3 Ways to Change Startup Programs in Windows XP

2025 Author: Jason Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2025-01-23 12:04

Computers with Windows XP that have been used frequently may take longer to start up. This happens because many programs add themselves to startup and load before you can start using your computer. Follow the simple steps below to make your computer start up faster!

Step

Method 1 of 3: Changing Startup Programs Using MSConfig

Step 1. Open Microsoft's System Configuration Utility (called msconfig)

Click START -> Run, then enter msconfig. Press enter to start the program.

choose Selective Startup.

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If Run is not in the Start Menu, add "Run command" by: Right-click Start -> Properties -> select the "Start Menu" tab -> Customize -> Customize start Menu -> check the box Run -> Apply -> OK.

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Step 2. Click the 'Startup' tab

Here is a list of programs as below:

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Step 3. Uncheck all the programs that you don't want Windows to run on startup

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Step 4. Click 'OK'

A new window will appear asking you to restart the computer.

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Step 5. Click 'Restart

Method 2 of 3: Changing Startup Programs With Windows Defender

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Step 1. Download Windows Defender from Microsoft

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Step 2. Click the Start menu

Click All Programs and then select Windows Defender.

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Step 3. Select Tools and Software Explorer

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Step 4. Click the names of the programs you want to disable in the Name column

When finished, click Disable.

Method 3 of 3: Modifying Startup Programs With Registry Editor

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Step 1. Open the Start menu and then click Run

Type regedit into the filling.

Step 2. Locate 1 of the following registry keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

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HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

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Step 3. Locate the program you want to remove from the startup sequence

Remove the program from one or both of those registry keys.

Caution: Do not delete any other items in regedit that you see, as they may be specially named unknown system files. You may disable the associated programs and necessary services, causing the system to fail or become unstable

Tips

If you're not sure which program is slowing down your computer, disable all startup programs in Windows XP by clicking the button Disable All on the Startup Tab window. Restart the computer, if speed improves, add more programs one by one until you find out which program is actually slowing down the startup.
If you're not sure whether to leave the program running or not, look up the filename on ProcessLibrary.com to see if a specific startup process should be removed or not.

Warning

Some programs are critical to system stability, such as ctfmon.exe, cmd.exe, and svchost.exe. Don't disable it.
Back up the registry before you change it, just in case you make a mistake.

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