.

       Hold down the Shift key during bootup. No programs in the Startup folder will run, but the items will still remain there so that they will start up as they would normally the next time you boot.

3) Disabling hidden programs that run on start up using System Configuration Utility.

The above two steps will stop the programs from running at start-up, but it won't kill them all. The best tool for disabling hidden programs that run on start-up is the System Configuration Utility.

• Go to Start > Run

        

• To run it, type msconfig at a command prompt, and press Enter
  


•  To stop a program from running at start-up, go to the Startup tab in this utility, and uncheck the box next to the program.
  
  It can sometimes be difficult to understand what programs are listed on the Startup tab.

        

         

         

•  To get more information about a listing, expand the width of the Command column near the top of the Startup tab. Expand it enough and you'll see the start-up command that the program issues, including its location, such as C:\Program Files\Free Surfer\fs20.exe. The directory location should be another hint to help you know the name of the program.

Each time you uncheck a box and restart your PC, you'll get a warning that you've used the System Configuration Utility to disable a program from starting automatically. If you don't want to see that warning, disable it by checking the box in the dialog itself.

After you've used the system configuration utility to identify programs that run on start-up, you may want to try disabling them from with the programs themselves. So run each program that starts automatically, and see if you can find a setting that allows you to prevent it from running on start-up.

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