Startup Speed Boost

How Do I Know Which Startup Programs to Disable?

In my last post, I provided an easy way to improve startup speed – disable items that launch during startup that you don’t need. But how can you tell what is important, what you should disable, and what you can completely uninstall?

It’s impossible to say completely, since every user has different needs and requirements. However, there are a few general rules.

When you are reviewing your startup processes, either automatically with an optimization program or manually, you can get more information with a simple Google search. If the filename or program is unfamiliar, search it and see if you can get more information.

Which files should be disabled to improve startup speed?

If you don’t know what it is, err on the side of caution and leave it there. There are a number of vital Windows processes that launch at startup. You don’t want to risk error messages or system problems by turning off something you need.

Items that you only use rarely can have their startup launch disabled. Many media players automatically open on startup, and if you don’t watch videos every day, they can be disabled. Adobe Acrobat is another common program that opens a taskbar item automatically. If you rarely view .pdfs, this can be disabled. Computers with more programs installed will have more startup items installed, so there may be a large number of program startups you can disable.

If you use the program every day, don’t worry about disabling it. For example, MSN messenger is often programmed to start when your computer begins. If you use it all the time, then there wouldn’t be much gained by disabling it from startup – you’d just have to open it anyway.

Don’t disable your anti-virus! Likewise for your other security programs, such as anti-spyware. These programs can open at startup to provide active protection for your system. Turning this off would put you in harm’s way. Also, note that your anti-virus name may be different that you are used to. For example, Norton Anti-Virus is identified as Symantec.

If you’ve identified the item, confirmed that you don’t need it, and are sure that you never use it, you can go ahead and uninstall it. Why waste disk space on programs you don’t need?