Before you can begin to fine tune your system for better performance, you need to know what is running when you boot up your computer. You can get a general idea of what items are running by looking at the icons in your system tray at the lower right corner of your monitor screen as shown here.

To get a more complete list, however, you need to look in the Close Program window which will show nearly everything that is running. To access this window, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete (all three together, but only once or you will reboot your computer). That will display a window similar to this one.

Note that this display is also useful when installing software which generally recommends that you close all running programs. You can do it by using the "End Task" button here after highlighting each program except explorer and systray which are required for Windows to run.

Neither of these displays will necessarily show you absolutely what is running but they will give you a pretty good listing. The most complete listing can be seen by using Msconfig, a utility in Windows 98 and Windows ME. Windows 95 has no comparable program. Now that you know what is running, how do you modify that list? The methods are different depending on what operating system you are using. Here are the instructions for the two most commonly used in home computers, Windows 95 and Windows 98/ME.

You can eliminate some of the programs that run at startup by editing your StartUp list. Go to Start|Settings|Taskbar. Select the Start Menu Programs tab, click the "Remove" button, and scroll down until you see StartUp. Click the plus sign to the left of that to expand the listing. That will produce a screen similar to this one.

Click on any one of the items shown there and click "Remove" to remove it from the startup list. When you are done, navigate back to the desktop. Some programs that were listed in the Close Program window or in the system tray may not show up in StartUp. They can usually be turned off by opening them and selecting Options or Preferences from one of the top row menu items. One of the settings that should be available there is "Load on Start Up" or a similar phrase. Uncheck that option to remove the program from the startup.

In Windows 98 you can follow the same procedure as for Windows 95 above, but it is more efficient to use Msconfig, a utility built in to Windows 98. To reach it, go to Start|Run, type Msconfig and press "OK." When the Msconfig window appears select the Startup tab. There you will see a list of items which load at boot up like the one shown here. 

You need only uncheck those you don't want and they will not load when you boot. This should take care of anything you don't want and you shouldn't have to worry about finding Options within a program to stop it from running at startup.

For recommendations as to what you can remove from startup, click on 'What To Uncheck At Startup."