Change programs that start when you boot up
 

This is probably a very easy question, but...

I am running Windows XP Pro. How would I stop programs from loading at startup? Where in Windows would I go to do this?

Start->Run... type "msconfig" and hit enter.

1. in the startup folder in your program list . click start, then all programs, then find the startup folder. all the shortcuts in there will load when windows starts.

also you could,
2. click start, run, type msconfig <enter>. then you should have a startup tab.
that's what windows really loads up. i have like 10-20 files in there but they're all useful. so be careful in removing them.

there are two places where this happens. One is the startup folder as has been pointed out already. The other is in the registry. If you are unfamiliar with editing the registry, find someone who is. Don't jack with the registry unless you know what you are doing as you could turn your computer in to a very expensive paperweight. If you are familiar with the registry, then the key is /HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Run

If you do fuck up the registry, won't reformatting fix it?

Well...reformatting will 'fix' just about any problem you come accross, but you will lose all of your files and settings and applications and the rest...(unless you backup)

Anyway, you don't need to edit the registry by hand in order to do this job, as the msconfig program mentioned will do it for you.

I use msconfig first
To get at hidden componets
or hard to change start up items
I use Autoruns

Do not touch the registry if you don't know what you're doing. You can fry your entire install that way without much difficulty.

MSCONFIG is the safest newbie option. Windows XP, in it's continuing efforts to become idiot-proof, doesn't show the essential processes in the startup tab there, so anything that shows up there can be safely removed from startup. Be aware, however, that some programs will not show up there. For those ones you'll either have to live with them or find someone to manually remove the appropriate keys from your registry.

Thanks, everyone. I tried msconfig and was able to stop most of the extra stuff from loading each time I boot up.

I think I'll leave the registry alone. I don't want to have to buy a new computer if I mess it up!

One very useful tool that I am suprised that no-one has mentioned is spybot search and destroy. If you put Spybot S&D into advanced mode, click on the tools tab, then click on "system startup", it will give you a list of everything that runs on startup, regardless of where the setting to run is. It also has a useful tie-up with paul collins startup list, and gives you info for many items on what they are, what they do, and whether they are required or not.

The usual provio applies: If in doubt, google is your freind, forums are your friend, but you could screw stuff up if you remove too many things. Be careful, but equally, it's a great way to learn about it all and a very easy way to see exactly what is running.

HTH!

Messing up the registry WILL NOT break any of your hardware!
What it can do is mess up the software.
What happens in this case, is you have to get some to get the files off your current disk that you want backed up and then reinstall. While this can be a major nusance, it is far from the end of the world.

This is kind of late, but I figured I'd mention it...

There are tons of free programs out there that will clean your registry for you. Well, that's kind of misleading. They won't scour the crap out of your registry (for fear of really screwing it up), but they will...straighten? it up for you getting rid of the obviously incorrect stuff. My Aunt uses RegVac and it's never steered her wrong. I prefer RegScrub XP just to keep it neat.

As for the OP, There's a marvelous program called Winpatrol that I run from time to time to clean out the msconfig list of disabled programs.

Although, now that alpha phi has mentioned it...I think I might download autoruns...