(cache) How to keep startup programs from starting

When Windows boots, it examines a number of registry keys and folders for programs to start. This can be a valuable assistance to the user, but in many cases it becomes a nuisance. Many vendors make it difficult to keep their programs from starting, and some, such as spyware and viruses try to make it as near as possible to do. We will leave the task of stopping viruses and spyware (collectively termed malware) up to specialized antivirus and antispyware software. What we will discuss here is how to get control of legitimate programs that insist on loading on system startup, even when we would rather they did not. Stopping startup programs will often involve the use of the Registry Editor, and it is recommended to read the tutorial on How to use the Windows Registry Editor before continuing with this article.

We will concern ourselves primarily with the startup keys and folders covered by msconfig in the startup tab:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

In addition to the above keys, msconfig also monitors the Startup folder, and the All Users Startup folder. There is a separate Startup folder for each user, and these folders start programs only when that user logs on. Programs in the All Users Startup folder start for any user who logs on. These are the easiest startup methods to describe, and if they were the only ones this would be a short article. Right click on the Start button, and a menu will will pop up. At the top of the menu are Open and Explore. If you prefer browsing your computer folders using windows, select Open. If you prefer Explorer, select Explore. This will open your Start Menu folder. Open Programs and you will see a folder named Startup. Open Startup. Any programs you see shortcuts to in here start automatically when the current user logs in. If you do not want it to start, remove it from the folder. If there is a program you would like to start automatically, place a shortcut to the program in this folder. If you are logged on as a user with administrator rights, there will be tow extra entries at the bottom of the Start pop-up menu--Open All Users and Explore All Users. Click on your preference of the two, and then open Programs. The All User folder will also contain a Startup folder, which functions precisely as the above Startup folder, except that shortcuts in this folder start programs for any user who signs in. Add or delete shortcuts to or from this folder as you see fit. That is pretty much all there is to the Startup folders.

For programs starting from the Run registry keys above, the first problem is to determine which key is starting a given program. For this w can use msconfig, a Windows XP utility. If you are using Windows 2000, msconfig does not ship with your system, but the Windows XP version works just fine on your system. Get a copy now at Download page for Windows 2000 users to download the Windows XP msconfig utility. Go to Start, click Run, then type "msconfig" (without the quotes) and hit the Enter key or click OK. In the System Configuration Utility select the Startup tab and you will see a list of many of the programs that Windows starts for you. The Startup Item column shows the name of the program, taken either from the name of the shortcut or from the name of the value in the Run key. The Command column shows the pathname of the program file, obtained either from the shortcut in the Startup folder, or the data associated with the value in the Run key. The Location column shows where the program is started from--Startup means the current user Startup folder and Common Startup means the All Users Startup. Any other entry is the registry key that starts the program.

With msconfig you can make temporary changes to the configuration of your computer. In the Startup tab for instance, if you see a program you would rather not have start up, you can uncheck the check box next to it, select Apply, and the next time you restart you computer the program will not start up. Go back to msconfig, recheck the checkbox, Select Apply and reboot, and the program will once again load up. This is a good technique for temporary changes when troubleshooting, or for determining if a cryptic name actually refers to the program you think it does, but is not recommended as a means of making permanent changes. As an example of what can happen, let us presume you have disabled a program. When you do this, msconfig removes the Run key or shortcut, and stores it somewhere else. If you uninstall the program afterwards, the uninstaller will not be able to find the corresponding value in the Run key, and will go on to the next stem. If sometime later in msconfig you check the checkbox again, msconfig will restore the original Run key, and on the next boot Windows will look in vain for the program it has been directed to load, and issued a warning message that a file was not found, and you or another user will be left wondering why.

Warning! Do not use msconfig to make permanent changes to your system. After you troubleshoot with msconfig, always return it to normal startup mode. If you wish to permanently keep a program from starting during system startup, remove the corresponding shortcut from the appropriate Startup folder, or remove the program's value from the appropriate Run key.

Before you go off and start ripping registry values and shortcuts, may I recommend that you consider two other methods . The first is to look for an official means of controlling the startup of a program. Most programs have a properties dialog somewhere, and in it you may manage to find a check box that determines whether the program should start at system startup or not. Another possibility is to go to Add and Remove Programs and uninstall the program. If you are like me, a lot of free programs you have downloaded over time are still on your computer, even though you stopped using them long ago. It is a good practice to clean house from time to time.