Speed your start-up

Speed your start-up by skipping a few boot items.


YOU MAY THINK A CERTAIN PROGRAM is slowing your system down or actually hanging it for a few moments as soon as it boots. If so, try starting Win dows in “lite” mode. Click Start
Run, then type msconfi g and press Enter. When the System Confi guration Utility loads, click the Startup tab; you’ll be surprised to see all the programs you’re loading at start-up. For info, Google the ones that are questionable or other wise annoying before unchecking them, and reboot.

You will have a few more system resources when you restart, but whether or not those programs will attach themselves to the start-up process again is another question. Check back
inside for the answer to that. Some programs like to keep their hooks in the Windows start-up
process and will actually reattach themselves.

You can also experiment with removing services under the Services tab, such as the iPod service if you use the iTunes software but don’t own an iPod. Be careful not to make changes all at once here; doing changes in stages will enable you to troubleshoot an adverse effect on the system that might appear once you’ve rebooted. If your system becomes unstable or programs hang, you may need to enable some of the services again.
If your system won’t let you boot up to even enter this mode, when you power-on your PC hit
the F8 key a few times as soon as the computer manufacturer’s name pops up, before Windows
begins to load. This will take you to a hidden menu that will allow you to start Windows in a
safe mode, with or without networking. There’s more than one way to start XP!