[davido-23]

To stantley... thanks very much

I have the same problem with my desktop.... slow start up. Would you mind looking to see what programmes in start up i can get rid of... i would be very grateful... here's my list:

Startup List report created on 11/05/2008 by Startup Manager


Name: Symantec PIF AlertEng
Path: "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\PIF\{B8E1DD85-8582-4c61-B58F-2F227FCA9A08}\PIFSvc.exe" /a /m "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\PIF\{B8E1DD85-8582-4c61-B58F-2F227FCA9A08}\AlertEng.dll"
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: Zune Launcher
Path: "c:\Program Files\Zune\ZuneLauncher.exe"
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: TkBellExe
Path: "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe" -osboot
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: SkyTel
Path: SkyTel.EXE
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: RTHDCPL
Path: RTHDCPL.EXE
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: Persistence
Path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\igfxpers.exe
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: ISUSScheduler
Path: "C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\UpdateService\issch.exe" -start
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: ISUSPM Startup
Path: C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\INSTAL~1\UPDATE~1\ISUSPM.exe -startup
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: IgfxTray
Path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\igfxtray.exe
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: HotKeysCmds
Path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\hkcmd.exe
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: EPSON Stylus DX3800 Series
Path: C:\WINDOWS\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\3\E_FATIACE.EXE /P26 "EPSON Stylus DX3800 Series" /O6 "USB001" /M "Stylus DX3800"
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: eBayToolbar
Path: C:\Program Files\eBay\eBay Toolbar2\eBayTBDaemon.exe
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: ccApp
Path: "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe"
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: Alcmtr
Path: ALCMTR.EXE
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: Adobe Reader Speed Launcher
Path: "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 8.0\Reader\Reader_sl.exe"
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: 4oD
Path: "C:\Program Files\Kontiki\KHost.exe" -all
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: NeroFilterCheck
Path: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Nero\Lib\NeroCheck.exe
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: NBKeyScan
Path: "C:\Program Files\Nero\Nero8\Nero BackItUp\NBKeyScan.exe"
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: RemoteControl
Path: "C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD\PDVDServ.exe"
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: LanguageShortcut
Path: "C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD\Language\Language.exe"
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: QuickTime Task
Path: "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe" -atboottime
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: iTunesHelper
Path: "C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe"
Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: CTFMON.EXE
Path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTFMON.EXE
Location: HKEY_USERS.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: MSMSGS
Path: "C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background
Location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: LightScribe Control Panel
Path: C:\Program Files\Common Files\LightScribe\LightScribeControlPanel.exe -hidden
Location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: kdx
Path: C:\Program Files\Kontiki\KHost.exe -all
Location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: CTFMON.EXE
Path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
Location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: Microsoft Office
Path: C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\Office10\OSA.EXE -b -l
Location: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: Sonic CinePlayer Quick Launch
Path: C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\SONICS~1\CineTray.exe
Location: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp
Status: Enabled
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 29 Items


Kind regards,

David.

[NICK G]

From M$: "Windows® XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released updates
for the operating system. This update also includes a small number of new
functionalities, which do not significantly change customers’ experience with the
operating system."
I have problems sometimes with one M$ update on any given day.
I may not even install SP3 this year at all. Why?
My usual reasons are my system is working just great so why screw with it,
David, I hope you get it sorted. You can go into reverse if it become too great a task.

[stantley]

The ones that you shouldn't touch are:

Name: Symantec PIF AlertEng
Path: "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\PIF\{B8E1DD85-8582-4c61-B58F-2F227FCA9A08}\PIFSvc.exe" /a /m "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\PIF\{B8E1DD85-8582-4c61-B58F-2F227FCA9A08}\AlertEng.dll"

Name: ccApp
Path: "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe"

Anything that has 'Symantec' in the name belongs to your Norton anti-virus and that should run at startup.

The same things on the other list also apply here. But it's much better for you to look each one of them up at those sites I gave you and for you to decide whether or not you need them.

For example you have Microsoft Office in your startup, if you regularly use some of those programs then you might want leave it in startup, if not, turn it off. It all depends on what you use. You would understand more about what runs on your computers if you do the research yourself.

You know the old saying: Give a man a fish he eats for one day, teach a man to fish and he sits in a boat all day drinking beer. Something like that.

[oshwyn5]

If you have been using MSConfig as a startup manager please read this.
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=149804
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310560

The first method you should always try is to see if the application itself has an entry under edit / preferences or tools / options or a similar location to control its startup behaviour. The software author knows his product better than anyone else; and he went to a lot of extra effort to include these entries if they are there. You must therefore consider that he may know what he is doing (if not why do you use his product) and included these for a specific reason (rather than just a note in the readme.txt file or help file telling you to type msconfig and uncheck the entry there).
Back in the days of DOS, you had to add a line in say the autoexec.bat file to launch something on startup. You could just rem out that line and it would not start ; or delete it since you probably knew what it was and could add it back if you wanted.
But gradually windows became more complex. Win95; 98 ; and ME not only use the autoexec.bat , and files like config.sys and system.ini but primarily use a registry consisting of two files user.dat and system.dat. This makes controlling startup entries more complex; but since most programs just put in one run entry in the registry ; disabling that with a startup manger or msconfig generally was enough (although some you really should also check the system ini files and autoexec.bat especially with things like antivirus and firewall applications). Just unchecking the msconfig entry leaves the possibility of overlooking components which continue to run invisibly , eating up resources and often not allowing the resources of the associated program to be released and reused if you open the program and then close it ( a Memory Leak, or at least one variety ).

But Windows continued to get more and more complex. XP does not use just two files to save and open the registry. The XP registry is built from scratch each time you boot based on five or more hive (.hiv) files ; of which the msconfig startup entry HKLM_run is just one of many places an application may load components. In fact; generally an application loading at startup loads different components at different times during the boot sequence based on which hive the entry is in. Some may load before you log in , some after. In addition there are many other places (Services, SSODL entries , etc) where a program may include startup entries which may not show in your registry; but will nonetheless load components of the application . Thus it is not adviseable to use simple techniques like unchecking MSCONFIG entries ; you may not have disabled as much as you think.

Startup managers; like codestuff starter tend to be more "complete" in their dealing with an application and its "dependencies" but you should still check first to see if the author included control options in his application.

Yes, there are still programs out there which do not really install. You could just copy their folder to a removable drive and run it from there on any computer; and there are still programs out there which only have the single registry entry. Generally you can recognize them because they have no option in the program itself to control startup (big surprise that if the author does not think there is a need to include this extra work you generally can just uncheck the entry). And yes; it is not always disasterous to incorrectly disable a programs startup. But if you are trying to improve performance; it is best to do things correctly.

In XP I strongly advise against disabling anything using MSCONFIG. While in older versions of windows there was a single registry used by all users and the startup entries were just one location which you could check and uncheck in msconfig with relative safety ; this is no longer so.
IN XP the registry is built from scratch each time you start up based on five or more files called hives which load at different times during startup. Some do not load until you login with your username and password. The MSCONFIG entry is just a single place where a program may enter startup entries. It could have appinit dlls, ssodl entries, windows service entries and several other startup entries ; all designed to load different portions of the application at specific points during windows bootup. MSCONFIG disables just one of these. This can lead to far worse problems than the one you are attempting to combat. So please unless specifically told to do so as part of a trouble shooting proceedure by someone who actually knows what they are doing do not disable anything with msconfig.
The proper way to disable startup entries , whenever present , is to use the applications own edit/ preferences or tools/ options. The author went to a lot of extra effort to include these entries and did so for a specific reason.


So the best thing to do is to look in the system tray at lower right.
Any of the programs running there at startup? Check to see if they have an edit/preferences or tools/ options entry or other method included in them to control their startup behavior. If so , use it.
You can also check in the start/ programs / startup folder
If you find an entry there for something which does not include a method of controlling startup within the program itself, go and move them out of it by dragging and dropping them into their own folder.

[NICK G]

Why You should not use MSCONFIG as a startup manager in XP and Vista...

There are many apps available to control startup programs.
Msconfig is but one tool that is easy and very reversible.
I even have a little app called Msconfig Cleanup that does one thing:
Removes startup items not being used. There are also several ways to do that and this is
but one easy way.
Everyone has a way. All ways are not the same. All try to achieve the same goal.
There are always many ways to get the same location and get to the same results wanted..

[davido-23]

To Stantley, Oshwyn5, Nick G,

Thanks for all your help... i'm certainly learning alot!!

PC & laptop nice and quick on start up!!

Kind regards,

David.

[Broni]

Two more startups, which are safe to disable:
- EPSON Stylus DX3800 Series
- Microsoft Office (OSA.EXE)

[NICK G]

David, additionally, many startup apps are a convenience or headache.
To each their own. I have 3 startup items and 4 desktop icons.
I just don't mind manually starting most things only when needed.
Again, that's me and my choice. You, of course, do what you like.
Good luck and keep playing and asking as that is how we learn.
(I have many things in running services but even they are directed by me.)
Oh, yeah, you are most welcome.

[davido-23]

To Nick G,

Hi again... I've just read that maybe a boot time defrag could help... what do you think? how do i do it?

Thanks in advance

Kind regards,

David.

[Broni]

http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilit...entation.shtml
SpeeDefrag
PageDefrag

[davido-23]

To Broni...

thanks for that but I have already defragmented C using the XP programme in propertirs - tools... it definitely helped but I was wondering if I should do a boot time defrag aswell? if so how is it done?

I await your reply.

Kind regards,

David.

[Broni]

Can't be done with Windows defrag.

[davido-23]

Can the pagedefrag harm my computer in any way?

[Broni]

I'm not aware of any problems.

[davido-23]

Hi!

I've just tried pagedefrag and it hasn't helped.... windows page with blue progress bar still really slow (takes about 90 seconds!!) any other ideas?

Kind regards,

David.