The Computer Corner
Go configure: disabling unneeded upstarts
By Charles Miller November 7, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

This week’s question is from an Atención reader who wants to know how to prevent so many programs from starting automatically on her computer when it is booted (turned on). This reader correctly guessed this was slowing her computer down because programs loaded that she did not need.

When you install some software programs, they will automatically insert themselves into your startup group, often without asking. From that point on, every time you start your computer, that program will automatically start. If you install America OnLine, for instance, every time you start your computer it will dial up the internet and then fire up AOL and AOL Instant Messenger. 

This assertiveness belies a certain arrogance on the part of computer programmers, who take it upon themselves to decide you should start their program every time you turn your computer on.

Microsoft is one of the worst offenders in this area. Their Messenger program installs itself to auto-execute every time your computer is started. Even when you right-click on the Messenger icon and click on “Shut Down Messenger” you receive a truly annoying message saying, “Microsoft knows you don’t really want to shut down Messenger and so the program is not shutting down.” Fortunately, there is a simple way to fix this.

Click on Start, Run then type in “MSConfig” [Enter] to bring up the “System Configuration Utility.” Click on the “Startup” tab and you will see the list of all the programs set to start automatically when you turn on your computer.

To get rid of an offending program, simply uncheck the box next to its name. Click on [Ok] then [Restart] to reboot your computer without the unwanted program.

Sometimes it requires some guesswork and experimentation to find the name of the program you want to disable. Just remember, if you turn a program off, you can always turn it back on because MSConfig does not uninstall anything, it simply prevents the program from loading at start-up.

What to do if you cannot recognize the name of the program you want to turn off? It is perfectly permissible to use the “shotgun approach” to fix this. Click on the [Disable All] button, then you can turn back on the programs as you need them.

Your first priority should be to turn back on your anti-virus protection and firewall. Do that immediately! Please!! Beyond that, you can simply turn the various programs back on as you discover you need them.

You will discover which of the programs you disabled you need. For example, when you try to print you may receive a message saying “LexUSB.exe not found,” meaning that you turned off the program your Lexmark printer needs. Use MSConfig to turn that program back on and you will be able to print again.

With most of the background programs turned off, you will likely find your computer runs much faster than it did before.

A note of warning: The MSConfig utility has several other tabs for “BOOT.INI,” “WIN.INI,” etc. Please stay away from these unless you know what you are doing; you could render your computer unable to reboot.

Is your computer auto-starting programs you do not care to run? Any computer-related questions of interest to the San Miguel community will be welcome.


Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant, a frequent visitor to San Miguel since 1981 and now practically a full-time resident. He may be contacted at 044-415-101-8528 or email FAQ8 (at) SMAguru.com.
 




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