how do i determine whether programs that run at startup can be eliminated to improve performance? (win XP pro)3 people need an answerI do too

This may be easy for you - I have no idea which tabs are not necessary. Most are not identified. Unchecking them to see if there are problems afterwards doesn't work. Is there no way to stop everything worming it's way into start up - when installing a new program? or requesting that all start up items must be identified?

a neat little free program for all your start up info and ways of stopping or late starting, plus loads of info. http://www.winpatrol.com/download.html

To identify what loads when you boot use Autoruns (freeware from Microsoft).http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Autoruns.mspxWith Autoruns you can uncheck an item, which disables it fromstarting,or you can right click an item and then delete it. If youuncheck youcan recheck to re-enable the item. It is a much saferapproach than editing the Registry and better than using msconfig..Another useful feature of the programme is that you can right click anitem and select Search Online to get information about the itemselected.Hope this helps, Gerry Cornell