Thread: Slow Startup

Ouch. It's never easy to ID processes, even when you have some familiarity with them.

One program I use to assist is (which is compatible from WinXP thru to W8 64-bit ) is the free version (Home) of Spybot: Search & Destroy. It does ask to install "monitoring" software - which would only add to your mess - but it'll work perfectly fine if you say 'no' when asked... I haven't installed it.

In the 'Tools' section, there is a utility called 'System Startup.' Going to this page will list most 3rd-pary background processes that are started by Windows at Startup and on selecting any given process usually supplies more info in a panel on the RH side, such things as the .exe name, a description and whether it's a 'necessary' process.

You can also manage this startup list here: I simply untick items so they won't start next time I reboot. If their not running causes problems afterwards, you can always re-tick them at a later date. Otherwise, the description will, hopefully, give you a hint as to what SW to get rid of permanently, should you want to clean up that way.

Good luck, whatever you do!

Eeep - 110 startup programs....I have about 5. Yeah, you need to get rid of a few.

Assuming it's Windows 7, the number one to go should be Nortons. (Replace with Microsoft's free windows defender).

Post a screencap (to list, go to your start menu and type msconfig and hit enter) of what is loading at startup.

Thank to your response's, I have reduced start up programmes to 27.

Now to double check everything before clicking OK.

Thanks again Barry

Should help.

BTW Norton 360 start-up manager will allow you to keep a program in the list but delay when it fires up.

PS I hate those programs that when they install automatically add an update checker to start-up.

Secunia PSI is a much better and free program to check how up-to-date and secure your stuff is, and will automatically update programs if you want where it can.

I used AVG PC Tune up to identify programs not needed at start up and reduced everything to a minimum, I also shoved in a new mother board with one of THESE and also shoved in 16 Gig of RAM the puter seems to run reasonably fast now and also starts up quickly.

A couple of other things you should do occasionally ...

Blow the dust out of the case, esp. round the processor heatsinks and fans. Heat build-up can cause probs. There's at least one free program out there that will from the desktop give you the CPU temp and whether it's becoming critical (Google Speedfan).

Do a complete reinstall of Windows and programs. Yeah, it's a pain in the proverbial. With XP there's also a process that will allow a fresh install of Windows leaving the programs but it doesn't work for everyone (and I haven't tried it).

Three reasons why computers start slow

- Hard drive speed ... SSD will be the best solution failing that try and run Windows on a clean HDD with minimal installs on it for C: ... you can install programs on other drives and not get any issues - some cases - they will just force C: which is fine but hte objective is to keep a need to use only (as fragmentation etc still applies)

- Network. If you are logging into a Corporate network at work and come home then even though Windows hasn't loaded it will still spend some cycles trying to find home (network)... this can be a pain in the network butt... and sadly there's no stopping it other than take the said PC off the network (which your work IT may have some objections to of course).

- Virus scanners. Seriously today the virus scanner software has become redundant and offer no value. Before Bill Gates left Microsoft he made it a priority in the company that they were to release virus scanning for windows to prevent a Windows XP failure from happening ever again. The Security team inside Microsoft are constantly monitoring inbound threats for a variety of reasons - not just because it will hurt windows customers - but it can also impact military / govt contracts & security / integrity agreements... basically it pays for MSFT to not be incompetent in this space. With that, its why Defender is pretty upto date and agressive in its position on the OS...the fact the Windows team also have the source code to Windows they don't have to play by the same rules as others and can inject the scanner into places where ISV's like Norton etc can't occupy.

Basically nuke it. Best news in Windows 8 its already installed on the OS..so from there on out no virus scanners need apply

windows in general is so so bloated right from the start that puts load on any type if spec'd pc. to make things even worse the crappy "anti-virus" scanners increase the workload right from startup. your better off from a system resources point if view and security point of view with ubuntu linux. most userfriendly intro to linux you can get that wont touch the bank accounr and will make your pc relax a bit and last for years to come.

im not interested / nor care about starting any microsoft vs the rest of the world debate. just my 2 cents on why pcs can run slow from a software point of view

Norton AV did got bloated but was trimmed back a couple of years ago. I run Norton 360 and there's negligible overhead. That's borne out by independent tests. 360 also does simple tune-ups in the background similar to what Norton Utilities did and it has ID protection and online file backup facilities. There is also excellent tech support by chat or by phone. Five licenses cost about $130 a year and in my book that's cheap insurance.

We have several XP and several Win7 machines in the house with The Kid doing all sorts of exploring. I wouldn't run any machine (inc. the Android tablet) without some kind of protection. Over the years we've only had one machine trashed by malware - that was running Trend Micro.

BTW Defender is now called MS Security Essentials (MSE). It's free and has performed well in tests.

You may want to look at the "Autoruns for Windows".


Autoruns for Windows