Remove Items from Windows XP Startup
- Categories: Basic Tutorials,Windows Tutorials
- Author: John Ward
- Comments: 37 responses
- Tags:
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Having too many programs run at startup can slow down the time it takes to log on or restart your computer. It also can be a pain to have 30 different icons in your task bar. This tutorial will show you how to remove the items from Windows XP startup.
Disclaimer: Always try to disable the startup or task bar icons from the menu options on the programs first. After that remove the program from the startup folder on the Start Menu If that doesn’t work, then you can try to remove them using msconfig.
Click on the Start Menu and Select the Run option.
In Run box type msconfig and press enter.
The Windows XP System Configuration Utility windows will open.
Click on the Startup tab to display the programs that run at startup.
Now all you have to do is uncheck the box next to the program name. If the box is clear, the program will no run at startup. Make sure you know what the program does before you disable it.
When you are finished just hit the Apply button and then OK. The next time you restart your computer the programs will not run.
jake on May 3, 2007 at 9:19 pm
great tutorial, will this speed up windows?
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Chad Dukes on May 6, 2007 at 2:45 pm
Good article! And useful. But for me the problem is often knowing which program you need to keep running on startup and which are superfluous. Perhaps this isn’t for novices?
Thanks,
Chad
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John Ward on May 6, 2007 at 3:12 pm
If you need to know what processes you can stop simply Google it. If you search for something.exe you can usually get a good explanation of what the program does in the first few results of a search engine. Then it is up to you to decide if you want to let it run or not. Hope that helps.
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jeff on August 5, 2007 at 2:04 pm
well i do the exact steps and it works but after ir estart my comptuer something pops up it says that it cannot function and that i should put it on regular mode for startup and the msconfig pops up and every time i restart it pops up with the msconfig and i didnt uncheck internet expoler or something that might cuase it to stop working i only unchecked the game stuff and quicktime that was all and it keeps popping up can u tell me how to fix this?
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John Ward on August 5, 2007 at 9:06 pm
That is normal. Windows will display that error message anytime you make changes to MSCONFIG. Just check the box that says do not display this message again and click OK.
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Ken Ford on June 14, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Easy enough, but then I have to use selective startup continually, or the items I disabled for startup will be right back in the starting gate.
How do I get around this?
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Lin on July 11, 2008 at 12:15 pm
I have this same problem, if you find a solution please let me know!
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Brian on July 30, 2008 at 8:02 pm
I have the same problem, Anyone find a solution??
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John Ward on July 30, 2008 at 8:34 pm
You have to check the box that says do not ask this again.
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Russell on August 28, 2008 at 12:36 pm
I think you article is inappropriately titled. What you have described is a workaround that simply stops it from loading. It does not remove it. I would like to take it out of the list completely since selective start up is supposed to be for troubleshooting and diagnostics, not a permanent solution. Any idea if their is an easy way to do this short of manually removing the entries from the registry?
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Venkat on September 23, 2008 at 7:11 am
nice. i got exactly the thing i needed in a flash. thanks
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Steve Kasian on October 22, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Russell has it right: This article, while helpful, is inappropriately titled. It should be entitled “Stopping applications from loading at startup”.
I came across this article in a search for exactly what Russell is looking for – a way to remove the dead entries which seem to keep accumulating over time, including multiple copies of certain entries.
Thanks for this article, but can someone point us in the direction of the answers we seek, which would be the exact information the title of this document refers to? Thanks!
Steve
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Steve Kasian on October 22, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Here’s the tool – I found it and I’m posting it here for anyone else who’s looking for it:
http://www.techiequest.com/windows-msconfig-cleaner-remove-windows-startup-program-entries-easily/
This application will actually REMOVE unwanted ENTRIES in msconfig/startup rather than DISABLE them, which is what this article has actually been about.
Hope this helps someone. Good luck!
Steve
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Jeff Tuttle on October 24, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I would like to know how to eliminate it from the Start-Up list too. Especially since mine is XP_Antivus 2009 !!!
Ans, is there a site to check out programs that should be checked to run ay startup or must they be done individually?
Thanks,
Jeff
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Christopher on November 10, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Jeff, download the Symantec Removal Tool, run it twice. It will remove NAVver.9. If you have NortonAntiBot, good luck! 12 hours on-line w/Symantec… NAB is now gone, but the msconfig still shows the entry. Once that is gone from my start-up, perhaps all will be better.
Norton Anti-bot users… BEWARE! It’s got more sticky power than hot tar.
The Norton Removal Tool.exe’s proper name is 7z Setup SFX.exe
Best o’luck, mate
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Imran on November 24, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Thanks, i was searching for this tool, and you made it easy
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Tina on December 27, 2008 at 1:15 am
well i do the exact steps and it works but after ir estart my comptuer something pops up it says that it cannot function and that i should put it on regular mode for startup and the msconfig pops up and every time i restart it pops up with the msconfig i dont think i unclicked anything that is important so could you please tell me what i need to do, my computer is an xp so can u tell me what things i have to have on.
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Nick on February 26, 2009 at 6:05 am
For those of you looking to manually dead entries still showing in the msconfig startup list you need to look at the following registry key -
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\startupreg
This seems to be the location where msconfig stores the items currently unchecked in the startup list. It worked for me but you might want to backup your registry before making any changes.
Hope this helps some of you.
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TC Reply:
July 16th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
Thanks Nick. That is exactly what I needed.
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Tom on March 11, 2009 at 5:39 am
Thanx a lot friend….. It helped me solve a long time problem of slow system startup…… thanx once again
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Paul The Bass Player on May 21, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Excellent, Thankyou.
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qwertyweb on July 27, 2009 at 8:31 am
hi ! i have done all of these setting ,but still on startup ,my pc says that pls check setting for automatic updates ,i had disabled it ,but
how do i disable the checking of automatic updates ?
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Len Hopkin on July 31, 2009 at 1:05 am
Am I missing some thing?
none of the comments above get a reply.
I am trying to remove unwanted items in start up and it is not working
What am I doing wrong?
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Reg Henry on August 10, 2009 at 4:04 pm
EXCELLENT , EXCELLENT , EXCELLENT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All of the other site that talk about giving you information as to
how to remove startup programs , most are all BS !
They get you their site by using key words and then when you try to find
the download that will help you it is ALL mixed in with other applications
that they wish to sell to you.
U guys just told me straight up and directly…. THANK YOU !!!!
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My desktop have a dark blue screen with numbers and words, then it turned off, now i cant start my PC? | maom on August 23, 2009 at 9:16 pm
[...] Disable startup items – http://teamtutorials.com/windows-tutoria… [...]
Mind Ruin on September 9, 2009 at 7:26 pm
This is a great tip for blocking those annoying programs that run automatically. I had forgotten what the command was exactly, so thank you.
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Cute Graphics on September 19, 2009 at 5:35 pm
I love this cause AIM just keeps starting and now I can disable it.
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Charli on October 5, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Great step by step instructions.
I do have a question about an item that has no name or command. It’s right under HPWuSCHD2. Start-up item is blank as is command the only thing showing is the location which is hklm\software\microsoft\windows\cyrrebt/versuib\Run
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Rahul on January 1, 2010 at 4:29 am
That link provided by Steve Kaisan is really wonderful. I was plagued with the problem of unwanted items in msconfig startup. Just downloaded msconfig cleanup from the site and finally got rid of the unwanted bugging items that loaded at the startup. Thank you Steve. I’m pasting that link here again.
http://www.techiequest.com/windows-msconfig-cleaner-remove-windows-startup-program-entries-easily/
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Baxter on January 12, 2010 at 5:09 am
These are good instructions for XP!
@Charli,
HPWuSCHD2 is an updater for hp computers. It comes pre-packaged when you purchase their line of products. It helps monitor your stats and program use and helps HP to determine how to best troubleshoot issues that you have. Slightly an invasion of privacy but also slightly helpful.
For managing these startup items in Windows 7 here is a write-up on it:
http://www.groovypost.com/howto/microsoft/performance-disable-startup-programs-windows-7-vista/
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sharath on January 24, 2010 at 12:16 am
good info.. very useful.. thanks..:)
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berkeleysamson on January 24, 2010 at 11:43 pm
wow. thanks.. this is my problem for how many years.. now found the solution.
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MUKESH on February 22, 2010 at 9:26 am
C:\WINDOWS\system32\config\systemprofile\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
delete all the files from there and in case u need backup make a temp folder in same folder and cut & paste all the files there so that files can be retreifed if any of the programs stop working
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joe on March 31, 2010 at 10:01 am
and how do we remove it completely from the start up not just unchecking it ,coz some programs keep registering itself again ..it has something to do with regedit which i dont know how .so anyone knowz?
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Rock on April 4, 2010 at 3:36 am
This will not remove the entry made in “Service” or “Start-up” List. To Remove this, do as said that remove the “check” mark then Goto “Run” dialog box in “Start” menu. Type “regedit” without quotes, hit “Enter” key. A window for editing Registry will Open. Select “My Computer” Icon. Press “ctrl+F”, type “msconfig” without quotes and hit “Enter”. You will lead to MSCONFIG folder. Here will shown the unchecked Items(in right Panel). Select them and Press “Delete”. This entry will be removed. And you will not be prompted to reset the MSCONFIG settings from Windows.
That’s all!!
Note: for Windows XP only
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Edward on June 12, 2010 at 1:43 am
i did as you said, when i typed msconfig and pressed enter. it searched and came up with name (Default) type REG_SZ data ILaunchMsConfigElevated
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james on July 14, 2010 at 11:28 am
when I type run and msconfig the system says it cannot find msconfig. I have checked my spelling
what’s next?
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