Computer help forum: How to STOP programs from booting up with computer...

You didn't say what OS you are using but for XP.Click win+ R or go to the start up menu and click run. Type MSCONFIG and hit enter.From there click startup tab and a list of all your programs will come up that start on bootup, but be carefully on what you unclick as it may cause your laptop to boot incorrectly. Or you can enter the setting of each program and change them there. Hope this helps.

...then there is probably a OE shortcut link in the "Startup" folder. Click on Start-Programs-Startup.. If there is a shortcut to Outlook Express listed there, delete it and reboot the computer. OE should no longer load at startup.

Hope this helps.

Grif

Check this link out

http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-6121-0.html?forumID=45&threadID=22053&messageID=238474

In order to stop it from running when opening Outlook Express:
1. Open Outlook Express.
2. Click on 'Tools' in the upper left, choose 'Options'.
3. On the 'General' tab, UNCHECK the box next to 'Automatically log on to MSN Messenger Service'.

I've tried this above before and it does not work. outlook express will open whether that is checked or not.

In addition to the other good posts about stopping unneeded start up programs, Windows 2000 and XP have background "Services" that aren't needed at start up. Follow the instructions at either of the appropriate links below:

Services Guide For Windows XP

Hope this helps.

Grif

I have been using Mike Lin's free startup program for years.You can easily keep track of what programs are starting up automatically or not on your computer.It puts an icon in your Windows control panel.
http://www.mlin.net/startupcpl.shtml

The items listed in the registry at the path: "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Current Version\Shell Extensions" are not "running" in the background but are used for identifying the various items on the computer. Likewise with the other HKLM\Software locations. Generally, it's better to leave them alone..

The are two or three basic locations where you can limit start up programs and services.

1. The registry at the paths below. (The primary one you have already mentioned and although there are others, the two listed below are the main ones..)

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

2. Use the System Configuration Utility. Click on Start-Run, type "msconfig" (without the quotes), then click on OK. Once it opens, click on the "StartUp" tab, then UNCHECK boxes for unneeded startup programs.

3. One of the best is to eliminate unneeded services on Windows 2000 and XP. Click on Start-Run, type: "services.msc", then click on OK. For all unneeded services, double click on the listed service to open the service window, then change the "StartUp Type" line to "Manual" or "Disabled". (The "Manual" setting allows you to start the service manually) Then click on the "Stop" button to actually stop the service.

Here are links to a couple of websites that give some good advice about which services are unnecessary:

http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm

http://www.overclockersclub.com/guides/windows_xp_services_2.php

Multiple pages at the link below:
http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm

Hope this helps.

Grif

A small program called WinPatrol, www.winpatrol.com, will do the job.
It keeps track of programs wanting to run at startup. It will alert you when you install a prorgam wanting to start by booting. You can then select to allow that or prevent that.

You can always at a later stage change your decission.

It is simple to use.
It is free in the simple version. It costs a few $$ if you want more information about the programs it lists.

Brgds

this is a small program that removes messenger and hides it from outlook
messenger is used to put adds on your pc it bypasses the add stoppers downloads.com from cnet has this would be wise to do this

with one purchase for the "Plus" version you are legally licensed for all computers you own, forever. I contacted the program author to ask about that and that's what he told me. Fabulous program, it's updated often, and it's a must have.

I vote Winpatrol as absolutely essential. Reckon it should be part of XP.

i use winpatrol it will clean most items from your start up and stop others from being added it also helps your internet explorer from a takeover is a seldom mentioned program and does so much good the programs it couldn't stop had startup removal in the setup and were not many of them
go to winpatrol.com and download it has been upgraded so if you have one kicking in your files don't use it get the new one

Here's a program I uses regularly and all futrues upgrades are free, not to mention the paid version jumps you over to the programs web site that has over 10,000 listings of files.
The program is called Winpatrol (I recommend the paid "Plus" version that allows you to click on any file), it goes to the web site and not only does it give you the files, purpose, but tells you if its safe to remove, safe to run, or needed to run.
I've used it for about 4 years now and it has allowed me to remove many items from the startup menu that are not needed to be there for the programs operation.
Really too much for me to explain here drop by and see it your self and see if this is what you're hunting for.... Lol, and no I get nothing from them
<a href="http://www.winpatrol.com/news.html">Winpatrol</a>

If you have Windows XP go start>All Programs>StartUp. Right click the program you do not want to run on start up and click delete, a winodw may pop up that ask as you sure you want to delete this shortcut, Click yes. Right now I do not have anything listed in my Start Up menu on my computer. This is safe to do and as I said in the Subject, QUICK AND EASY TOO. If you want to put it back laster then find the program from your list of programs under start and copy and paste it back into the startup area.

If the porgram that you want turned off at startup is not listed in the startup area as I discribed, then do one of the steps that some of the others said. Or you can also run the program and look in the settings some of them also have things in there about start-up. Look for a box that is check that says something like "Start on boot" or "Run on StartUp" or something like that.

On my computer, and computers of my friends and family that I work on this is what I do. I check the startup area first, then if I do not see it on there then I run the program if it is not all ready and I look for the settings or options and look there. And if it is not there then I do one of the other things that is listed in this forum. Because some of the things listed on here to do it done wrong, may cause problems later.

This has been an excellent tip. I used it and am glad to have the info. This makes using the disc defragmenting utility run smoothly after shutting down some of the programs. Before using this tip the defragmenting program would give a message that programs were running and it could not proceed. Thanks
for the tip.