How to Configure Windows Startup Options

Microsoft Windows users may notice that sometimes their computers can become sluggish over time as new software applications are installed. Many of these applications add additional processes that often run unnoticed in the background, consuming more of the computer's memory and processor resources. Adding more memory can sometimes help alleviate this problem, but before you make that investment, try managing which software applications automatically start when Windows starts. Disabling rarely used application processes at startup can improve your computer's performance significantly -- sometimes even without adding more memory.

• 1

  Click on the Windows icon in the lower left corner of the screen (or the "Start" menu in Windows XP), select "All Programs," followed by "Accessories" then "Command Prompt." A new "Command Prompt" window will open.

• 2

  Type "msconfig" (without the quotation marks) in the "Command Prompt" window. The "System Configuration" window will open.

• 3

  Select the "Startup" tab in the "System Configuration" window.

• 4

  Scroll through the list of Startup Items and click on the check box next to each application to deselect and disable it when Windows starts. Do not deselect "Microsoft Windows Operating System" -- otherwise your computer will not run Windows the next time you restart it. Do not disable any antivirus or other security-related applications, either.

• 5

  Click "OK" after you have finished deselecting all the applications you want to disable when Windows starts. A new pop-up window will open, prompting you to restart your computer or "Exit without restart." If you currently have other applications running and you have not recently saved your work, select "Exit without restart." Otherwise, click on "Restart." Many of the changes you have made to the startup configuration will not go into effect until you restart the computer. So if you chose "Exit without restart," you should manually restart the computer when it is convenient for you. Once the system has been restarted, you should notice even a slight improvement in your computer's performance. If not, then consider adding more memory.