3 ways to modify startup programs in Windows XP

If you've been using Windows XP for a long time, you may have noticed that your PC takes longer to start up. This is because the programs you have installed are added to the boot process and they must be fully loaded before you can start using the PC. If this is happening to you, follow the simple steps below and make your PC boot up much faster!

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Change startup programs using MSConfig

Step 1. Open the Microsoft System Configuration Utility (called MSConfig)

Go to Start -> Run, and type msconfig. Press the Enter key to start the program. As soon as you do, you should see the following window.

• Choose Selective start.

  

• If you can't find the Run option in the Start menu, add it by doing the following: Right click Start -> Properties -> select the "Start Menu" tab -> Customize … -> check the Run Command -> Apply box -> To accept.

  

Step 2. Click on the 'Home' tab

Here you will see a list of programs similar to the one shown in the image below:

Step 3. Uncheck any programs that you don't want Windows to run during startup

Step 4. Click on 'OK'

When you do this, a window will appear asking you to restart your PC.

Step 5. Click on 'Restart'

Method 2 of 3: Change startup programs using Windows Defender

Step 1. Download Windows Defender from the Microsoft website

Step 2. Click on the Start menu

Go to All Programs and then select Windows Defender.

Step 3. Go to the Tools section and then click Software Explorer

Step 4. Click the names of the programs you would like to disable in the Name column

When you're done, click Disable.

Method 3 of 3: Modify startup programs using Registry Editor

Step 1. Go to the Start menu and click Run

Writes regedit in the text field.

Step 2. Find one of the following records:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run

  

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ RunOnce

  

Step 3. Find the program you want to remove from the startup sequence

Delete that program from one or both registry keys.

Caution: Do not delete anything else from the registry. Many files may seem strange to you, especially those system files with unusual names. If you delete other entries, you could delete file associations, disable necessary services for the PC, or even cause the system to crash or become unstable

Advice

• If you are not sure which programs are slowing down the PC startup, disable all Windows XP startup programs by clicking the button Disable all in the Home tab window. Then restart the PC. If startup speed improves, start activating startup programs one at a time until you find out which one is slowing startup.
• If you are not sure whether you should let a program start with the system, look up the file name on ProcessLibrary.com to determine if the startup process can be disabled or not.

Warnings

• Some programs are essential for system stability, such as ctfmon.exe, cmd.exe, and svchost.exe. Do not disable these processes.
• Just in case, and in case you make a mistake, it is advisable to create a backup copy of the registry before modifying it.