Tip #1988 - Weekly Download: Windows Startup list
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Weekly Download: Windows Startup List
Everybody wants their
system to operate responsively, boot quickly, and run applications immediately
with no errors. Pruning your Startup
List can be one of the greatest ways to help your system run without
the burden of unnecessary programs.
Startup items are
the programs that run when the PC first starts, using up system resources
(usually unnecessarily). A couple of examples would be QuickTime, camera
software, or Nero's update service. I don't need these running at startup,
so I shut them down. I personally only like to run my anti-virus automatically
at startup. I don't use my instant messenger constantly, and I don't need
my Nero update running constantly to catch that once or twice a year update.
These programs
use up system resources and bog your PC down. They can also create conflicts
between other programs, causing corrupt installs or malfunctioning applications.
So many programs today try to attach themselves to your startup list.
These services should be disabled if they are unimportant to your system
and programs.
We have previously
written instructions for shutting
down your startup items, but they're really more for advanced computer
users. Doing
this manually can be tedious and more than a little confusing. Searching
for information on the startup items can be a long and tedious job, and
it should be done regularly. Then there's the issue of troubleshooting.
One of the first things in my troubleshooting model is to reboot the PC
without the 3rd
party programs running. This can quickly eliminate any obvious conflicts,
but when you're finished and want to boot normally again, you have to
go back into the msconfig and reconfigure your Startup List to run what
you want.
Well, that's all in
the past, thanks to another of WorldStart's thoughtful readers (thanks,
Eliot!). I have been to the top of the mountain and have seen the other
side. Windows
Startup Inspector (WSI) comes from the makers of Startup
Monitor that I ran some while back. Both of these programs can be
run together on your system to take out any program or service that tries
to get on your Startup list.
Windows Startup Inspector
(WSI) gives you an informative list of what's in your startup list and
recommends what you should do with them. WSI will give you the name of
each process, the filename, location, rating, and how much memory it is
using.
You can get more information
on a particular service by highlighting it and choosing the Consult
button. WSI's database has 4,900 program entries and is constantly
being updated, so WSI will probably know what a particular services does
or if it's essential to your favorite program to run correctly. If a program
isn't in the WSI database, you can search Google from within the WSI interface.
If you can't find it there, then it should probably be shut down and removed
from the list. You might also want to clean your hard drive(s) and do
a virus and anti-spyware scan.
WSI can create different
profiles that allow you to save your Startup Items Configuration.
This way, if it ever changes through some action taken,
you can quickly and easily revert back to the previous configuration.
With the use of WSI
and the Startup Monitor, you should have your startup
list completely under control, which directly translates into better system
performance and fewer software conflicts.
The site has a donation
link if you want to show your appreciation, but the download is free,
as are all of WorldStart's Downloads of the Week. I hope
you find it useful.
~Chad Stelnicki
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