Open the Start menu
and type msconfig.exe (without the
quotes) in the Search box. As you type,
results display. When you see
msconfig.exe, click on it or press
Enter, if it is highlighted.
NOTE: If you are using Windows XP,
open the Run dialog box from the Start
menu, type msconfig.exe in the Open
edit box, and click OK.
Click the Startup tab on the System
Configuration main window. A list of all
the startup programs displays with a
check box next to each one. To prevent
a program from starting up with
Windows, select the check box next to
the desired program so there is NO
check mark in the box. Click OK once
you have made your choices.
A dialog box displays telling you that
you may need to restart your computer
for the changes to take affect. Click
Restart to restart your computer
immediately. If are not ready to restart
your computer, click Exit without restart.
The free PC-cleaning utility CCleaner
also has a tool that allows you to
disable startup programs. In CCleaner,
click the Tools button on the left side of
the dialog box and click Startup to see
the list of startup programs. The
Enabled column indicates whether each
program is set to start with Windows.
To disable a program that is enabled,
select the program in the list and click
Disable. You can also enable programs
that have been disabled.