"msconfig" - Manage startup programs list

• Advantages: Improves bootup time, frees RAM.

• Launching "msconfig":
1. Lunch the "run" dialog (Windows key + r).
2. Type "msconfig" and press Enter.

• Manage the startup programs list:
1. Navigate to the "Startup" tab - This lists the programs that run on startup.
2. Uncheck any program that has been bothering you. A word of  caution - If you don't know about the program leave it untouched. Some programs are required for normal operation (Display/Audio config etc.).
3. Press the OK button - A dialog asking if you would like to restart the system will be displayed.

         After the system restarts, another dialog will be displayed indicating that you have made changes to the configuration and asks you if you would like to undo those changes and so on. It's the Windows way of letting you know that you are still it's master....

• What I do: As a rule of thumb, I uncheck all program updaters. I think they are just a waste of time and resources. I prefer to manually update all software, the simplest reason being to avoid confusion and surprises. If you want to update a software I am pretty sure that you will find "Check for updates" under the "About" menu or in under "Settings" in that software. How difficult is it to click on that, eh?

         Some software specify the autostart option during their setup process, but never the less I have made it a routine to use msconfig and make sure that no software has added itself to the startup list.


Note: You can customize other items in the msconfig dialog, but if you have no knowledge of what you are doing I would suggest not to play around too much.