10 easy steps for speeding up a slow PC - Part 3

Feb 09

10 easy steps for speeding up a slow PC - Part 3

This is part 3 of a 10 part series on tuning up your PC.

One reason your computer is running slow may be the fact that you have some applications running in the background. You may not even know these programs are running. One way to see if you have background applications running is to look on your desk top, in the lower right hand corner is a place called the systray.

Find Background Applications

You may have to click the left arrow button in the systray to see any hidden applications. You may be able to shut these down by right-clicking them and selecting EXIT. Shutting them down will not prevent them from restarting the next time you start your computer or log in.

Determine if you really need an application running in the background. In the image shown, I started some application just for illustration purposes. I never have this many applications running. I like to leave applications off until I actually need them. However, there are some applications that I need or want running automatically, like Windows Live Messenger, my network monitor, and my server monitor. You will have to determine what applications running in the background suit your needs.

Remove Applications from Start Folder

There are several way to stop background applications from starting automatically. The easyest is to remove any unwanted applications in the Start menu. Here are the steps:

Go to Start
Click the All Programs
Click the Startup folder
Look in the Startup folder for icons in this folder. Icons of programs in this folder will start automatically.
Right click the icon of the program you do not want to start and select Delete.

Note: Check and see if there is another icon for a program in the All Programs folder before deleting it. If another icon is not present, instead of deleting the icon, just drag the icon out of the Startup folder into another location in the All Programs folder or on the desktop.

Using the System Configuration Utility

Not all programs or applications that start automatically and run in the background will be in the Start folder. If you still have a program running automatically after checking the Start folder, try using the System Configuration Utility.

Click Start
Click Run
In Open, type msconfig
Click OK

The System Configuration Utility will open.

System Configuration Utility

Select the Startup tab and uncheck any application that you do not want running at startup or automatically. Select OK, you will then need to restart your computer. When the computer comes back on, you will have to confirm that you changed your settings. Just select OK when the box shows up.

One More Way

There is one more way to stop applications from starting. The method is a little more advanced and requires editing the registry. You can learn how to stop programs from running in the background by reading the post at Stop Programs from Starting Automatically-Advanced.